“Public Spaces Without Barriers” began as a guide requested by the World Bank to help public administrations understand what to require in public tenders related to built environment accessibility. The final result is a public resource available online, offering information on the Romanian demographic context, the reasons for making existing public spaces accessible, and the importance of inclusive design for the future. It also outlines the benefits of applying these principles and explains the differences between accessibility retrofitting and inclusive design.

The guide includes three important annexes. The first is a model table used to create an accessibility score for the built environment based on Romanian accessibility law requirements. The second annex provides information on what accessibility analyses are and how to conduct them. The final annex compares Romanian requirements with other international norms and standards, offering recommendations for additional chapters that should be included in current Romanian law.

The information in the document is not an exhaustive list of spatial requirements. It is necessary to have a solid knowledge base of design requirements and standards, to which we must continuously add information collected directly from the community through analyses conducted from the concept phase of the project and continuing through the exploitation phase. Currently, there are no 100% inclusive solutions in architecture.

Who is it for?

• public administration (local or central); 
• architects, urban planners and other construction professionals;
• real estate developers;
• civil society.

The information in the document can be used in:

• drafting specifications for tenders; 
• drafting of solution competition briefs for public spaces;
• verification of projects or at the reception of works; 
• development of architectural projects.

It provides information on:

• the demographic context;
• reasons why we should make existing public space accessible and design inclusively for the future; 
• the benefits brought by the application of these notions; 
• differences between accessibility retrofitting and inclusive design; 
• accessibility analyses;
• spatial requirements;
• models of good practice.

The guide is available online in Romanian: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZTzbtE6LH8nEAZJarT-ZOgTX_6j7Xlo2/view