Old buildings will be difficult places to set up non-barrier
facilities as Beijing is preparing for next year's Paralympics,
said a Beijing government official on Wednesday.
Beijing has been focusing on key public facilities such as
railway stations, hospitals, hotels, supermarkets, in their
barrier-free project ahead of the Paralympics, and communities is
another important item on their agenda.
"It is a matter concerning social progress (that we build
barrier-free facilities for residential communities). Communities
are on fast rise in the past dozen years so we should pay much
attention to residents' needs," said Cao Yuejin, member of the
Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning.
"New residential areas in recent years would have non-barrier
facilities because the government had issued regulations concerning
this aspect. But we find that old buildings will be a headache," he
said.
Beijing issued the Resolution on Beijing Municipal Barrier-free
Facility Construction and Management in 2004 which makes
non-barrier facilities compulsory items for all developers.
"For example, we have to think it over how to renovate the
entrance of high-rise residential buildings as well as their nearby
supporting facilities including post office, banks and shops," he
said.
Cao said they had chosen several communities as samples as they
were trying to find solutions to building non-barrier facilities
old residential areas.
"It is difficult but we are moving forward," he said.
The Paralympics, a games for physically disabled and visually
impaired persons, is expected to attract more than 4,000 athletes
and 2,500 officials from 162 countries and regions to Beijing.
(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2007)