Piacenza (Italy), Rennes (France), Salzburg (Austria), Valencia (Spain) and Zaragoza (Spain) have today been announced as the finalists for the 2026 Access City Award. These cities demonstrate a strong and sustained commitment to making urban life more accessible for persons with disabilities – including access to built environment and public spaces, public transport, facilities and services, as well as information and communication technologies.
Preparedness and Equality Commissioner Hadja Lahbib (pictured) said: “Every year, the Access City Award showcases the remarkable efforts of cities across Europe in creating inclusive, accessible environments for persons with disabilities. This milestone is not just a celebration of the progress made, but a call to continue expanding accessibility to ensure that every citizen can fully engage with urban life. Those cities’ outstanding work shows it is possible.”
For this 16th edition of the Award, 51 cities applied. Among them, 18 candidates were pre-selected by the national juries and the five finalists were then shortlisted by an EU jury. In light of the current challenges related to housing supply across Europe, this year’s edition also includes a special mention for “accessibility in housing”. The Commission may award additional Special Mentions to applicants demonstrating exceptional achievements in specific areas.
The winners of 2026 Access City Award will be announced at an award ceremony on 5 December 2025 during the European Day of Persons with Disabilities conference, organized jointly by the European Commission and the European Disability Forum. Journalists can register to attend in person. The ceremony will start at 09:00 CET and will be broadcast live with international sign interpretation, audio-description and captioning in English.
