Tokyo 2020 Paralympics: City To Be More Accessible For People with Disabilities
Yuriko Koike, the present Tokyo Governor, anticipates that the 2020 Paralympics would make Japan more accessible for people with disabilities by having narrow roadways and doorways widened, ramps and railings will be installed and other applicable physical changes will be made, Korea JoongAng Daily reported.
However, the Tokyo Governor want another kind of "fix" as well.
One day before she receives the Paralympic flag in Rio de Janeiro, Koike said, "Barrier-free facilities are by all means important., but I believe that a barrier-free mind is equally vital."
She was elected a couple of months ago and is Tokyo's first female governor. She promotes various Olympic-related programs such as focusing on the environment, managing soaring costs, and initiating women's rights agenda.
Koike's Paralympic-related agenda is to make Tokyo easier to navigate for people in wheelchairs, on crutches, or with vision problems. Any applied improvement could also make life easier and more comfortable for the country's 75-and-over population. The population is expected to reach 25 percent of the population in 2025.
She further said, "We have developed roads that are too narrow. This is a legacy of Tokyo. Furthermore, the doorways are not wide, the ceilings are low in some typical housing. As we welcome athletes as well as spectators from all over the world at the venues, we must overcome these challenges."
According to her, in order to widen some of Tokyo's narrow roads, utility poles and power lines should be installed underground. She said, "Going toward the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, I would like to expand the width of the roads by doing away with the utility poles so we can provide accessibility to everyone."
Japanese broadcaster NHK has a long-term deal to cover the Paralympics through 2024, which is believed to boost interest.
International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence said, "I think there is going to be a huge awareness level of the games coming to Japan in four years. From what I have seen from Tokyo so far, Tokyo has a very, very good chance of surpassing London and becoming the best Paralympics ever. I have never come across an organizing committee so committed, so dedicated and enthusiastic about the Paralympic movement."
