Access Denied: Dutch Policy Fails to address Accessibility

The Vismarkt in Groningen © Amber van Kempen

Centuries-old cobblestones that line the city’s streets, spiraling staircases in pre-war Dutch boutiques, and a beautiful, walking-friendly city center; The Netherlands has hundreds of these picturesque cities, which are internationally praised for their appearance and practicality for pedestrians. Yet one group is consistently isolated from the splendor of this idyllic image: wheelchair users.

The lack of accessibility reflects a larger disparity in government oversight and protection of its disabled citizens. Building codes and transportation regulations regarding accessibility are patently lacking in spite of the roughly 2 million residents living with mobility-related disabilities in the Netherlands. 

“I think the stores here and the little cafes and the restaurants that you see here - they're really cute and all, but most of the time I can't even enter the store. And if I can enter, then they're quite small and I can’t move around freely,” said Tessa Meijer, 29 year-old wheelchair user. “That makes it not welcoming to me.”

Meijer lives in Groningen, and has worked as an project coordinator at Wiel & Deal, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about accessibility. Meijer worked with a group of researchers from the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, collecting data on what areas of the city are inaccessible. Their findings revealed major hotspots of inaccessibility, specifically in the main bar area of the city.

Heat map of inaccessible places © Bettina van Hoven

The project, This Abled City, was led by Dr. Bettina van Hoven. The main accessibility issue identified in Groningen is inaccessibility of public transportation. 

“Getting into town is a big barrier,” said Dr. van Hoven. “If you want to go by bus, you only can get one wheelchair in the bus and often people are left by the bus stop - the bus just keeps going - or they stop and say ‘sorry, we can't take you’, or someone doesn't want to pull out the ramp.”

Complaints 

Meijer has filed complaints about inaccessibility and bus drivers’ reluctance to offer assistance. “I [complained] a couple times, but then I didn't get the response that I wanted,” said Meijer. “It doesn't help me and it doesn't help them [improve conditions].” 

Furthermore, Meijer said that retaliation is a concern for her. “Maybe I cannot go with them on the bus if I complain too much, so maybe I should just shut up and just go for the ride,” Meijer said. 

Wheelchair and a Qliner © Amber van Kempen

However, Gert Veringa, from OV Bureau Groningen en Drenthe, encourages people to file complaints when incidents occur. “Leaving someone behind is not tolerated,” says Veringa.

Hilde van der Burg, a 40 year old wheelchair user who lives in Dwingeloo, echoes that filing complaints about accessibility is often not worthwhile for her. She says that Kruidvats, a Dutch drugstore chain, have very narrow aisles and inconveniently placed end caps, making navigating the store in a wheelchair difficult. 

“It's possible I should complain with Kruidvat because they are not accessible, but I don't want to spend my energy for that,” said 40-year-old wheelchair user, Hilde van der Burg. “So I choose to not go and maybe order online if I really want [something] from Kruidvat or go to another shop, and don't fight for my rights.”

Furthermore, van der Burg has complained about Albert Heijn supermarkets’ handicap checkout counters, as the screen and card readers are too high for most wheelchair users. There has been no change despite petitioning to make the counters lower and more accessible. “The Albert Heijn in our town wants to change that for me, they want to change it and they can't. It's not allowed from the headquarters of the Albert Heijn, it’s crazy,” says van der Burg

“I'm a disabled person, but I can totally live without any help, and they make it impossible with this policy to let me live totally independent,” said van der Burg.

Albert Heijn and Kruidvat did not respond to requests for comment.

Discrimination centers 

Waard Kenniscentrum voor Inclusie (WAARD) is one of the discrimination centers people can go to for advice and help. Caylee, a volunteer at WAARD, says from what they observe, the three most frequent discriminations that wheelchair users face is “inaccessible spaces, being rejected at solicitation interviews, and that they are not recognized by other people [as equals].”   

“A lot of people don't know what discrimination is” says Caylee. If the case goes to court “they still have to prove [discrimination] happened and that's what makes it so difficult for criminal law.”  

Awareness

One obstacle regarding the creation of successful accessibility legislation is monument buildings. Monument buildings are buildings which have been deemed historically significant by the Netherland’s municipalities. 

In Groningen, many stores, restaurants and bars are located in old monument buildings. “Such buildings cannot be adapted in an instant,” says Sanne Beishuizen, municipality building expert. Changes affecting a building's exterior require permits and municipal approval. Each municipality sets its own strictness for modifications to monument buildings. “Although difficult, it is not impossible. There must be a good plan that explains why, where, what, and how changes will be made,” says Beishuizen. 

However, a bigger part of the lack of accessibility is that building standards have largely remained the same for decades. “There's a book for architects from the late 1930s which has the universal standard [for buildings], and all of the measurements are based on the white male, non-disabled body: the heights of tables, the width of entrances,” van Hoven says. “That is used universally in many cities because that is who the city is for.”

Meijer says that making legislation that increases accessibility in building standards will benefit all of Dutch society. “Everyone can get a disability for a short term or for long term, and we need to make [accessibility] a standard instead of a byproduct,” she said.

Meeting the guideline

Another obstacle for people with disabilities began in 2015, when the government decentralized most of its healthcare services, including services for people with disabilities. This means that the Federal government does not oversee the municipalities or provide them with guidelines to ensure accessibility. 

“The reasoning behind this was that the local authorities are much better suited to offer tailor made solutions that fit the needs and wants of their communities,” said personal secretary of the minister of Long-term and Social Care, Vicky Maeijer. Decentralizing these services, however, means the absence of oversight, leaving disabled people vulnerable to discrimination. 

The accessibility of buildings is often one of the largest obstacles for wheelchair users and people with disabilities. Gelly Sehat, a senior policy officer at the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning, said that new building regulations under the recently implemented Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving (Bbl), guarantee that new and future buildings will be accessible for people with disabilities. However, this does nothing to change the accessibility of existing buildings.

Additionally, the UN-handicap Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), was established in 2006 to promote equality for people with disabilities. The Netherlands was among the last EU countries to ratify it in 2016.  

Herman in ‘t Veen, a wheelchair user and member of Werkgroep Toegankelijk Groningen, advises the municipality on how to implement the UN-handicap treaty. However, UNCRPD’s guidelines for accessibility require businesses to make “reasonable adjustments” and improve accessibility gradually. 

“Reasonable” means there's no obligation to do anything,” says in ‘t Veen. Vague wording allows businesses to delay changes and the lack of concrete accessibility regulations backed by hard deadlines “makes it difficult for [advisory boards], because you cannot force people to do something,” says in’t Veen. 

Organizations like the UN-handicap committee try to adapt the Bbl to adopt more rules that apply to the inside of buildings, but construction companies are lobbying for fewer rules. “It’s a battlefield”, says in ‘t Veen.“They want to earn money, and in many cases, people with disabilities do not have the highest income, so, if you want to earn money, focus on the people who can pay,” in ‘t Veen says.

In spite of the obstacles that wheelchair users face due to building regulation, not everyone sees these changes as a priority. “As a government, you cannot solve all of the problems,” said Sehat. “You cannot impose people to have to make [buildings] accessible, and it's not our task.”

The municipality of Groningen 

Two years ago, in 2023, the municipality of Groningen started implementing the ‘New Space Design Guide’, applying its principles to all design and redesign projects. In the city center, the focus was put in reclaiming public space, removing cars, and transforming parts of the city into easily traversable environments for bikes, pedestrians, and handicapped people. 

“The big issue was the cobblestones because the wheelchairs would get stuck and wheelchair users would experience a lot of back pain,” says van Hoven

Sophia von Seebach (left) and Betina van Hoven (right)  © Amber van Kempen

The city removed the cobblestones from the Grote Markt last year.“I think it was a really positive change in the city that they changed the street services,” says van Hoven. 

Although the cobblestone removal was a positive change for wheelchair users, van Hoven also remarked that restricting cars from parts of the city further limits access to the city for wheelchair users.  

The government has said that due to the limited funds, not everything is possible, however some say that further activism is needed. “Staying realistic is important, but looking ahead is as important. Because if you stay realistic, nothing will be changed,” says Veringa.

The municipality of Groningen was asked for a comment, but they did not reply.