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🇧🇪 Belgium /Economy & Trade

Ghent shrinks car-free zone: ‘An important symbol, but closing the entire center is costly and unnecessary’

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Ghent will close the B401 flyover and a street near Zuidpark for Sunday’s car-free event, but will use a smaller zone than in previous years.
  • The city says closing the entire center would be too costly and difficult to manage amid major roadworks and other events.
  • The flyover will become a pedestrian area featuring a large artwork, while mobility expert Dirk Lauwers says the event still demonstrates the benefits of reduced traffic.

Ghent is scaling back its car-free Sunday, but it is not abandoning the event’s message. The city will close the B401 flyover and a street beside Zuidpark, where visitors can walk through a large artwork installed on the road structure.

The zone will be smaller than in previous years. Ghent says shutting down the entire city center no longer makes sense because major parts of the center already operate with restricted car access throughout the year. A full closure would also require staff at every entrance to check traffic, an expense the city says it can no longer justify.

We would have to station people at all the entrances to carry out checks. We do not have the resources for that.

· Joris VandenbrouckeGhent’s alderman explained why the city will not close the entire center.

“We would have to station people at all the entrances to carry out checks. We do not have the resources for that,” said alderman Joris Vandenbroucke of Voor Gent. The city also does not want to close areas without activities, particularly while major works are under way, including along the tram route between Gent-Sint-Pieters station and Korenmarkt. Officials were advised not to cut the route into the center via Zuid at the same time, to avoid severe traffic problems.

We show that public space is more than simply a place where people must be able to drive.

· Joris VandenbrouckeHe described the symbolic value of closing the B401 flyover.

Vandenbroucke said the B401 closure retains important symbolic value. “We show that public space is more than simply a place where people must be able to drive,” he said. Ghent points to its year-round car-free areas, which have created more room for pedestrians, cyclists, terraces, shops and greenery.

Mobility expert Dirk Lauwers of Ghent University and the University of Antwerp said car-free Sunday gives residents a chance to experience moving around the city without a car. He acknowledged that enthusiasm in Ghent may have declined because the cultural shift has already taken place for many residents, while others may feel it has happened too quickly. The initiative began during the oil crisis in the 1970s and remains a regular occasion for people to occupy busy roads on foot and by bicycle.

Car-free Sunday is a moment when people experience how they can move around the city without a car.

· Dirk LauwersThe mobility expert explained the event’s purpose.
About this summary

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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