The Innovative Way Ghent, Belgium Removed Cars From The City
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- A MUST MUST WATCH FOR TRANSPORTATION LOVERS!
Witness the transformation of Ghent, Belgium, who instituted the Traffic Circulation Plan in April 2017, which completely changed the way nearly every resident gets around the city and has inspired unheard of mode shifts. It encourages less car use, more bicycling and more transit use by splitting the city into seven distinct zones: a mostly car-free city center core surrounded by six zones which have been cordoned off with concrete or controlled by cameras. The only way to reach them is to travel to the ring road on the city outskirts, thus making it not impossible to use a car but motivates those shorter trips to be done via human power or mass transit. Bike mode share in 2012 was 22%, now it is 35% and growing!
This swift, creative strategy of turning Ghent in to a place for people is such a phenomenal story it's a mystery as to why it has not gotten more attention worldwide. It is a city of 262,000 residents, so not a large metropolis, but not a small city either. The metamorphosis was achieved thru a sort of tactical urbanism approach by throwing concrete barriers and planters here and there (some backed by enforcement cameras) and altering the gateways into public spaces and safer places to walk and bike. (There are now 40% fewer cars on bicycle priority streets than before the plan!)
Their main inspirations were the cities of Groningen and Utrecht, both in The Netherlands. And as Vice Mayor, Filip Watteeuw explains they did not have the funds or the time to spend 10, 20 or 30 years to catch up to where they were. So they improvised with interesting tactics and treatments and The Traffic Circulation Plan. And as I have said before what happened was stunning: almost never has their been such a rapid metamorphosis occurred in such a short time. And Ghent isn't stopping there.
Ghent was a fabulous city for many reasons. I highly recommend a visit. It is quiet and lovely and nearly everywhere is attainable by multiple modes of transportation. You can even use a car if you like - but just remember it is a little more complicated.
My velo always gets getjoept in this city
minen velo never got getjoept in Ghent! believe it or not but i was daar for a couple of studentenjaren and they never tjoeped it away
Ne goed slot helps always! Since I have a goei slot, no more bike-tjoeping for me!
@@ZjefVanAcker Yes, that is very much the truth he! But i think it is because i had ne very brakken velo
@@geojelly9830 Haha - ja - hoe brakker de bike, hoe sneller brakke people steal them :-D
Your English treks up nothing.
Political will is the keyword here. Kudos to him, for taking that risk and do something for the city and the environment. We need more politicians like him that don't just think about their next term.
Filip watteeuw is persona non grata in ghent and his days are over
We need more people with balls
I've just come back from a trip to Gent and I loved it. I had no idea before I went that it is pretty much car free. Removing the cars and giving the city back to people makes an incredible difference. It really makes most cities that prioritise cars over people look dumb. I have travelled around the world a great deal and I would say Gent is one of the nicest cities I've ever been to, in large part, because of this. Bravo!
Not really political will, we just need the minds of the people to change.
This is amazing! I wish we weren’t so car-centric in the US.
We can change. I know I don't want to live in a car-centric world anymore and I'll demand the same out of my elected officials.
True, even tho Britain is in Europe a lot of its policies etc are very car centric
You don't need it. You have really broad roads. Like really broad. Also, the planning of roads is very nice. You have enough space for cycling.
@@ashtickprakaspadhi402 the only unfortunate thing is America is not as well connected as Europe, for example its national train network etc.
@@trilingualfudge7307 Yes trains are very important and can save a lot of money and energy of a person. They also reduce the traffic on roads and reduce carbon emissions.
Keep telling the Americans!
This is actually really well made. Hopefully we can see some version of the in the US, especially in NY, LA, Chicago, and other metro cities
Thank you on all fronts.
NY kind of have it in some areas
@@organizedchaos4559 SF does a little bit as well. Need more of it for sure.
Minneapolis might be the closest so far
"If you design a city for cars, you get cars. If you design a city for people, you get people." (10:08)
So true.
Yes, that is how far we have come, car drivers are no longer people but criminals. However, quite often they pay the most taxes to make all of this possible and to pay the subsidized jobs of those who go to work by bike in the area. The city invests millions again in such jobs, integration of asylum seekers, social projects, environmental associations, etc. But they forget who pays them. Many people have had enough of that.
Krishnafred like if cyclists could be criminal too. if they don’t respect the circulation.
Krishnafred Car drivers buy foreign cars and foreign oil with tens of thousands of euros, kill vulnerable road users, and they slow down public transport. They're a net strain on the economy.
Yea forget that Ghent has 1 billion euro negative money since this shtty plan. Killing people jobs, killing our economy... People that dont live there dont know the negative things u only wanna see "nice tourist" videos right... U like 5 euro for one coffee do you?
@@Krishnafred He said cars, not car drivers. 😉
As a student I can confirm you don't need a car in Gent, but you also don't WANT a car in Gent.
This is meant as friendly feedback, and not carping criticism. I would love to watch this video but the background music is so loud and so intrusive that I can't bear to watch for more than a minute.
Plus, it's horrible music.
Thanks for the warning. I won't be watching it.
then watch it without sound?
I hope one day cities change their misconception that cities will suffer if changes like these are made. Rather I hope they begin to realize that they will suffer *unless* they make these changes.
well said, that1s exactly how it is
It's always the same story over and over again:
Visionary politician wants to remove cars
Receives death threats from local carbrains
Complaints about loss of local business
Plans go through anyway
Local businesses flourish
More people visit the city center than ever before
@@guerreiro943*if* the plans go through
It's good to see that all these European cities are following the Dutch in their city design for bicycles.
Yes, yes, yes
Yeah thats why this Europen city fail to reduce their car dependency unlike Singapore and Hong Kong
Following the Dutch? Well, it's a no brainer for the Netherlands and Belgium to share their experience, as they're two neighbouring countries (that used to be one and the same, btw) and they share a common language.
Happy to live in this city
*@Edwin Vanderstichele* Gelukkige *jij,* echt; ik hou zo van Gent, te beslist!!
Ik ook
De stad verslechterd met het jaar ben al aan het kijken om te verhuizen lijk de meeste die ik hier ken
What surprises me is that the city'y population I live in (Leipzig, Germany) is more than twice as big but has a much smaller city center than Ghent. Which makes the car situation more difficult.
Make the centre of your town/city pedestrian only.
Walking is essential for good health.
Where are the morbidly obese people? Almost everybody in this city is fit. People are sitting at cafe's talking to each other. It's so laid back and carefree.
If you ride you bike everywhere then your obesity goes away. If you drive a car everywhere (even just a few city blocks) then you get obesity.
You aren't seeing everybody in Ghent, Belgium. This is a promotional video. You think they are going to show any downside?
It does not take into account the elderly and disabled, whose only means of transport is a car ... these people are excluded.
@Wolf Bruyland we do have a KFC, in the shopping center in Wijnegem
@@martindespiegeleer4571 Actually there is a special free electric bus driving all around the city just for those people!
Can confirm this city is really enjoyable to live in for people like me who don't want a car :)
Being a Belgian this make me excited seeing all the streets i recognize lol
Streetfilms, thank you for this amazing video! I lived in Gent for 4 years and I did not know what I had. I found it amazing but I assumed Gent was always like this. I hope you open a lot of eyes!
You are quite welcome. More is coming we hear!
@@StreetfilmsCommunity I'm looking forward to it!
I get the impr4ssion from this example people in Belgium crave for progressive action but are afraid for it, because Belgians are, I experienced, real traditionalists. So new thing are always bad until proven otherwise......you need a lot of stomach to change the peoples minds over here I think, also I have the feeling the government is very slow and more traditionalist/hierarchic/elitist then the Belgians themselves.....so what the people want is not always reflected in the policy
This is actually a dream. The fewer cars, the better. Ideally zero.
yes. more trams please!
I'm a student in Gent personally I love the convenience of cycling here and the pedestrian only areas. I can't imagine the city with cars in the historic centre. Granted it's a small city and there's not a lot of landmass to cover (coming from Canada)
I've been offered a job in ghent, I don't speak German, do you think its fine to get around with only knowing english? I'd learn german while I was there.
@@zoasis7805 Ghent is in Flanders and is Flemish speaking .If you've already been offered a job with them knowing you're English speaking you should be fine but best to ask your employer their future expectations
@@zoasis7805 That should not be a problem: most people over here speak English. In Belgium the official languages are Dutch (we speak a Flemish variant that is very much alike), French & German. Gent is Dutchspeaking, but more people speak English better as their second language. Not speaking German can be a positive thing: we were conquered by Germany several times. But it is ok to mention the war ;-)
until it's raining and you have to cycle over tram rails 😅😅
@@irissupercoolsy meh you get used to it 😅
@1:12 America is the opposite: block non-car traffic with unnecessary cul de sacs. Ghent does it right: non-cars should be able to go anywhere. Belgians are truly amazing. I biked there. It was absolutely fabulous for bikes. Sadly, I missed Ghent, but one day, when travel is allowed, I will definitely go back.
We also have these American like suburbs, but we ALWAYS add shortcuts for pedestrians and bikes
The cul-de-sacs are necessary to keep cars from speeding through the neighborhood but there definitely should be a cut-through for bicycles, pedestrians, horses, etc. to pass through and get from one street to the next one over without driving all the way out to the collector road.
I live in Michigan USA as a regular work commuter this looks like Paradise
except it isnt.. I work in the center of gent and I commute by care as i'm a sales representative and i'm covering 3 countries. I used to study in Gent and did everything by bike or on foot and traffic was never an issue. I could also get to Gent in 25-30 minutes. Now getting in and out of Gent at rush hour, takes me over 1 hour. Car traffic around Gent has increased vastly and driving times have gone up from where you would take 3 minutes to get to somewhere, it now takes 18. This is not a solution, to reduce emissions from cars. Furthermore, my sister lives 7 km's from Ghent, and both her children ride their bikes to school everyday to Gent. They haven't put any thought in the big infrastructural problems just outside of Gent to make it safe for bicycles to cross or to ride, furthermore, the increased congestion of traffic at the outskirts of Gent make it very dangerous for cyclists to commute and to get hit by a car. Please note that I'm writing this, as a professional car driver, an amateur cyclist (i ride 14000 km's by bike a year), an environmental conscious man working for a company who's main focus is to change the climate for the better... and I have to say their traffic circulation plan and measures they have taken, don't work. There is a need for a bigger reform. It is less safe to ride a bike in Gent then it was 10 years ago
This is pure propaganda. The reality is that businesses leave the city. Companies that are here for over 100 years (fb group of the shops and companies that leave facebook.com/groups/HandelaarsVluchtenUitGent) Eldery people get isolated. The people who live in Ghent (many a lifetime for generation) are fined for all they do. quality of life went down since this evil plan was introduced.
@@madmonkeycycling9098 I concur that the infrastructure isn't there yet. The ring definitely can't handle rush hour.
Warning! The TH-cam account “GVD Gent voor democratie”, who posted comments under this video, is a propaganda machine against the new circulation plan in Ghent. They are a populist movement who have started a Facebook group with 1700 members where they share articles and make posts about the circulation plan. The leaders of this movement include of far-right supporters and climate change deniers. Posts in the aforementioned Facebook group regularly threaten politicians. Many articles shared in the group claim climate change isnt real. This video was shared in the Facebook group by one of the leaders and calls Streetfilms leftist propaganda. They compare this video with Nazi propaganda and call the biggest political party Nazis. As such, other comments under this video may have been writtin in bad faith by members of the group. Comments under the post mention commenting on this video, so beware.
@@StratosTitan you are correct. A facebook group have shared this video and are now bashing it. Sad.
I actually live in this city (hi, fellow Ghentians :) ) and would like to clarify a few things:
Firstly, Belgium as a whole is a country that has a very high population density. Secondly, we are a tiny country. The furthest we could drive in our country is about 3 hours from our seaside to our southern tip. And lastly, as any other country, during the 20th century everyone and their mother bought a car, so it is ingrained in our identity. All these facts combined lead to our roads being the most congested in the world, with traffic jams (1+ hours) being a fairly normal part of our commute every day.
On the other hand, these facts also mean we have a strong (albeit almost always tardy) public transport system and they also result in nobody having to travel very far for work or family/friends.
Considering all these things, the plan that’s explained here did work, yes, but because our country can handle it. And more importantly, because Ghent can handle it. Ghent is, at heart, a student-driven city: from September till June the city’s population increases by two-to-threefold due to students… who don’t drive cars, as they’re very expensive.
So yes, I get the awe, and I appreciate it, but a plan like this could never work in a city like LA, because the demographic is so different. Also, a lot of us get really frustrated when we have to transport our sofas through the city center :P
This plan works indeed we have it since 1977, we is Groningen the Netherlands. And as you may know the Netherlands is a very high populated city.
You forgot to mention that those students drink, puke, piss after a good night out and pollute the streets with glasses, broken bottles , beercans and rip the garbage bags open. Thank you. They need a severe education instead of a circulation plan.
@@thierrydebuysscher7239 And probably gave each other covid this week so the numbers go up even more and hard working adults have to lock down. Yay.
@@thierrydebuysscher7239 yes, we sadly have experience of this in York, too.
Actually this is again factually untrue. There's about 75000 students in gent. The city has a population of 250 000. That's an increase of 30% IF all those students stayed in the city, which not all don't. So at best maybe the population increases by 25% with all the students, not 2 to 3 times.
And secondly, as shown many many times in the Netherlands, plans like this work on ALL cities. Not just student cities. We even have examples in Flanders. Mechelen is not a student city. Yet they implemented a traffic plan in the early 2000's too with lots of pedestrianised areas, cutting off through traffic, and so on. And the city has never been so pleasant. And I know I grew up there before I came to Ghent.
And lastly a bit of frustration when you have to transport your sofa, (which happens maybe once per year as a student and happens rarely after), is a VERY acceptable price to pay for making the city center immensely more pleasant and liveable for the tens of thousands of people who actually live and work there.
The last election proved how popular the plan is with the actual residents of the city. The parties that governed and implemented the plan got almost 60% of votes during the local elections held a year later.
Some annoyed, car centered people complain all the time no matter what, but the truth is the plan works and the majority of people in gent support it.
This is wonderful! I wish politicians didn't turn their ears and attention toward the car-brained Karens. Trying to squeeze in bike 🚲 lanes without taking out parking or an auto travel lane really is a fool's errand.
Meanwhile Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium where I live, is lightyears behind as usual. When I see this I find it hard to believe that I live in the same country.
If you would stop voting so far left, maybe things would be a bit better
@@cornelisvreeswijk186 Right... because no one in Ghent votes left XD
@@camillelemmens1745 I'm not saying you should vote for NVA either, but just a bit more to the centre...
@@cornelisvreeswijk186 idiotic comment
I actually live in Flanders and am considering moving to Wallonia exactly because of things like this. Communism sucks. When you can't even drive your own car on the roads your car tax pays for, you are a total slave. All we do in Flanders is pay, pay, pay, and all we get in return is communist know-nothing academics thinking up new ways to make everybody's lives miserable. At least in Wallonia, your governments don't have the resources to ruin things as much as they intend to.
en toda latinoamerica todos los politicos siempre dicen voten por mi, para que salgan de "pobres" pero ninguno ve a la bicicleta como un medio de transporte eficiente, economico, amigable con el ambiente, saludable para el usuario
I wish this can happen in L.A.
Yeah it's awesome :)
@@fishbone_8934 Awesome marketing.
In the US, in the Trump-era? Dream on
😂 I will
Im afraid LA is too huge for this, it's basically an endless suburbia
every city in united states of america should do this to 🏙
You’d have to rebuild every single city.. it’s easy for Europe because most of the cities were built before cars, unlike America where the cities are built around cars
@@N0n0b0dy No excuses! it can be done. Strong will is needed to start the change.
@@N0n0b0dy We need to make all new infrastructure built from now on bike and pedestrian friendly first and foremost. It may take 50 years to fix but hey it took about 20-30 years to get us car dependent
@@clobberelladoesntreadcomme9920 removing diversity and multicultural comes first. Americans don’t want public transport because public transport in America is filthy , now look at Japan , or China or Russia
I live here and love it. But there are still quite some people who oppose it. Mostly people who don't live here, or don't want to admit they were wrong. Because it really does work.
I agree it works and I'm all for it, but I can understand some small businesses were against it. Rightly so, I did see a few Frituurs and small businesses disappear. Mostly at the edge of town away from tourists. So let's not pretend it was perfect, but you can't please everyone with such drastic measures.
Why is the USA so backwards?
Oil and car companies lobbying
Yeah, but living in Ghent, it now does really suck when you do need your car. Takes 30 minutes sometimes to get to a street 100 meters away.
100 meter voyages should never be taken by car
@@SClerckx I'd like to see you move a drum kit with the bike.
@@CoredusK You can get a permit if you actually have a gig in Ghent.
You can rent cargo bicycles, and you can get massive flatbed bicycle trailers for cheap.
@@C0deH0wler In some cases, you need a freakin car. Have you moved a full drum kit + 3 bigass amps, a bunch of guitars, pedals, cables, mix boards with a bike? It's nonsense.
I live here and I provide cultural entertainment for the city, yet I have to go through massive hassles and 20 euros of parking tickets to simply provide an event for the city. Don't try to argue that this is all just fun, easy and fine when you're not at all in the same position.
Amazing work! Thank you
2:52 riding hands free like a boss lol
that's just how it is in belgium and especially the netherlands, we're so used at cycling that we end up being quite good at it haha
@@hannahsmovies5612 and we know how to do it drunk, Overpoort relies on it
Uk now started to follow dutch and belgian road system
I drive a car, ride a motorcycle or bike, I walk and use public transport in Ghent. I'm positive about this courageous mobility plan.
Same here in NYC. I walk, bike, take bus, train, get in my wife's car, take cabs, etc etc. You gotta have all the choices and use them wisely. There are people that believe they should be able to drive everywhere. And that is certainly wrong.
Yes fantastic, only sad that it should be courageous.....it should be the common sense thing to do, in all Belgian cities.....swiftly and smoothly, but trhat would be unbelgianlike
@@hetedeleambacht6608 let's stay positive. Brussels is also doing amazing things (because it was most needed there)
I live in ghent and this is absolute bullshit propaganda
This is an incredibly biased video...
First of all, the city center (which you highlighted most) was already car-free due to the historic/touristic importance,
they just extended it a little.
Everyone 'interviewed' in this video is clearly 'pro', however there's a big opposition in Ghent who's against this 'innovative' plan, you should've added opposing views as well as imo. As this 'innovative' plan has brought division, not unity.
It has its benefits but there are disadvantages too which have led to the exclusion of people - and I'm not talking about car drivers only.
This isn't a black and white story and shouldn't be told as such.
The 'big' opposition consists of boomers who don't want to walk anymore. I live in Ghent and everyone I know likes it. There are only some old farts left on a facebook forum who think cyclists are the new nazis.
@@srrlIdl and I actually know a lot of people that are opposed but are not 'boomers'. In any case it's def more diverse than you think.
But I can imagine that generation being louder (especially on social media) and thus influence your perception on who's against.
Beside that it's also been too much politicized imo.
@@midifire I guess those people like to drive their cars? You obviously like to drive cars (as I can see on your channel) so that's why you don't like the current policy. Too bad.
@@srrlIdl Not necessarily.
I like driving but I also commute by bike and skateboard. 9/10 I prefer walking as I don't need a parking spot and bike theft/vandalism isn't a rarity - I don't even have an expensive bike and it's been trashed several times.
I like parts of the policy. Just don't find the circulation plan (and soon LEZ) to be an inclusive project. If you can 'afford it', you can just go through "forbidden" cuts. It'll just cost you money.
The city has been 'updating' quite a bit but it was just ridiculous to see how they focused on bike infrastructure and ignored the rest. The ring can't handle traffic at rush hour -- even though this was most obv since the division in sections was meant to push all cars onto the ring. Public transportation/infrastructure hasn't been improved either.
@@srrlIdl you sound like fun at parties.
We can not imagine in India. The road conditions and planning is bad
You don't want that in other parts of the world. What happens in Ghent is purely for the money and discrimination Gent runs on 1 billion euros in debt and they want that back through the hard-working citizen that needs a car the is only way to get money to punish them ho drive a car . During the corona you would think that CO 2 would decrease but that never happened CO 2 is not the fault of car traffic ! . Big greetings from Belguim . And this movie looks beauty full but its a lie
Germanys Cities are terrible full of Cars
We need that in all Citys
Thanks :-)
Are the city centers really full of cars?
For such a plan you need a ring road around the center and many german cities who have this also banned throughtraffic decades ago.
Being Dutch and an avid cyclist. I am more than impressed!
I also had the déjà-vu experience … the death threats, the our city will die argument, the our city is different it will not work argument, etc.
And then I saw this video showing a city indistinguishable from the average Dutch city. 10 out of 10 for the city of Gent.
Keep me informed.
I know the bicycle usage increased by 25% since 2014. All people not driving a car anymore for those specific commute trips.
I assume, but I don't know, that since 2014 more people are taking public transportation as well. Thus also not using their personal car.
There are still people taking the car and at the same time complaining that it is difficult to take the car in Gent. Some of them will learn to take alternative transportation. Some never will. So be it.
Of course there are people depending on a car (i.e. delivery companies and other businesses). Some of them will switch to alternative solutions (electric car, (electric) cargo bike, etc.) and some won't. Those that won't will only be able to enter the city center 8 times a year (paying €35 each time they do). Some will opt not to do business anymore in the inner city. So be it.
p.s. I am not an expert. But, I suspect, neither are you.
By the way, my Original request - "Keep me informed" - still stands.
I really like to know how this change in infrastructure works out for Gent. Both the positives as well as the negatives.
So, keep me informed (with reference links). Much appreciated.
@@wimahlers The next objectives are the other parts of the city (deelgemeenten), such as Drongen, Mariakerke, Wondelgem and Zwijnaarde. The first phase strongly focused on the city proper, but there's more to Ghent. As could be expected, there's some fear for loosing business ("we aren't like central Ghent, we need cars" and similar), but the biggest animosity has subsided.
Biggest critics are the few streets where traffic has increased with the circulation plan (the so-called Pagas, Papegaai- Annonciaden- and Gebroeders Vandeveldestraat, as well as the inner ring road), and I can understand them.
Because public transport isn't a competence of the city, any improvements of the public transport are hard to get, and there's a huge reform of the network in the pipeline which will not be an improvement for the outer parts of the city, unfortunately, so there will be quite heavy discussions with the regional government.
@0:13 I live in the US, but I would like to vote for this vice mayor. AMEN!
I really hope Dublin City Council are looking at this. I'll send it on anyway
Sick
Ah, what a laid back city! I lovee how everything is just within the right distance that people can travel by bike. In Indonesia, development sprawls uncontrollably. It results in non-bike friendly city with public transport rarely reach every town corner.
love it
Fantastic! I'm coming to Ghent next month (from the US), and yes, I'm bringing my bicycle with me.
bobski36 Good Luck. It’ s a horrible and unsave place to cycle. Believe me I knop.
How was your experience? Enjoyed your stay?
how was it? :p
yves vluggen noo i bike every day its good
Don’t do it it’s not worth it
It look better then it is it’s heavily flawed but that’s the shit they don’t show you
I live in gent there are more cars then you’d think
Cleaner air. Less noise pollution. More space. Happier, healthier people. Safer streets for people and families.
63 people: Nah, I don't like this !
mickeyscratcher sorry no the air is not getting any better. We have a big port with a lot of heavy industry and soon also a biomass plant fired up with trees brought from Canada with boats that run on heavy diesel. Only the reports bought by the green party show a slight improvement. According to the other reports, there is no improvement even in the lockdown when there was almost no traffic
@@PhilipDezuttere Local air was certainly cleaner around our way. You must have magic air there that's able to absorb more diesel particulate. Or y'know, magic cars that don't cause any pollution.
Its not safer people on bikes are crazy they dont even follow the rules anymore
in your dreams .... happier people ????? lol
The video is a lie what are you talking about
I see people freaking out about the downsides car drivers have to endure due to this new system.. With all good things come bad things, it's just a matter of keeping what's going well and removing what's not going well. Keep improving. But all of this takes time, and some of you would much rather do nothing and try nothing new but that's exactly how you ruin cities. Innovation takes time to perfect!
Why so many dislikes? I thought this is a pretty non controversial video!
For some it is, I guess. But still highly watched and over 90% likes. So no worries.
This is not a documentary but a propaganda movie made on behalf of the people who pushed the circulation plan, the ruling Green Party.
@@flitsertheo I love it and many people do. Only rich boomers who think roads and parking is their birthright don't like it
Hard to believe that this is a mere 40 km from Brussels, the most congested city in the western world
in Brussels, there are also bike paths and lots of people biking... it's a standard for transport all over Belgium
@@irissupercoolsy uff yes there are bike paths but I felt quite unsafe when I am comparing to Ghent
@@tgwnn at least there you have a metro system, but it is still sad
Brussels is actually improving a lot. Thanks Good Move!
While this video is excellent, I would suggest interviewing more professionals and showing models and plans of how exactly the city has changed to revolve more around people and not cars. I don't mean city officials but urban planners and urban designers and vial engineers who explain not how things have improved but what steps were taken to shorten the transition to make the city less car-centric. It would be nice to know how vial engineers decided which roads to cut off, and to see their computer models. It would also be nice to know what landscape architects plan to do in the city in the future to invite more people to walk and bike while considering those who don't walk or bike long distances. Do they all have access to trains, or do can they use smaller vehicles to get around. This video feels too promotional.
as a truck driver this is hell many of my colleagues truck drivers dont wanna go to ghent because its insane.
Get used to it.
Good, there are alternatives to having lorries blocking roads in city centres.
@@busog97641
Next time i bring your food with my bike sorry for driving and blocking the road.
@@kkoleakrezaz3445 soon enough it's going to be that way.
Wim Ahlers nope, it will not happen
I've lived in Ghent for 1 year, cycling here is fantastic! And drivers here are much more aware of cyclists, it's a great experience.
Nathan Viles much more aware than where?
the only thing missing still is bikers being aware of other people
🤣😂🤣😂😂😂🤣😂😂🤣😂😂😂🤣
@@blanco7726 than everywhere in this country
This is pure propaganda. The plan destroyed small century old shops.
Its a nightmare to navigate in the city by car.
It takes AGES for me, someone who lives in the center to get to my house by car.
This video makes me mad.
Excellent.
Thats the point you shouldnt be going by car you pillock
@@StreetfilmsCommunity @Kobe Geyskens That's the thing. I HAVE to use a car to make a living...Our business has been in the center for over 30 years. I make frames for paintings. Art is heavy. You can't take your frame or artwork home by bike / public transport. The city has killed similar business in the city, people that don't live in the center dont come to the city anymore. They stay home and buy stuff online, which is bad because their money goes to multinationals.
the plan killed the city and all business in it. Its like you're walking in a dead city in comparison to how it was.
I also dont really enjoy the sarcasm that @streetfilms uses. He knows nothing about the situation and should shut up about it.
@@kobegeyskens7327 @Kobe Geyskens That's the thing. I HAVE to use a car to make a living...Our business has been in the center for over 30 years. I make frames for paintings. Art is heavy. You can't take your frame or artwork home by bike / public transport. The city has killed similar business in the city, people that don't live in the center dont come to the city anymore. They stay home and buy stuff online, which is bad because their money goes to multinationals.
the plan killed the city and all business in it. Its like you're walking in a dead city in comparison to how it was.
I also dont really enjoy the sarcasm that @streetfilms uses. He knows nothing about the situation and should shut up about it.
@@ernest7241 I'm 55 and walk in the city every morning to buy my newspaper and my bread. To my surprise I still see a lot of business and a lot of people in the streets. When did you go to the centre for the last time?
Innovative? i went to visit Ghent a couple of months ago. What a shithole to visit with a car. I got like 5 letters after one visit. With all kinds of fines. I am not going back there again. I will spent my money somewhere else. This is going back in time having all kinds of barriers. There was a time you could just drive somewhere and enjoy the visit. Now you have to constantly be on the alert so you don't break some invisible rule. Cameras lurking to trap you. You can't even enter the city with a car you bought less then 10 years ago. MADNESS
MADNESS!
oh my why can't i drive my oversized heap of metal through old medieval city centers! MADNESS
@@malteb.9585 DOUBLE MADNESS!
Iots of people buy from internet or want food delivered to there doors . Im in pension but on a monday i deliver foodboxes all over Flanders but i refuse to go to gent or antwerpen because its too much of a hassle ,zone 30 kms no parking were you need to be . Even when i go shopping for myself i go on the outside of town or go over the border in France. anyway i live out in what you could call the countryside were i need and like my car.
Boomer
I clicked dislike just because of the heavily overused background music playing in the foreground.😣
Thank you. We appreciate that!
I noticed many compliments from English speakers, and people that have never visited Belgium. If you focus on comments from Belgians, and Ghent residents, you get a different picture. These opinions are very much divided (check also the Facebook post of same clip). I also do not live in Ghent, but maybe you should have included some diverging opinions, ask some question like, "OK all nice and dandy with the people's-city, but what downsides have you seen after implementation?"
I agree, but sadly I have to inform you that having a nuanced view these days is something what is looked down on.
What are those alternative opinions?
@@horribleIRUKANDJI ThEy aRe kiLlinG thE buSIneSS, No onE caN Get tHerE! is the main opposing opinion, mostly by people not living in Ghent. The commercial core is still doing pretty well, though.
Not that everything's dandy, especially in the outer boroughs, the situation isn't nearly as good, just as an example, take the Antwerpsesteenweg and surrounding streets, Dampoort, etc. This is the next objective of the city government. Some are also unhappy with the circulation plan because for them, it meant an increase in traffic (inner ring road, access roads to the underground parking garages...). Those, I can understand, it's not fun to be the sacrificial lamb for the rest of the city...
I take on board the positive and negative aspects. The division of opinion gives me encouragement that there will always be dissenting voices of people who don't like the kind of system that is in place in Ghent, but that people in my own city should keep pushing for it if they want their city to be more like Ghent, because there will always be people saying they hate it and wanting to drive their cars, but in the end when everything is in place it still seems to be a system which improves the quality of life and environment for a great number of people.
Far too many
very good docu. but music is a little bit to loud, speach is more important than the music ;-)
Please we need this for New Zealand cities and towns,instead of just planning for more cars and more congestion
@@C0deH0wler Thanks for the link, that's progress.
People in developing countries have to work hard or borrow money to buy a car which takes up lots of space and pollutes the air. They become car slaves. I think a bicycle is the best solution for this.
And good urbanisation and public transportation
Everyone who lives here really hates the plan. And the tickets, so much tickets. Innocent people getting fined on purpose. And the shops die off one by one.
Stop spreading bs, majority of people are happy with it which tells a lot for such an innovative project. Shops die only because they did not anticipate the new forms of shopping
@@tsemoanie8494 r u kidding me the only shops remaining are shit like Mcdonalds and other big players.
@@timcastelein6598 that doesn't have anything to do with the circulationplan lol... it's the same in other cities in Belgium
I'm 55 and live in Gent and love that I'm able to breath fresh air again. Cool that you asked the opininion of "everyone who lives here" but you forgot to ask mine. Glad I could help you hereby. Greetings from the Watersportbaan
I wish the #uk took good #government rules like this, nah the uk government are biased to cars
#cycling #uk #government #scooter #escooter #escooterlife #Parliament #MP #politician #wirral #WirralCouncil #council #counciler #environment #electric #electricbike #electricscooterlife
@3:37 You need more shots like this to help caveman countries understand: people actually DO use bicycles in large numbers when the infrastructure supports it.
No. People get bullied out of their cars and are forced to use bicycles as a last resort. Big difference. None of this is voluntary. Nobody wakes up in winter, with terrible ice cold rain outside, and thinks to themselves "You know what? I just wanna bicycle to work today!"
I would have no problem with city planning if it happened in a democratic, transparent way and reflected what the actual residents want. Instead, it's just communists banning private means of transportation, whether you like it or not, crippling mobility nation-wide and then offering the crutch of government transportation alternatives. Which are mostly Soviet-tier and always smell of someone's urine.
It sucks. Communism sucks. Belgium was a lot better in the 90s when it was still a democratic country.
@@grapesodabanked Cars don't belong in cities. There is literally not enough physical space for everybody in a city to drive. Unless you turn it into an asphalt wasteland. Also, look up car ownership in cities. EVERYWHERE people have less cars per household on average in (big) cities, including the US
Argh, that horrible social media music! The worst music ever made! Otherwise, great video.
I still think Netherlands should invade.
oh so now you want to send your army but when we needed you in 1585 you were nowhere to be found!
@@colouredmirrorball I was thinking more about invading in a different way. We slowly encroach by fixing Belgium roads a couple of meter at a time, moving the border posts with them. No one would notice!
The 1585 spanish conquest of Antwerp is probably a major cause of the Dutch 'golden age', Quite weird. o.0
And an army was sent before, in 1930?, and quickly shooed off by the Flemish recruits who wanted none of it as well as French aid. x'D Right now its 0-1 in favor of Belgium. rip us Dutchies.
it's funny how the outside world doesn't know cycling is a form of transportation by the Flanders used for a long time lol.. actually Germany invented a bicycle
0th world country = cars are a lower class of traffic than bikes and pedestrians. Belgium and Netherlands, you are amazing.
Thank you! I'd personally say Belgium is miles behind the Netherlands though
This city circulation plan is copied directly from the Dutch city Groningen. The Dutch initiated this practical solution way back in the seventies when Groningen was divided into 4 zones where cars can not pass through. Cars have to go around the ring road to go to another zone while cyclists and pedestrians can pass freely. Dutch cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht followed and have come up with similar solutions to make their streets and centers more people orientated. Now 40 years later cities in other countries like Gent in Belgium are following this Dutch city circulation plan to make more room for people. Also many of the added features and solutions for save bicycling are copied directly from The Netherlands (a manmade cycling paradise). Like reclaiming waterways that were filled up to make more room for cars in the sixties. The Dutch have been doing that for years. Nice to see Belgium is now following!
Here is my Streetfilm from Groningen from 6 years ago. Still holds up well! Check it out everybody. th-cam.com/video/fv38J7SKH_g/w-d-xo.html
Thanks Han Solo!
I would love to see this happen , unfortunately they are destroying our city. I know change doesn't come easy or cheap but the cost here is quite dramatic to have this utopian and very small city center. I would love to see the start of an underground network taking away trams, busses and mostly cars year by year leaving all the space for awesome walking and cycling.
After half a decade of misery we still can't take our kids to school by bike in a safe way while people go out of business and senior citizens never see their friends or kids again. A real modern idialist Gen(t)ocide...
Han Solo the person in the video mentions going to Groningen/Utrecht to learn, so thanks to those cities from Belgium!
Honestly we should copy all Dutch infrastructure regulations
Oh, look, we copied what our northern neighbors did in all their cities 30 years ago; aren't we innovative?
I would enjoy these videos more without the constant, distracting music in the background
Sorry, but most people really enjoy the music and it keeps people watching longer. Videos without music have far lower % of the video actually watched. Feel free to watch the next video in this Ghent Streetfilm I just published. That is a supplement to this film but has no music.
The music is just adorable, IMO. Great bass sounds.
@@C0deH0wler thank you very much. About 10 years ago I started using more music and there started being cheap options or Creative Commons tracks available and haven't looked back. I try to use upbeat, fun stuff!!!
@@StreetfilmsCommunity I don't mind some background music for the video, but when people are talking, it's sometimes hard to understand what they are saying, so you shouldn't leave it out, but perhaps not when interviewing people?
THIS VIDEO IS ONE GREAT POLITICAL LIE AND POLITICAL PROPAGANDA. AS AN INHABIANT OF THE CITY OF GHENT I KNOW THE REAL SITUATION. IT SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM YOU TUBE!
Turn the music down!
si vous faites une ville pour les voitures , vous aurez des voitures, si vous faites une ville pour les gens , vous aurez des gens - no comment😍
I wish American cities had ring roads so we could place concrete blocks and bollards on the perimeter.
We do have freeway rings, but the radius prohibits a similar strategy.
Too bad Canadians can't get over their addiction to motor vehicles in favor of something like this.
Its really nice to see that my southern neighbours are actually making their city like a Dutch city, beautiful. Almost looks the same! 🇳🇱❤️🇧🇪
Only difference is that our cities are much more historic and beautiful
@@TheFCBZOT If you say so...
But which ones did you have in mind? Because most are not older nor more beautiful.
@@TheFCBZOT You know that's not true. Most of our urban planning and land occupation regulations are fucked up. We have a few gems but the Dutch overall have nicer looking cities.
@@kakadorez11 Which are every city older than 1830, so probably like 95%?
Well Flanders is pretty much Dutch. Same nature, similar architecture, similar roads, similar people.
Afrekenen van uw bestelling!
t.ly/4j88I
I'm so happy for you! Greetings from the Netherlands
The music is awful & too loud, but otherwise a great video!
Congratulations to Ghent... especially since its remodelling was a *political* success! Those successes are somewhat rare.
Succes? A complete social and economic disaster. Elderly people get alienated, shops went bankrupt, impoverishment on al levels.
Not really a politica’s succes. support less than 30%.
@@peteryoomla156 Go back to N-VA
Whoever mixed this made the music way too loud.
This is wonderful. But it is a shame much of the infrastructure is so ugly and utilitarian; that restored river, for example, looks a bit like a concrete drain (with the concrete block walls). That's what I love about Victorian architecture, everything was built to look beautiful.That said, hats off to the planners who got so much done so quickly (which is perhaps why they had to be so utilitarian). Hopefully, now that they have got it working (in the face of such pressure from motorists and the media), they can take more time and beautify it more in the future. Well done Ghent, you've reclaimed your city. We are falling back here in London and heading in the opposite direction. Our useless mayor, Sadiq Khan, has just cancelled some proposed cycling lanes that were meant to be built to make London a more friendly city for cyclists. A quarter of the original planned cycle-ways were built and work really well, so it is just madness to cancel the rest.
The restored river actually is quite lovely while standing in it. And especially much better than 100s of cars there! :)
Indeed but lest not forget this is Europe and while our city is one of the most prominent medieval cities of Belgium if not Europe and also has a strong modern architecture using concrete infrastructure that is durable and serves its purpose. I think most Gentians like this a lot and like streetfilms is pointing out it beats piles of parked cars.
That river is rather ok but has very few to do with this circulationplan. The plans/decision to re-open the river were made like 20 years ago. People even started digging themselves as a protest because it took so long. The infrastructure of the circulationplan is the worst. Red paint, concrete blocks, big red plastic flowerpots everywhere, in a historical city. It's a disgrace.
@@Krishnafred It's actually pretty smart. You need to do temporary first to make adjustments later. And also to get the $$$ saved to make permanent infra and changes. Here in NYC we have laid down quite a few bike lanes - one that runs 120 blocks up 1st Avenue. But if we had to wait to pour cement and curbs like in Amsterdam - we would still be waiting to complete it instead of having it for the last six years. One day it will be replaced with a better, more beautiful design.
@@Krishnafred Yes it looks a bit soulless. However that can be improved. At least you have taken the big step to cut down on car traffic. Here in the UK, it just gets worse and worse.
Je connais bien Gent, il y a 25 ans et aujourdhui. C est un exemple à suivre dans d autres villes. Anvers, Bruxelles, Liege etc...il faut laisser les villes et leurs habitants respirer. Plus la concentration d habitants est grande, moins on s en inquiete
New Yorkers aren't commenting on this because we know we can't have nice things. My Ghent video is the star of my future "Woefully under viewed videos" playlist. When I arrived in Ghent from Brugge I had no idea that the car free core was something very new. They preserved the tram system and that forms the basis of the city's ability to transform. Also an engaged and educated populace. We can get people here to shift modes in small increments, but radical change can not happen in the no longer great USA in the absence of a sustained period of crisis.
The car free center has been there for 20-30 years, most people are ok with that. It's the area between the city center and the small ring that changed recently. Public transport is not like the subway in NY. You need some time and they don't drive on time, if there is no strike like this whole week. :-)
Centrum Brugge rijden er minder auto’s dan Gent ge kunt zelf me ne camion int stad geraken en America is nog altijd 1000 keer beter dan België we betalen als maar meer belastingen en nx verbeterd
New Yorker here. Our city has got to be one of the best places in America to implement something like this. It's just the stupid "red vs blue" political theater that holds us back. I don't know how we'd deal with ppl driving from just outside the city to work though. Long Island and Westchester are legit too far to bike into Manhattan, we're talking like 2+ hours even IF there were protected bikes lanes from there. We should focus on building up our bike infrastructure rather than banning car traffic for now.
Thessaloniki will no longer have cars from 2050
The dutch be doing this for decades
@Keys & Locks no
@Keys & Locks we Flemish speak the Dutch language, but live in Belgium, not the Netherlands
Too bad the music isn't louder 🥲
"If you design a city for cars - you get cars. If you design a city for people - you get people." Can't agree more!!!
In Ghent all the famous shops left the city to go outside where cars are welcome. Lots of restaurants and that's it. People of Ghent don't want more tourists. We pay taxes here so we find we have some rights to live in OUR city.
@@jeanvanderstricht551 that's very stupid. if those shops were in walking distance of the inhabitants, why would you need a car?
@@leonpaelinck When you have a certain age you prefer to use your car. Bicycle is not safe! Yearly we have over the 500 cyclists on the emergency service because they fell through the tram tracks. But in fact there are many more victims because not every victim needs to go to the emergency. But I found my solution. Since three years I didn’t go to the center of Ghent. I take my car and drive to Lochristi or an other city in the neighborhood where practically every shop has a FREE parking area. I don’t need the city of Ghent. The merchants need customers. They have one customer fewer but they don’t care neither do I. Thank you for your free comment! But it wasn’t necessary and very stupid to comment something without knowing the exact reason why someone doesn’t appreciate the situation in Ghent.
@@jeanvanderstricht551 ironically it's the older generation who prefers walkning and cycling. they're the ones who started adopting the e-bikes first. and no, cycling is not unsafe in Ghent. it's not perfect but it's fine.
@@jeanvanderstricht551 "All the famous shops left the city"? Could you please name 5 famous shops that left the city?
Studentenstad gent >Д<
Fietsen en OV zo hoort het
Er zijn veel Gentenaren dien u anders zouden vertellen drm zijn ze weg aan het verhuizen
Hey, this is impressive! Especially the speed with which they implemented things :)
GGWP for the city council.
Thank you very much for sharing. I live in Germany and the transformation in larger cities is starting, this movie will inspire.
But how do small cities of 20-30k citizens in NL/B transform? Where people come from villages by car to doctors and markets? Where public transport is less developed? It would be really exciting if you could show case studies here.
Anyway ... thank you for sharing!
Hi, I am not an expert on the subject but I did some digging around on the internet and found some interesting stuff. The smallest municipality in Flanders (the Northern part of Belgium) is Herstappe, where 83 people live. There is no doctor in town, but there is a bus stop with a bus every 2 hours. The next largest town has 1000 inhabitants and has a doctor and a supermarket in town. The next largest town (2000 people) has 10 doctors registered (dont know why its so high). All bigger towns have both atleast a doctor, a bus stop and a supermarket.
If you're just entering the city from one direction to visit the doctors, you will leave in the same direction. Which this Circulation Plan accommodates, i.e. access. Also having this in smaller cities does good things for walking and cycling, eating, etc. still. Also small cities are very walkable, so just parking your car in one spot (like people do in bigger cities a lot anyway) is all good. In NL, people do come from villages on bicycles, and further people do come on recumbent bicycles, electric cycles, and velomobiles. People usually go there for work anyway, so they can pick up a few days worth of fresh, tender produce on their way home.
For them (outside the Netherlands) the regional tourism cycle path network is the answer (Belgium: www.fietsroute.org/cycling/cycle-nodes-networks). They just need a few small modification in and out of the city/town as those places have a lot less traffic anyway. And ofc they will alway depend more on cars than people living in cities where everything is much closer.
In the Netherlands the cycle infrastructure for small towns is the same as in big towns (or even better) because of 40 years of small changes.
They generally don't have a closed of center like this because they don't need to. There will be a speedlimit in narrow/old streets and they might be shared with bicycles and pedestrians. In the newer parts of these smaller villages/cities there are segregated cyclepaths as well as on the outside of the villages to cycle between them.
Look for bicycledutch on here to find loads of videos. You can look up the placename the video is about and see how many people there live on wikipedia.
It depends on the place and its features. A new town like Houten has perfect infrastructure for cyclists. It was designed with split zones and a ring road for cars, cyclists have priority in town, and perfect access to the centers/railway stations. An older village, like Geldrop has less options. Typically: Speed limits went down from 70 to 50 kmh on main streets (with seperated bikelanes), and from 50 to 30 in or near neighbourhoods (which causes less problems with slow traffic). New neighbourhoods have some extra cycle paths and there's a cycle highway with smooth asphalt and street lights (Rielsedijk towards Eindhoven). They´ll redesign every crossing with (major) accidents, probably with a roundabout, or an elevated "table" and zebra (pedestrian priority) crossings. In and around the pedestrian area in the center, the library, and the main entrance of the St.Anna hospital there are loads of cycle-parking spaces. Cyclists and pedestrians have two extra crossings underneath the railroad (station & canal), and an easier one, at ground level, at Hoog Geldrop-Laarstraat. And the countryside is easily accessable with several asphalt cycle paths, without lighting, and bridges over the highway (A67).
Do this in new construction. Virtually everything in this video is illegal in the US. Old, dense cities of Europe are charming and beautiful but even they would not allow this in new construction.
construction vehicles still can enter the city lol
Good job Ghent, well done! Greetings from Groningen! :)
One part that I particularly liked is that Ghent basically copied exactly the "Verkeerscirculatieplan" (Traffic Circulation Plan) that was pioneered in Groningen in 1977, and did it on a much larger scale. Even though this is a very disruptive plan, I think you can see that this instant success in both cities proves that this plan definitely belongs on a list of "best practices" for pedestrian-and-cyclist-friendly urban design.
ok, a Groningperson said it! We Belgians are on the right track!! We ll get there, when I am 75
Yeah! I instantly thought of Groningen too. This might be the best way to make city-wide change with just a few bollards. The problem you usually see, especially in the USA, is that they make a bike friendly street with no friendly connections or destinations and then they bemoan how nobody uses it. This Groninger approach clears many cars out of the centre over night and your new bike infrastructure is just the old car infrastructure.
Honestly there are a LOT more things Belgium should just copy from the dutch. Especially when it's about infrastructure and urban planning.
It all looks great except for ple who NEED to use a car due to disability - not exactly inclusive to take away the independance of one sizeable section of community - unless you want to hide away people with disabilities
they can ask for access
This is great! I wish we had the political will to do this in more places!
there is nothing great about this stupid plan.....
@@rudycallebert8171 sure, so there's nothing great about reducing congestion and pollution, improving the health, safety and quality of life for thousands of people, and rejuvenating the city in a way that is sustainable for the future.
There's nothing great about planning for the future or creating open spaces that can be enjoyed by the community in a sustainable way that will benefit people for generations.
Still, at least we're not in the middle of an international climate crisis? Right?
I would try to reason with you further but fear that you will close your ears and judging by your other comments, some people are unwilling to listen, learn, and move with the times.
I sincerely hope that you can learn and keep an open mind, but if not then please don't waste my time. Move along!
@@MikeWillSee yeah right, mets get back a couple of hundred years.......i can only hope you do not own a car, because you faith does not allow it, it can only hope you do not fly .. i can only hope your are consequent enough to bike and walk only...... i sincerely hope you can sustain yourself ans learn from the past....because the future sure is not yours
@@rudycallebert8171 I have great difficulty trying to actually understand the jumbled mess that is your comment. For a start there is a big difference between intercity travel and intra-city travel. Over short distances there is no need for cars or planes, and pedestrians and cyclists will do perfectly well. This plan disables unnecessary, harmful short drives, meaning that the people who have a good reason to drive (a.k.a they are going long distance, they are not so lazy that they're going to drive 5 minutes down the road) can still leave the city and drive long distances. For people making intra-urban journeys they are now not only significantly quicker due to less congestion, they are also easier and better for the environment.
This plan also rejuvenates shopping areas as people now feel safer to go walk around and spend money.
You talk about learning from the past as if it is a bad thing, well let me inform you, it is quite the opposite! We have to learn lessons from the past so we know how to move forward into the future. In the past, people weren't scared to leave their kids to play in the street, or walk or cycle to school by themselves. In the past we didn't have a global climate crisis, because people didn't make unnecessary, polluting road journeys. That isn't to say that we don't embrace future technologies, but that occasionally we should stand back and look at the bigger picture; is this really what we want as a society?
Moving away from the topic somewhat, it is also important to avoid the mistakes of the past, as any historian will tell you. We certainly don't want a Hitler Mk. 2 roaming around because we didn't acknowledge the warning signs!
@@MikeWillSee people like yourself who know it all are the reason for this ignorant fucked up society.....it is fashionanble nowadays to ban cars and to impose taxes as lez zones. today there is no way getting in ghent antwerp or brussels with a car at all .... then again we pay the taxes.. edestrians cyclist pay nothing at all.... if there is a jumbled mess it must be in your head .. because you are so sure and so supported in your convictions you behave like a fundamentalist..... well most of those people have nothing to fight for.... well and to go with your thought.. if only we had a hitler ..... i do know where you would end... and you belong to a society i do not want at all.... i l gratefull to have 67 years ..... the best is not yet to come !
This solutions may cause issue with law of freedom, because you are forced to go by foot, ride a bike or use public transport instead to drive anywhere you want to.
But the pros are significant:
- streetcar (tram) or bus is not blocked by traffic -> all travellers are on their target place earlier
- streetcar or bus may run on electric power, that reduce city CO2 and NO3 pollution
- there will be no big shoping hauses in the center, because all big family purchase is done outside a city and you can take car ther if you need
- small shops may be introduced in local areas to quick purchase locally
- people may feel more healty because of freedom of movement trough the city, where much less cars that can harm them
If I have this possibility and I will take it.
But we are not forced to live in cities. So we have freedom to choose:
- living with car on contryside
- without in the city.
so having more options to transport is less freedom?
You're not *forced* to go on foot at all. You have to make a detour with your car yes but if you want to use it nodoby is stopping you.
Unfortunately the people in charge of planning where I live ,( Dublin Ireland ) don't have the intelligence or the motivation to do anything about our car problem
What is Winter like?
Not that bad in Belgium. We don't get alot of snow it mainly rains alot
mostly the same, but with winter coats and beanies. And a few who walk in stead. There's proper snow perhaps for 5 days a year, and freezing rain perhaps another 5 days. In Brussels, I use transit perhaps 2 weeks during Winter in stead of my bike because of the weather, the rest of the time, I keep riding with a rain coat and perhaps rain trousers.
Good for young students, old people, tourist ... A hell for residents with a car.
Jean Begerem to hell with bicycles