Antwerp

Living Lab - Antwerp

Antwerp is located in the northern part of Belgium. It is the second largest Belgian city and has Europe’s second largest port. The Antwerp urban and port areas are confronted with a complex mobility situation and major road congestion. Just like other European port cities, Antwerp has to reconcile freight and logistic transport with major flows of commuter, citizens and visitors in and around the city. The mobility objective of the city of Antwerp is to tackle this port-city challenge, improve transport infrastructure, reduce motorized road movements, promote sustainable transport modes, and keep the Antwerp region accessible and liveable.

City Factfile

City area	204.51 km2
Population	518,368
Population density	2538 inh/km²
Climate	Temperate maritime
Gender balance	49.7% male, 50.3% female
Average life expectancy	80.2
Car ownership rate	377/1,000 inhabitants
Accident rate	2015: 8 road fatalities 120 seriously injured 2151 slightly injured 4631 material damage

Antwerp Today

Challenges

Turn the new tramlines into a structural axis in the northern urban area where the port and the city meet, linking the city with the port area and offering new non-car dependent transport for port employees.
Guarantee the accessibility of city and port during the large infrastructural works for the new tram corridor and using this momentum to change the transport choices of citizens towards public transport and cycling.
Significant reduction of car dependency of commuters working in the port, overcoming physical and mindset barriers typical for port cities and removing barriers in finding appropriate employees.
Avoid, shift and improve car and truck traffic in and around the city in order to reduce the congestion levels on urban and regional axes while simultaneously improving the living quality in the urban area.