City of Ghent

The City of Gent is the capital of the Belgian Province of East Flanders and with about 250,000 city inhabitants it is the country’s third largest city.The metropolitan area has a population of more than half a million people. Due to the university, the large student population and the vibrant city culture, Gent is also known as the “City of Knowledge and Culture”.

   

Sustainable urban mobility planning in Gent dates back to the early 1990s when the first bicycle and mobility plans were already developed by the city administration. Gent’s SUMP from 2003 is currently being updated and the revision is planned to be finalised in 2014. As Gent is known for its long tradition, broad experience and successful implementation of participation processes, they lead the Work Package on involvement and participation of stakeholders and citizens in CH4LLENGE. Together with Rupprecht Consult, Gent will support the other partner cities in analysing their previous experience in participation processes, in developing SUMP participation strategies and in implementing participation-related pilot schemes.

Gent will also optimise its own SUMP processes by establishing a traffic management centre which aims to improve cooperation between the city administration, Flemish government, the Flemish traffic centre, the police and surrounding municipalities. The development of the traffic management centre, being one of Gent’s SUMP measures, will be fully monitored within the project and stakeholders will also be involved in the monitoring process.

 

About mobility planning in Gent:

Photos: City of Gent