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How Antwerp’s ‘Big Link’ will reshape mobility
10 November 2023
by Christopher Carey
As part of plans to reduce traffic congestion, Antwerp is embarking on a major infrastructure project that will see the transformation of its outer ring roads and the expansion of green spaces.
Named ‘The Big Link’, the plan will be realised over the coming decades. It aims to make roads more efficient and help to achieve a 50:50 modal split between journeys by car and journeys by walking, cycling and public transport by 2030.
Measures include improving road and cycling infrastructure, developing tram and suburban train lines, and running campaigns to encourage behavioural change.
City liveability will also be improved with the expansion of green spaces by covering parts of the ring road and connecting neighbourhoods.
Speaking on the sidelines of the recent Cities Today Institute City Leadership Forum in Antwerp, Koen Kennis, the city’s Deputy Mayor for Mobility, outlined the project’s ambition.
“We don’t want to oblige people [to use sustainable transport], we want to seduce them,” he said.
