A new report published by Greenpeace Belgium confirms that Ghent is the strongest-performing city in Belgium when it comes to sustainable mobility. The report compared the five most populous cities in Belgium and ranked them as follows: Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp, Liège and Charleroi.
The Wuppertal Institute, which was appointed by Greenpeace to perform this survey, used 21 indicators based around the following criteria: public transport, road safety, air quality, mobility management and active mobility (walking and cycling).
Ghent was by far the winner, thanks in particular for its traffic plan, its high number of cyclists and its effective parking policy. But the surprise of the survey was undeniably the second place awarded to Brussels, a reward for its work on public transport mobility and its low-emission zone. In third place was Antwerp, which is well-known for its excellent road safety and its low-emission zone. The cities of Charleroi and Liège brought up the rear due to their lack of investment in public transport, cycling and walking.
However, despite the fact that these five cities obtained a good score at Belgian level, there still remains a great deal of work to be done in terms of urban investments if we are to compete with other European cities such as Amsterdam and Oslo. So it is no coincidence that Greenpeace Belgium published this report a few weeks before the municipal elections, as its aim is to sound the alarm and encourage change so we can meet the climate challenge.