Sweco Belgium
The best form of mobility is proximity
Imagine a city in which you can move around safely and seamlessly, with less traffic, cleaner air and more space for greenery. A future in which sustainable mobility not only contributes to the climate, but also to our health, quality of life, and road safety. That future is achievable, but we need to make the right choices now. Spatial planning plays a key role in this objective, but tangible steps that will make a big difference can also be taken in the short term. Our mobility experts explain how we can create a smart, healthy and sustainable living environment.
Safe and seamless mobility
At Sweco, it’s a question we deal with on a daily basis: how do we ensure we can move around cities and municipalities safely and seamlessly? It not only involves mobility; it’s also about creating a pleasant, healthy environment in which we enjoy living, working and shopping. “The answer lies in the way we organise our mobility,” claim Ward Ronse and Jeroen Bastiaens, Traffic & Mobility Team Managers.
We can achieve these objectives by making our mobility options more sustainable: the so-called modal shift,” Ward explains. Often, sustainable mobility is only viewed from the perspective of the climate problem, but it encompasses much more. “It’s about getting around safely and comfortably in a city that offers a good quality of life, where noise and congestion are minimised and air pollution is as low as possible.
Ward Ronse, Teammanager Traffic & Mobility
The positive impact of more sustainable mobility on the accessibility of cities and municipalities is often underestimated. The more people opt to cycle, take public transport or walk, the more fluid the flows of cars and trucks will be. Jeroen: “While there are alternative transport options for lots of journeys, the car or truck is still indispensable in some situations. By embracing the modal shift, we create space for those essential journeys.”
The way we currently organise our mobility is the result of how we thought about it in the 60s and 70s. “That period was crucial because there was a huge amount of construction and infrastructure work being carried out. At the time, the fundamental premise was that asphalt was the best option since the car was king. We are still paying the price for that, but fortunately our thinking is completely different today,” Jeroen points out.
Unfortunately, you cannot change spatial planning and infrastructure overnight. It requires patience and could take decades. “But that doesn’t prevent us from making a start right now,” Ward adds.
Sustainable mobility incentives
Several factors currently make sustainable mobility a highly relevant topic. Most people consider traffic jams, which are increasing dramatically after a decline during the Covid-19 period, as the most serious mobility issue.
There is an increased focus on health and road safety, and rightly so. Healthy traffic and safe traffic go hand in hand, because the more we travel on foot, by bike or by public transport, the safer our streets and squares. Did you know that there were more than 45,000 traffic victims (injured and killed) in Belgium in 2023? This has an unimaginable impact on our society.
Those who travel on foot, by bicycle or public transport get more exercise than those who use cars. Therefore, more sustainable mobility makes for a healthier population. Exercise improves our level of fitness and we are more likely to chat with neighbours, increasing social cohesion and our mental well-being.
15-minute city
All these incentives make it clear that space and mobility are inextricably linked. Ward: “It’s time to abandon the outdated idea of separating functions and facilities as much as possible and to refocus on a functional mix and proximity. concept’, because they realise that proximity creates vibrant neighbourhoods and reduces car traffic. After all, proximity is the best form of mobility.”
All too often in Belgium, offices, businesses and shops are still built outside the city or village centre, which is unfortunately a consequence of our outdated regional plans. Everything you need in your daily life should be available within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from your home.
Jeroen Bastiaens, Teammanager Traffic & Mobility
Interwoven functions also play a role in achieving this: it is best if functions such as living, working, learning, and relaxing are close together. Ward: “For some people, this conjures up the ominous image of the metropolis, but it doesn’t have to be like that.
Sweco helps cities and towns with this issue: when drawing up a Spatial Policy Plan, mobility is invariably a key component. We work on projects of all shapes and sizes: from Antwerp to Sint-Niklaas and Tremelo. Jeroen: “Each municipality has its own spatial and mobility challenges, which we try and jointly address in a policy plan. We also work on a smaller scale: we help developers focus on sustainably accessible locations and on interweaving functions such as living, working, schools, and services.”
Ward: “A fine example of this is the CAT site at Vilvoorde. It’s a brownfield site at Vilvoorde station where new housing, shops, a hospital and businesses will be built in the coming years.”
Infrastructure choices and chain mobility
Spatial planning is one aspect, but infrastructure is at least as important. As we adapt our infrastructure to reflect new insights, our mobility teams will also have to think about how we organise mobility in the future. Ward: “What will our traffic consist of in, say, 2040? Nobody can predict the future, but it is essential to think about the space we need to create for pedestrians, cyclists, buses and trams, as well as the space we still want to reserve for cars.”
Jeroen: “These choices should not be made street by street, but be based on an overall vision of the network. Either way, it is appropriate to phase out dependence on cars. We already see personal car ownership increasingly giving way to subscription-based sub-formulas, especially among young people.”
And chain mobility should also be considered. Jeroen: “We leave home by bike, cycle to a station and then ride a shared scooter to our workplace. Something like that only works if the process is seamless, comfortable and easy. And if the supply of e.g. bikes and scooters is adequate, and the cycling and walking routes to and from the station are appealing and safe.”
At Sweco, we design where pedestrians, cyclists and public transport take precedence, and bustling Hoppin Point mobility hubs facilitate seamless, barrier-free transfers.
The effects of electrification
The electrification of our fleet is currently in full swing and will accelerate in the coming years. Forcing everyone to drive an electric car will not solve our problems, but it does force us to think, for example, about charging infrastructure.
Ward: “Where should we install charging points? Installing them in neighbourhood car parks reduces parking pressure on surrounding residential streets and creates space for more greenery, wider footpaths and secure bicycle parking. The clustered charging facilities can become local energy buffers, smartly accommodating temporary peaks in the demand for energy.”
Mobility plan as a guide
A mobility plan brings together all the aforementioned aspects. Ward: “In a mobility plan, together with municipalities, cities and transport regions, we describe our objectives, provide a clear vision and define specific actions. For example, we drew up a mobility plan for the municipalities in the Turnhout city region (under the name Kordia), which they are using as a guide to roll out their supra-local cycling routes.”
Long-term plans are important, but it shouldn’t stop there. We can also make a difference in the short term. Jeroen: “We assist business parks, such as Island Zwijnaarde in Ghent, in improving their accessibility and support developers so that the range of mobility options on a site is tailored to its programme and context.
Moreover, huge construction sites are planned in the coming years: Oosterweel in Antwerp, the R0 Ring Road in Brussels and R4 in Ghent. This will cause major disruption at a significant number of crucial spots in our road network. We need to use these situations to invest in quick wins in terms of cycling and public transport so we can offer people alternatives.”
This requires careful coordination between governments and transport providers, as well as cooperation with companies committed to encouraging the modal shift. This will enable us to structurally limit the impact of the disruption, rather than only taking measures when the works are already underway.
From mental shift to modal shift
The good news is that policymakers are now also leaning towards this vision. Ward: “The majority of officials and mayors are already convinced of the benefits of the modal shift, and many citizens are behind the idea. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of work to do, which means it is necessary to create broad support and raise awareness. Participation is a crucial aspect in all our projects. The modal shift initially starts with a mental shift: a different way of looking at things and daring to embrace change.”
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