Bruges’s big car-free day

Author: Bart Slabbinck

As the top cycling city in the Flanders region of Belgium, life for cyclists is not bad in Bruges. This was especially the case during the city’s recent car-free day.

On 15 September, the city centre was transformed into a celebration of sustainable mobility. As part of the day, the city of Bruges organised a whole set of activities.

On ‘t Zand square, one of the main public spaces in the city, a MobiMarkt was organised. This allowed visitors to experience road safety and sustainable mobility via a series of fun attractions.

Professor Velo and fellow cycling enthusiasts came to the event on historic bikes, giving people a real two-wheeled blast from the past.

But the real highlight was the SkyBike, which enabled those at the car-free day to cycle 60m above the historic city centre, giving a new perspective on the city’s famous medieval skyline.

Pictures say more than a thousand words, as the images here make clear. The city plans to hold more car-free days in the future. 

Image by: Klaas Vandekerckhove

This project has received funding from the European Union‘s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement no 769177.

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