I notice that you often refer to the "Dutch way" of cycling and bike lanes. But remember: the bicycle is not a Dutch invention. Here in Belgium we have had bike lanes for many years and people all over the country already go to work by bike (you even get paid by the employer obliged by the state to go by bike in Belgium) The Netherlands is not the only one that is bike oriented haha
Being born in a border town North of Antwerp, I can assure you there is a BIG difference between Dutch and Belgian cyclelanes. Cycling in the Netherlands is much safer than in Belgium (Flanders).
@@Jamiro_Van Don't get me wrong, there is a large improvement in Belgium and I'm not preaching that everything is better in the Netherlands (it isn't) but in Belgium I always have the idea that the cyclelane is an aftertought... oh darn, we need to cyclelane somewhere too... ;)
Disagreed. Most belgians don't care if you do biking or not. I live near the Dutch border and I often notice that Dutch drivers overtake more slowly, wider and more respectfully than Belgian drivers. I also got cheered by a few of them, some just applaude, some just smile and thats very very encouraging. But I've never seen this from belgian people. Also the main difference between BE and NL cities is that the NL cities are built with a biking network, wich make it easier to combine cars + bikes, and there are also "free car zones" in NL cities.
@@SL_NEURO932 In Wallonia it's all hills and mine dumps and, unless you live in a city, everything is further apart than in Flanders. Not saying biking shouldn't be the norm, but it'll always be less inviting than Flanders. Also, it feels like there are more bike thieves than bikers in Wallonia. Not helping.
I'm from Belgium and other cities are trying to be more bike friendly like Leuven en Mechelen. Public Transport and bikes are used all over and we have bike highways or 'fietssnelweg'. Those roads are build so we can go relatively fast and safely from one city to another, mostly for work. I used to do 64km per day for work using those highways.
@@eeftankianDat is bewust. Wij hebben vaak partijen in het bestuur gehad die vinden dat openbaar vervoer een vergissing is en geprivatiseerd moet worden. Dit terwijl een fietsostrade of zelfs een iets ingewikkelder idee zoals een autovrije stad verwezenlijkt kan worden door een regionaal bestuur met politieke moed.
I'm from Belgium and it's good for people who live where they work. On the other hand if you need to get in and out of Ghent for work it's a fucking disaster. And our public transportation sucks ass
Exactly, I quit my job in Ghent after they introduced the pie-part system. It became impossible to drive out the city without being stuck in traffic for more than an hour in the streets of Ghent. Taking public transport all the way home resulted in travel times up to four times what I could do in a car previously. The problem with this kind of approach is that it's very isolationist; it's just Ghent doing for itself without taking into account Ghent is a part of Flanders, and it also needs to serve a role for other people that are not from Ghent as well. If they want to go back to the 19th century, well, it will be without me.
@@xt5181 house prices in cities are way higher than outside, it's often not a matter of choice when jobs are in the city and houses are not affordable. Me personally, i was in construction for 10 years where we can't choose where we work and more jobs started to be in ghent. I chose to quit. fuck ghent
@@xt5181 I live in Brussels and no, public transports are not great lmao. Stib sucks, Delijn takes too long to use (in brussels) and we know i should not start talking about TEC or SNCB. But i have to admit, Delijn are great OUTSIDE Brussels
I lived in Ghent all my life, i can assure you .. The ring road is a disaster, constant traffic jams. The city center is now car-free, but the around the ring road people can suffocate from the smoke of all the cars.
I've lived next to the ring for multiple years myself just before the start of circulation plan, and you could already say that then? I wonder if the air quality really got measurably worse.
Same here, don't believe the far left "green" propaganda. About 10K people like it 200K hate it. The politician that implemented this plan is the least favourite and most hated politician in ghent history
Traffic got more busy. but that is irrelevant of the circulation plan. Online retail caused a massive increase in traffic of delivery vans. This is also noticable in Netherlands. In London in 1 year , over 15 000 new delivery vans were registered in just one year ! These vans drive thru the cities all day, (unlike commuters) from delivery adress to delivery address.
They just removed the problem from inside the city to outside the city. A lot of shops (family shops) closed because of the circulation plan (and sometimes together with corona) it was too much. Now we have a lot of shops in Lochristi while before it was a flower village. It’s also very dangerous to ride the bicycle on the main road, Antwerpsesteenweg, because there are the shops but also a lot of cars, even though we have a cycle path but some people only have a bicycle and don’t have a car or can’t take the bus. A lot of people are also angry at Filip Watteeuw, because now he even made circulation plan for other places, outside Ghent but are sub municipality from Ghent. A lot of people need to ride a lot more with the car causing more emissions and they want less emissions 🙃 Also some changes are even more dangerous for bicycles than before the change. And a lot of bicycles near and in Ghent don’t give priority when they need to give it to the cars or to people who are crossing over the pedestrian crossing, in my opinion they think that they are the Kings/Queens on the road but they are not. Everyone needs to learn the road code not only mopeds, motorcycles, cars, trucks,... and use it but this is just my opinion. Change is good but not always. I’m happy that a lot of people can now ride the bicycle safer but it also has its cons. From someone who live near Ghent.
Online marketplaces also ruined those smaller businesses. Its not only not being able to drive in the city. If anything it has been proven that if you bike in a city you zre more likely to stop somewhere for something while in a car you'd just go where you needed to go and park
Belgium needs to get it's bike regulation in order. There are a lot of (safety) rules for every type of road-going vehicles, except for bikes. While they are one of the most dangerous methods of transportation. It's absolutely incomprehensible that safety regulations for bikes themselves have even started since the 19th century.
I lived in the city centre for 15 years. When they implemented this plan I moved out. It's great if you live near where you work. But if you live in the city centre and have to get to work outside the city by car it's a nightmare. I lived near that bike highway (Coupure) and had to cross it in order to get out of the city in the morning (going the other way wasn't possible anymore). It was just impossible. You would be stuck there forever as bikes streamed by in both directions without interruption. Also the roads in and out of the traffic-isolated neighbourhoods are still small narrow streets. Truck delivery ? Stuck ! Idiot parked too close to the tram tracks ? Stuck ! I didn't mind parking 1km away from where I live but losing an extra hour every day to get in and out of the city made me leave. Not complaining, just offering a different perspective.
jep there we go! they litterally F'd up for most of the people living in ghent and that are born and raised in ghent. those "green" and SPA really F'd the city
Belgium has quite a few people who uses their bikes for general use. Everyone has a bike and everyone uses it at least sporadically, just less so than in the Netherlands. Sure we have recreational and sport cycling too, but that's just a hobby some people do. There's also significantly more hills and bumps here in parts of the country than in the Netherlands, so before electric bikes where a thing that was quite a big disadvantage. Also roads aren't as save as in the Netherlands for cyclists, although rather recently that's getting much better and fast too. Here in Ghent there was already a decent, base to build on, but even in Brussels things are changing quit rapidly. Ghent is also a student city and student city universal are more bike oriented than other cities, also most big to medium size cities do have a car free centre. And yes, the circulatieplan is pretty controversial, and a lot of people hate it. I personally see it as a great benefit, but there are quite of few people, who hate it and are very load about it. The ringroad is quite busy, it was especially bad the few couple of years, but once people realise it was a bad idea to drive through or to the centre, the number of cars there decreased. There are traffic lights but you can get over and under the ring pretty easy by bike. If you want to go by bike from outside de ring to an other part of the suburbs, you can also avoid them by driving away from the city and take the R4, the outer ring, for instance. The canal got filled up to use as parking lot. Now they changed it back to canal.
a lot of fun mixed with tram rails! you never know when you will fall or get hit by a car because ur driving like crazy. ive seen some bikers cutting off cars thinking they are invincible. or other bikers just riding on a car lane where there is litterally!! a bike lane next to them
allright, historian (allmost) here. the cannals of Ghent were largely covered up during the mid-late 19th century as they were in Brussels and no doubt many other european cities. The reason for this is that they then doubled as open air sewers and by that point had lost their logistical/trade infrastructure roles. they were uncovered during the last quarter +-of the 20th century though i'd have to look it up, they were then turned into places for leasure and relaxation for citizens and tourists. The decision to cover them up was somewhat justified offcourse but around the same period the city walls were demolished and the gravensteen fortress was allmost torn down for the sake of more worker housing (small houses for factory labourers, nothing social about it either, it was all for liberal(libertarian+-) profits, the demolition of the city walls and ditches facilitated easier travel, an end to tolls and the construction of the later ringroad yet i can't imagine anyone even considdering doing the same today.
Hi Gentenaar, im happy you mentioned that!! I atually live at the Reep my whole live (43) and have seen change Gent the whole way untill now. I was a teenager in the 90's and spend all my time in the center and the way it was then compared with today is not recognisable anymore... Love Gent forever!! ;)
I'm belgian and live half an hour from ghent. It's the biggest city in my area so I go there a lot, almost always with car. Personally I really like the current transportation plan. You do have to be a bit strategic about how to go where but it works and is pretty efficient even for cars. The city is also a lot more enjoyable from the moment you car is parked and you stroll through the center. I have to say Ghent is not a huge city (pop. ~350k) so everything being pretty close together definitly helps in making all this work.
I live in Brussel. They transformed a little part of the historic center into a pedestrian zone. For years we heard the shop owners of the area complaining : "it will kill the center of Brussel, it will become a desertic place if customers cannot come with their car", blah blah. I've never seen so many people in the area, pedestrian area is way more enjoyable than before, is always crowded and I do hope the city planner expand it. Bussel is expanding rapidly the number of cylcling roads as well and that's really enjoyable when you live in the city. People living outside of Brussel but working in the city are not so happy with the suppression of car lanes though.
In Belgium/Flanders more and more people use their bike for utilitarian reasons: take the kids to school, go towork, go to the shops, and, yes, also for leisure. More and more people get rid of their car and use bikes, public transport, or use a shared-car service.
Charlie, Ghent is a very dynamic city with a lot of history and an old university and art education. The digital gaming industry such as Bulder's Gate is world renowned, has a lively nightlife, an example is “The Ghent Festivities” starts this weekend and is a 10 day event with 700 bands spread across the city and largely free. Many Dutch people then also head to the city center. The rest of the year there are many concerts and exhibitions, a rich nightlife with clubs and bars, cheap restaurants because of the many students. A few years ago, a train of Parisians came to the city every week for the nightlife. I don't know you but I think this is really a city for you. The cycling culture was already there but has now been strengthened by the new circulation plan, but because it is a very old city with many narrow streets it was so easy. Regards.
@@a7ig8or. You have to understand: some tourists block the passing for others, also public transportation. It is annoying, also in my home town Bruges. Self esteem and vanity... urgh...
I grew up, and still live in the heart of this City. I started riding a bike to school when I was 12, and have always used a bike to get to work. I'm now 34 and have never in my entire life owned a car. all my friends who life and work in the city don't have one either. When i step outside of my house it's all cobblestone, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
aka, you never knew any better and that's the only reason you can tolerate it... Almost everyone who I know that moved into Ghent also moved out again a few years after...
@@MrSimpsondennisinteresting, i found it the opposite way. A lot of people from outside the city like the car free feeling of it. Sure it takes some time to get used to it, but once you figure out where to park and what tram to take into the city you're set.
used to visit a lot of cities in netherlands and belgium and by train too , decades ago , now most are like boring the same and dying financially / commercially :/
Much respect to you for trying to pronounce the names of the places in the local language, even for Ghent/Gent is which known internationally and basically also has an English way of saying it. When you tried to say the names after hearing it, I was surprised by how close you are to pronouncing it perfectly. You have excellent hearing and pronunciation!
The city of Ghent has three spellings: Gent (for the Vlams speakers) Gand (for French speakers) Ghent (for English speakers) plus the historic English name Gaunt as in John of Gaunt. The sound of a g does change in the Dutch speaking areas The further south you are in the Dutch speaking lands the more like an English hard G is the sound. In the middle and north of the Netherlands the g has moved down the back of the throat and approximates to a throaty H sound. So the man from Utrecht says "Hent" and the Belgians say "Gent"
Ghent is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited a few times in my life, but it was years ago. I see they are on the right track to make the city more beautiful without cars.. That's new to me..
please.. points for effort : yes. "almost spot on" : no way. "YouTrecht" : 50/50. Groningen .. .. After repeating it 20x times one could imagine it was 50/50 but i'm afraid it was less.
I lived in Ghent my whole life. The street where i grew up is now one of the streets with the red stripes you can't drive through anymore. It's so much nicer there now that there are no more cars passing through. People who live on that street can still pass with a permit so they can bring groceries up to the front of the house with the car for instance. It used to be a very busy street traffic wise, now it's completely quiet, it makes living there so much nicer. There were, and still are, people who are very vocally against the circulation plan. Some people even insanely so. Those people can go live in suburbia. If you live in a city like Gent you understand it's so much nicer without the cars.
I agree with all what you say. ANd I would add the following: a city became a city because of the businesses that came to settle. Then people went for working. Now businesses have to leave. For now, it is good. like living in a countryside village,but with all luxury of the city nearby. In 50 years, activity will have moved outside the city, and then people will leave too. Not so bad for Ghent, because there are a lot of students that fill in the gaps. So .. all by all , not bad for certain kind of people. Not for everyone
as a belgian I completely agree for people living in the city but when you live like me about 30 minutes away its frustrating as fuck with the huge amount of traffic on the rings around Ghent.
@@samdewindt9370 Traffic on the rings is not so bad outside of peak hours. And there's options to park outside the ring and take a tram from there to the center
@@abc5228 What are you even talking about? Ghent is a bustling city, shopping streets are pretty much always full. Ghent became a city waaay before bussinesses ever moved there. Heavy industry still has its place in the harbor where it has always been. And offices (as the biggest sector of work providers in a tertiary economy) can easily be in the city center too.
6:06 It used to be a little river, but it was dirty and polluted, so they filled it up and put a parking lot on top in the 60s. Then in the late 90s plans were made to reopen this waterway. It actually got a lot of delays, so in 2014 I had a viral campaign on facebook "if this gets 1000 likes, we'll dig it open ourselves", got 3000 likes in 2 days, and we had a small gathering the next week, where we symbolically dug up some dirt. It put it back in the news and on the agenda, but then it took another couple of years before it was finally finished.
Tomorrow,18th of July, I'm going there for "Jazz Gent" to see DJ Shadow and AIR!!! The day after is the start of "Gentse Feesten" wich turns the whole city centre into one big festival for 9 days!🥳🥳🥳
I practically live there and it's a blessing. The city feels much calmer than it did before, sure for car drivers it can be a hassle, but for us who live here it's perfect
Belgium has a lot of utility biking too, it's not just the Netherlands. Children in villages often take the bike to go to school and students in big cities (like Ghent) drive their bikes to classes/university which is spread out all over the centre of the city. People who don't live too far from their work sometimes takes bikes too.
I used to live in the center of Antwerp city for years and now recently more on the country side of Antwerp. Both of the streets where I live(d) are those "bike streets". Even in the smaller town over here the whole town center is "bike street", where cars have to give way for cyclists. The whole northern part (mainly) of Belgium is focussing more and more on cyclists and pedestrian and trying to keep cars out of the populated centers.
I believe that Copenhagen also is a very bike-friendly city. In Sweden, we usually build separate ways for bicycles alongside ways for cars, with tunnels for the bikes, so both can safely go about their business.
This all sounds so nice until you realize it rains here almost everyday, I used to bike to work and would arrive completely soaked most of the time. Very fun experience
As a Flemish Belgian, I can confidently say that Ghent is a hell to get around in if you have ANY other plans than being a tourist that's not planning to buy anything. Wanna visit a friend? Need to pick someone up? Own a car? Well, NONE of those are possible unless you go through public transport... And public transport IN a city is fine, public transport is a HELL if you need to travel intercity... Literally had to be in Ghent last week, I'm from Antwerp, had a meeting on one side of Ghent and another meeting slightly outside of Ghent on the opposite side (so public transport wasn't an option) Yeah... avoid at all costs... Not to mention that housing in Ghent is small and expensive and if you want any construction/moving work done, good luck finding a company that is willing to somehow get their trucks and stuff in Ghent... The city markets itself as a pedestrian and cyclist city, but majority of the roads are cobbled, so good luck on that...
Bollocks. I live centre Ghent. Only an idiot would take his car to do "stuff" in centre Ghent. There are taxis if you need one. And sure, there are cobblestones. But they're like what, 5%? And as far as construction/move goes, it's all well regulated. You sound like an american complaining there are no americans in a Paris' gym.
I really like that they are finally investing in bike highways. I live in a small village between Gent and Kortrijk and going by train to Gent or Kortrijk takes me 45 minutes. With the bike Highway they are building I could go to both cities in 15 minutes by bike . Now it’s kind of impossible to go by bike because I would have to go trough a bunch of city’s and villages which takes about 2h by bike and the chances of getting hit by a car are quite high if you take that route.
Great video !!! Nice you bring attention to my city , i'm from Gent ... it's a city where people that visit , they always come back !! We have great history (historic buildings) with castle's and old churches .... if you visit Europe make sure you do Gent !!!
I have friends that moved out off Gent because off the removal off Cars/low emission zone's... They bought a house in Gent and it needed a lot off renovations. But they didnt find contractors willing to come to renovate there house. Because the vans off the contractors are to poluting to enter Gent and Gent charges a lot to enter these zones with cars/vans.
That’s probably found to change in the future as more and more cities get stricter on emission these companies will start buying vans with lower emissions.
Strange, the price of entrance with a "euro 4" class vehicle is 30 euro for a week or 1 euro/day if you pay for a year. So business-wise it wouldn't make sense to drop a good job over that. Also a lot of contractors probably drive around with "euro 5"+ class vehicles by now.
@@jorsm.3893het is al het “papier” werk dat er nog eens bij komt boven de al grote stapel. Ik werkte voor een telecombedrijf en zag het aantal afspraken die ik kon doen zakken van 10 naar 6. De rest zat ik vast in de file en rondjes rijden om 1 straat verderop te geraken. Dus bye bye rendement en een deel van mijn inkomen. Uiteindelijk moeten stoppen met een job die ik graag deed. Het systeem van de vergunningen werkt meer niet dan wel wat dan nog eens wat leuke boetes geeft.
Check Bruges. We started this already in the 70s. And we are coping with + 8 milion visitors a year with only 20.000 inhabitants in the historic centre.
I used to walk that river parkinglot daily when i went to school in that area. I always wondered why the river in that part was just cut off but I'm really glad they opened it up again, it turned out really nice.
I live near Gent.. Before the plan you would just drive all over Gent with your car to all your different stops you had to go to.. After the separation into sections, you'd just drive into the section closest to where you're coming from, park the car, and do all your stops by foot. The plan was annoying for a month or so, then we were adapted, and not looking back.. Only downside, sometimes there are so many people about that you could walk over their heads..
Charlie Check Gentse Feesten The oldest ring roads in Belgian cities are often situated on or near the city ramparts that were mostly demolished in 2nd half of the 19th century. From the 60ties onwards either that 1st ring was upgraded to motorway status or a brand new motorway ring was build. Driving (and parking) in Ghent is not all that easy in the medieval city center. I used to work there and my bro used to live there. Great city, great food, good connections, lovely atmosphere. Best kept secret for expats but a bit pricey for real estate unless you look for a fixer upper. We visited Ghent Castle with some members of a US branch of the family. Ron remarked that the castle walls were unsecured and that people could fall of. Law suit waiting to happen. My bro remarked that we wouldn't publicize being stupid enough to fall off 😂 Darwin awards and all that. I don't know if they secured the walls. The rivers and canals were prime infrastructure in the middle ages. In the sixties barge sizes became to big. Upgrading the canals was not possible, big P-pressure so the canals were filled in. Similar problems with canals and rail roads so Gent is one of the few cities with a ring canal and a ring railroad.
Gent as we call it is very much a university city as well. so a large part of the moving people are by bike already. I have no problem going to the city by train or car. I am very proud and happy for this evolution.
7:27 in Mechelen you have the same thing, in many cities in Belgium actually... The water was used for inner city and outer city transport and is also needed for heavy rainfall. It looked like we have a trend going on to bring back the "original" state of the major city's and bring back the waterways and less cars. Keep in mind to that our city's are as big is Birmingham for ex.
hello, as someone who has gone to school in Ghent all my life and lives close by, the video you just watched is very overly positive and don't talk about the negative things that this create, don' get me wrong it's a lot better now in the city scenter but also only the scenter :(
In Belgium we take our car to bring the kids to school, go to work, go on holidays, get groceries or heavy stuff but short distances or things to do in the city we do on foot or by bike. Nobody will take a car to get a loaf of bread from a bakery that is 500 meters or 1 kilometer away.
Ghent is a great city, was just there last summer, this only works in cities that have a strong culture of walking and utilizing local shops. in cities that are more metropolis based, this can not work and has failed. Ghent is probably one of the few medium-large cities that can pull this off.
it can work there, the circulation itsself in ghent is dumb though, people hate it because they just made it confusing, contractors simply refuse to do jobs anywhere near it, deliveries are hell, students can't empty their rooms cause only people with domicile status are allowed to park in certain places and take certain roads but students can't get domiciled in most student rooms to begin with so it automatically means you go there knowing you'l get a fine and it's easier to then just pay it anyway. don't get me wrong, removing cars from the center and relying on public transportation, walking and bicycles to get around the city makes a lot more sense. The problem in the US is that people go everywhere by car whilst people in Belgium wil visit ghent mostly by train if they don't have to stay late. besides ghent DID NOT REMOVE PARKING. They build massive underground parkings all over the city center. locals generally even park their cars in there if they don't have a garage
I own an electric motorcycle, so its REALLY easy to get around suburban and city areas close to me. You have to really pay attention going near a city in a >2 wheeler, or you get fined in seconds. As long as you dont live in the sticks or fieldlands, aside of heavy rainfall or snow, twowheeler is the way to go.
You absolutely need to come for a week to the * Gentse Feesten * , the whole city is then one big festival with free podiums and all the area in the city is filled with happy partying people. you cannot comprehend as an outsider how big and fun it is .
Ghent is the English way of saying it, so you are pronouncing it just fine. I used to live at the part of the river they brought back. Was amazing to see the transformation from an ugly parking lot to what it is now. I can imagine that the worth of any house in that street went way up. :D
Lovely video !! As a local I think it's amazing as it's a lot more comfortable and pleasant to get around the city. The people complaining are the type of people who take their car just to get some bread or are too good to take public transportation; In the end they are shortsighted and a tad bit selfish. Ghent has always had a rebellious spirit and it's good to see we haven't lost it and are using it to shape ourselves a better future.
Nope wrong, Thats why I moved out, not my Ghent anymore, I my rebellion I even don’t go to the Gentse feesten, but I work and bike to Ghent everyday 15 km, live is beter outsider Ghent
In the Netherlands in some cities they already made a car free city centre. But to go by public transport cost more then if you would give a friend money for gas to go somewhere. They need to make public transport cheaper, that way more people will make use of it.
Ghent was already a pretty bike-heavy city before the car-free zone was implemented because of the many students who go to college or university there and use the bike to get from one campus to another or to their student homes
That's a lie. People die on tram tracks. Either by falling of their bike, or pedestrians getting scooped up by psychopaths driving those trams. It's insane
Love the video! I'd just like to point out that even though the netherlands might be 'known' for it's biking culture it's pretty much the same in Belgium 🤣
I’m living in Ghent. The bike as transportation made sense as there 42000 students living in the inner center. The architect of this plan, coming from the greens political faction consequently started to introduce these ideas also in the outer regions of the city. As of now we’re the proud owner of the most zone-30 traffic zones on the planet. When driving around in Ghent you’ll never have to shift second gear. Imagine driving around in Los Angeles and every street is 20mph.
As someone who regularly cycles to Ghent, since I live close by, I pass the inner Ring Road via one of the many cyclist/pedestrian crossings. Inside the city, the most dangerous obstacle are other cyclists, who often think that because they're cyclists, the traffic rules no longer apply. But that's everywhere I guess.
My beautiful little citie were the big castle is in the middle citie. Gent is student town there are a lot of bikes there like AmsterdamZ Is easy there stoplight for the bikes and people that walk
If you like these views on European cities‘ infrastructure you can check out the channel „not just bikes“. It’s a North American fella (Canadian I believe) who now lives in the Netherlands and puts out a lot of educational stuff on infrastructure in general, infrastructure compared between US/Canada & Europe, etc :) super nice channel cause he’s got both perspectives too.
Dutch and belgians are equal when it comes to biking. belgian limburg for example has more trails like the flower route, beer route and the likes. In East and west flanders you have a whole plethora of bike trails as well like the route hageland and others.
The city didn't just remove cars, it also removed the elderly and disabled, including myself. It's a totalitarian system that doesn't care for anyone who can't ride a bicycle (or chooses not to). Both my dad and I used to live in the city centre. To take care of my dad, deliver groceries, do repair work to his home etc. I needed a car, but that was nearly impossible, so he had to move. Then I got handicapped myself and was forced to move to the edge of town, only because I'm unable to ride a bike.
Ghent is a green totalitairan bastion. Greens loved it, until they need a plumber or an other craftsman. They find none because all normal people avoid Ghent.
@@hansmemling7605 The city is more liveable for you perhaps, from your own selfish point of view. It is not liveable for the already mentioned elderly and disabled. It is also not liveable for shop owners. Most of them are gone. All that remains are bars and restaurants. That's not a city for everyone, that's a city for students, tourists and wealthy babyboomers. Everyone else is no longer welcome or can't afford to live there. And now they have started the same process in the suburbs. As a result it takes me 25 minutes to drive back and forth to the supermarket instead of 5 minutes. It's expensive, it's time-consuming and it's polluting. Yes, I have called the people responsible at the town administration, and they have made it crystal clear to me that I'm not welcome because I'm handicapped and therefore can't ride a bike. This is the ugly truth that you might not want to hear.
@@LuffyL-ch1ku Please make a tiny effort to read stories from people like myself who actually try to survive there. You're obviously not from Ghent and not even from my country. Let the people who live here inform you and please accept what they say, even when it doesn't correspond to what you had in mind.
Most major Belgian cities are converting their historic city-centers into car free zones, the biggest (of Europe I think) being in Brussels, smaller cities like Ghent, Leuven, Antwerpen are a bit less crowded by cars thus easier for bike users.I know for Brussels they wanted to use the same system as Gent to keep cars out but it was met with huge amounts of resistance unfortunately
I live in Ghent, and to be honest, there's not much to do with a car in Ghent. You park it on a Park&Ride or one of the underground parkings in the city center, and then you discover it using public transportation. This resulted in a busier city center, as it's a lot nicer to stroll there. The ring road has crossings with lights everywhere, and there's multiple points where you can drive under it by bike. It's great to live here, honestly. Unless you're a petrolhead, but then you won't appreciate the parks, fresh air and overall vibe of the city. The Reep canal is one of the ways the city cools down during heatwaves. That's why water in the city is really important: it makes it more liveable.
3:07 The ring road had (well ... has) lights - so crossing it isn't hard; also bridges over the water have been adjusted to allow for pedestrians & bikes to ride under them (ex. 4:54 ) 6:16 they had cement over it; it connceted the waters but I don't think it was usable (a.k.a. not enough space overhead for boats) To be fair, part of this canal still has that (google streetview Lieven Bauwensplein, where the water 'dissapears underground for about 100m/300ft ) 8:08 those are more about the railways; but yes simelar things have been done near the rivers for the ring road. 9:30 As dutch we're used that some our letters are hard to pronounce (like the G & the R) - so no need to appologize. (FYI your G is correct, but our R is a more a vibration with the tip of our tongue ) (Also, for Utrecht, the 'ch' is pronounced as a G ; the U is pronounced as at 10:03, but without the initial 'y' (he englishises it to y[u]trect ) )
In Belgium and most Western European cities, the historical centers of the major cities are carfree, that's not unusual. Same for Brussels, Mechelen, Antwerp, Leuven etc ... The problem in Ghent is that the train stations are not in the center of the city, like in Antwerp, Brussels etc. I live in Antwerp, only 60 km from Ghent but if I go to a concert in Ghent by train, I can't go back as the last train back is around 22.30 and the nearest station is 1 hour walking or 30 min by tram or bus. I would only be able to see the support act or I should stay in a hotel.
there’s no poignant ending to this but lived in Groningen 1+ years and recommend it to everybody. Such great life quality, such great people. Loads of internationals (like myself, so can’t shit on them), but I was mostly in a native bubble through work & they were the most loving and funny people.
I didn't know about the river. The way they did it works well for city like Ghen or Antwerpen. It's nice to preserve the historic center of the city that was anyway already kind of a nightmare to drive. It's also a small part of the city that you can go from on side to the other in like a good 30 minutes walk. I don't think the structure of US cities would suit that or maybe selecting some neighboorhood that you could preserve
The revival of an old canal/river was also done in Utrecht, and the division of the city in sectors with a ring road was implemented in Groningen. Of course American cities could implement similar plans (and they probably should), but doing it on a checkerboard streetplan may add some extra challenges.
Ghent, Groningen, both is with a light G ;) you got pretty close! I studied in Ghent before the plan, it was pretty messy. It definately improved, even though I got a car now xD
Being Expert in HydroEngineering, Dutch persons are so smart in creating any new land from water territory ( Sea / Ocean ). On the other hand, from parking area in Ghent city can be changed to be a canal by the Dutch. As far as i know, majority of Belgian people are speaking Dutch ( Vlaam/Flemish ) and the rest is French language. Basically, Holland and Belgium are twin and brother each other. Duizends maal Dank voor jouw gedachten en verdiensten. Warme groeten uit Indonesia als de land van paradijs ( Bali, Java, Komodo Eiland enz ) in zuid Oost Azie. 🌏🌎🌍
I live in a village near to Gent, and go to a academy in Gent. My father drives a bus for public transport and has to drive through Gent alot. Many people I know don't like the circulation plan, they feel it restricts their freedom, especially the older generations who worked their whole lives and where always accustomed to be able to drive freely trough Gent. Also lots of older people in Gent can't easily take public transport to visit friends outside of Gent, and vise versa.. They are kind of stuck now and many people get lonely. I wish they could also look to the older people and not only to the younger ones with children. I myself like the fact that it's less dangerous to drive true the city on my bicycle, but it's not so beautiful and perfect as they try to show here in this video.. Its still a chaotic trip, especially in the ring around the city, it's kind of a "bullying atmosphere" for many car owners. Because of the fines you can get if you drive into a zone restricted for cars. Its just to chaotic for many people.. The problem is that Gent isn't a island.. Its a beautiful idea, but if the rest of the country still runs on cars it's difficult to introduce the idea of a city without cars. Public transport is also not very efficient.. There are many problems in that sector, something I know from my father.. He has to drive 8 hours without taking a break, because driving around the city even with the perks of being able to drive trough some zones restricted to cars but not busses. Is still a difficult job..
Technicly belgium is Dutch, it became a country in 1830 , before that , it was part of the Netherlands, Dutch means Diets that is the old name of the language.
In which Universe ... politically? Yes. If you hadn't had the influx of Flemish people, you wouldn't have had the BALLS to be to passive aggresive ... or is it the other way around ... When A'dam was a swamp, we had things going
Belgium was Dutch only for a very little while in it's history before becoming Belgium. It was also independent quite a few times (not as a whole but different regions were), and also under the reign of Spanish, French, Roman... And I don't think we are the same... similar, yes, but not the same.
If you have a second screen, or can make your recording program only record youtube, you could just use Notepad or Sticky Notes on the pc :) We also bike a lot here in Belgium, however the Netherlands is the European leader by far, followed by Denmark, Belgium, Norway and Finland in no particular order. We have a healthy intense competition with the Netherlands when it comes to Soccer and Pro Cycling 😄 and nearly everything else to be fair hahaha
People always protest in the beginning, but it's so much better. I live in Antwerp and such old cities are just not made for that much trafic. You can park at the edges and you are in the middle of the center by tram in 5 min. It doesn't hurt shipowners at all.
We have the same Politics in Deinze also, ( near Gent ) where the mayor lives outside town near a big road where driving home not an issue . This “bicycle rules “ policy is also very much an anti car policy , which has killed economics and commerce and logistics in a huge drastic way . More bikes less cars : fine, fine for students ,fine fir people who don’t own a car , but this kill all cars policy is typically more about green revenge than the overall economics of the city
It's good if you live in the city. If you don't live there, you will probably stay away. Public transport like trains is also too expensive if you have to pay it yourself as a working-class-milkcow without any reductions anymore.
This has become quite a long comment, I got carried away sharing about how it is to live in this area and enjoy the cycling-friendly policies and a little bit about inter-city trains rather than car driving. I hope it inspires someone to plea for a more car-less infrastructure since it is truly more carefree to commute with when well implemented. I remember as a kid going to Ghent with my parents from a nearby town where we lived, and parking on the Graslei, which is now the core of the car-free city center. You can still get close to the center with a car if you need to. But you would only do it if you really really need to, and it will take you on a tour of half the ringroad torun a simple errand. Then again, these trips take 15-20 minutes and that really isn't that much in my experience. You kinda get used to it. What is even easier the get used to is walking and cycling in the city center. For 7 or 8 of my 17 years in Ghent I lived a short walk west of the historic center, and cycled daily to school through the city center. Every morning I would stop to take a breath after climbing the St-Michielsbridge and look around at the scenery. I lived close to Graslei and loved the calming vibe of the waterside. I can't remember a single time that I cross one of the bridges in the center and not take a pause or slow down to breathe and feel thankful for a city where you'd rather spend time on the street or by the waterside than in your sofa or even on a balcony if you'd have one, when the weather is nice. It makes the city a very social place. I currently live in Leuven for my studies, and I was in Ghent yesterday and where I could have waited ten minutes to take a bus to my final destination, it didn't take a second thought to pick up one of the many shared bicycles and cycle the 14 minutes and both arrive at my destination 10+ minutes faster than the first public transport connection I had when coming of the train, but also enjoy seeing the city a bit and enjoying the ride. I can't exaggerate how amazing it is to have this vibe where you'd rather cycle or walk then take the bus, especially if it gets you there faster. Another thing that seems to set us apart, by the way, especially from the typical US city, is how easy and accessible the train is as a mode of inter-city transportation. Where an American won't think twice about hopping in the car, we barely think twice about taking the train somewhere: many connections a day and a dense network of railroads certainly help and in a Belgian city, the train station takes a central role as a place of transit, that has in my living memory always been more important than the local connections to the highways. Off course as I haven't owned a car for most of my life, I might be a bit biased towards traveling by train. Cool new thing: most Belgian train stations now have so named Blue Bikes, which for a rather low yearly subscription you can lend a bike for 24 hours for a mere few bucks (3.5 euros in Ghent) to go your last mile between the train station and your destination. Long comment, I know, but I'm a fan. It would be amazing to see this green mobility mix take root in other places around the world. Much more than electric driving, I feel the mix of trains, public transport and cycling are capable of creating a comfortable and pleasurable way of commuting and moving around that respects the climate, mainly because of the colonial impacts and atrocities that supply the materials for this big electrification for cars. Imagine, rather than driving 1.5 hours, including possible traffic, just cycling or walking to the train station, getting on, reading a book - but pay attention: one hour later you're in your destination city. You get off the train, scan a card at the Blue Bike station, pick up your assigned bicycle and cycle 10-ish minutes to your destination, having at your disposal a two wheeled, silent and even healthy to drive vehicle - I can't believe people go to gyms to cycle when they can just xD - that can take you anywhere in the city. That is mobility in Belgium. That is my daily or at least weekly experience (I also choose to live in the town where I now study rather than daily commuting). I've had a car for a while, and I've driven the commute by car and I'd take the relaxing trainride over this any day. Nearly everyone I know tends to only use cars when there is no train available, such as when you want to return home between towns after midnight when there are no more train connections until morning.
I live here , it's 'Meh' . public transport from outside the the city into it is rather pathetic . I cycle from outside , but when I get older that will change
They are doing this in more and more cities in Belgium. I personally never drove a car and I do not intend to ever drive one. They do need to work on public transport.
I was born in Gent. The north of Belgium is flat, like the Netherlands.The south, with mountains. Thats why we take our bikes more often. Its an easy way to move. Try to do the same in the south of Belgium and you are dead tired after 15 minutes.
Ghent is a nice city but as a car enthusiast i dont like it becouse they put a speed limit of 90 kph on the outer ring road and they restrict cars by pollution
that parking lot that turned into a 'canal' is NOT a canal ! It is the original bedding of the RIVER Schelde , that got dumped (filled up) and turned into a parking lot in the '60s , and is now returned to it's original state. I emphasize the words canal : man made and river : natural occurence.
While flanders isn't up to dutch standards, biking has been very common here just like in the Netherlands. We're about 10years behind the Dutch when it comes to changing from car centric to alternative centric. But biking as an everyday commuting utalitarian mode of transport never really disappeared here just like in the Netherlands. I as a kid in the 80s and teen in the 90s, biked everywhere on my own or with siblings and friends in my village. And calm streets were everywhere, and cycling paths were on every main road already back then. I biked to school in the city 5km away as a teen, and had relatively safe bike paths along main roads available all the way. Secondly, as a resident of Gent since 1999 i can say this original video is VERY misleading. They did NOT remove cars in 2018 and it did not happen suddenly in one go. The current plan is the continuation of a process that's been going on for allost 30 years now that started in the mid 90s. In the mid 90s gent was stuck in perpetual gridlock most of the time so the city government (mostly socialist party and green oartty back then) then decided to implement the first traffic plan based on the Dutch model in 1997, in which a large pedestrian area was created in the center, huge underground parking lots were created under most large squares, traffic was steered in towards these parkings and out of the city again through one way streets as quickly as possible, through traffic was steered around the city, and driving through the city was made less convenient. At the same time the city started redesigning public spaces to be more pedestrian and cyclist friendly and started investing in public transport and dedicated bus and tram lanes. The city continued this policy for 21 years until 2018. And it was a huge succes. The city became immensely popular again and went from a declining population to being one of the most popular and pleasant cities in the country. And then in 2018 the city council decided to go even further and implement an even more comprehensive plan in which the city was made even more car resistant as explained in the video. But it is VERY important to realise the city had been working on this already since 1997, and was already very car resistant compared to many European and even other Flemish cities. The 2018 plan just continued even further and made all through traffic in the city center impossible. But it is important to note cars are NOT banned, they are very much allowed in most of the city. Taxis are allowed at all hours and deliveries are allowed at certain hours even in the pedestrian area. The big thing that changed is that the city became even more car resistant, and through traffic was made impossible, so now the only motor traffic left in the city center is from residents and people that actually need to be there, and any trips made in a car can usually be done faster by bike or public transport since those can take direct through routes and cars no longer can... Big nuance to be aware of!
So where are the delivery trucks, emergency vehicles, disabled access, refuse vehicles, service vehicles, etc,. It's just a big commercial for cycling, but doesn't explain how the requirements of daily life are met.
I don't know specifically for Gent, but in other cities in Belgium with a pedestrian area, the area may open for some vehicles at certain specific times for like suppliers, refuse and some services. If it's not a municipal vehicle, a request has to be filled in advance in order to have clearance during those specific hours. Emergency vehicles of course always have the priority to go anywhere they need. All the rest is usually done by bike, like mail delivery, or food delivery. And as not many people usually live in the exclusively pedestrian areas, the package delivery services are not that much used, and else, the packages are deposited at a bureau during the same access hours than the supplier times and people go retrieve their package there.
Quite a loaded question, but since I live in the pedestrian zone i'll gladly answer it for you. Delivery trucks that supply shops do so between 6-8am, and only during weekdays. Garbage collection is on a schedule, once a week you put the bags in front of your house and they collect it in the morning. emergency vehicles are obviously exempt. quick side note: there is a large hospital and police station in the centre of the city, so ambulances usually only take around 5mins to arrive... As for disabled acces, there is a large offering of trams, busses and taxis as well as 2 trainstations on opposite sides of the city. Life has gotten a lot easier for everyone, except of course for guys who need a large car to compensate for something
I actually live close to this city I work there and go there very often . You have to understand that gent is a student city in the center there's a lot of students and they dont have cars they mostly use bikes. There's also lots of families that just dont have cars. Even the original gent people dont have a strong connection to cars . So for them not being able to cross from one part to another is not that big of a problem . Because they can with a bike , electrical step, on foot, with a bus ,... . People that work in gent and use cars don't have much trouble getting around. Because we come from outside the city in the city so we know in wat part we have to be. The industrial area where I mostly work is still easy to reach by car. Sinds in that part there's a lot more people from outside the city. A lot of the R4 is high way so you don't cross it with a bike or on foot and if you do there's designated places to do so . The R4 also doesnt have that many trafic jams gent is better then Antwerp or Brussels . Now there's a bit more traffic because they're working on a lot of the roads . But most of the time it's quite okay . People that work in the center get bonuses if you come by bike. ( I think this might be in the whole of belgium) the other option is to drive to the edge of the city. Park in one of the free carpool parkings and from there you go by bike, foot or take public transport. The only down side is if you have to visit several places in the city. like delivery services or people that hang posters and so on. because they do have to go from one section to the other . But some of them get exception to make it a bit easier . You also have underground parking the parking is expensive but doable. And they're right next to the car free zones . The city center is really beautiful and fun. it's really lively especially now during the "gentse feesten" 😁🎉
This is being done all over Belgium, not just Ghent. It’s about time they followed the Dutch way. Focusing on college towns is key. Public transport is much also better in BE than the USA.
I am originally from the east side of Belgium (Limburg) close to the Dutch border. There has always been a bicycle culture. However, just by watching the bicycle lane you can easily see where the border with the Netherlands is. But it is right to say that the general bicycle infrastructure in Belgium (Flanders) is getting better (we are trying to catch up with the Dutch 🙂)! In the city of Mechelen they are also trying to keep the center as much as possible car free. Since I am living now about 5 km outside Mechelen it is much easier for me to visit the city center by bicycle than by car. In our capital Brussels they are trying to give more rights to cyclists, but there is still a long way to go.
I think Gent is the most progressive town in Belgium It's also beautiful, old and authentic. A university city so many young people Forget the Dutch' Gent is green.
In belgium It is gent more like u said it first ;-) people from the netherlands pronounce it with the guturral sound but belgians speak with a much softer G. It is one of the easiest ways to find out if someone is from the netherlands or from belgium if you are not completely used to the language
You pronounce the g differently in the Netherlands and Belgium, the G is hard in Groningen (throaty) but soft in Gent (then it's better to even say it like an English g)
i lived most of my life near ghent and went to school there. At first i hated the circulation plan. Now i am used to it. i put my car on big parking lot outside the city and take public transport. It works. But not of you want to do big shoppings.
I notice that you often refer to the "Dutch way" of cycling and bike lanes. But remember: the bicycle is not a Dutch invention. Here in Belgium we have had bike lanes for many years and people all over the country already go to work by bike (you even get paid by the employer obliged by the state to go by bike in Belgium) The Netherlands is not the only one that is bike oriented haha
More and more cycling highways in Flanders, in Wallonia you have the Ravel-network which is very lovely especially in the Ardennes.
Well tb, this is mostly just Flanders. Not the whole of Belgium.
Being born in a border town North of Antwerp, I can assure you there is a BIG difference between Dutch and Belgian cyclelanes. Cycling in the Netherlands is much safer than in Belgium (Flanders).
@@Luc1967 maby in Rural areas i gues. I dont feel unsafe on a Bike axcept for Antwerp city center.
@@Jamiro_Van Don't get me wrong, there is a large improvement in Belgium and I'm not preaching that everything is better in the Netherlands (it isn't) but in Belgium I always have the idea that the cyclelane is an aftertought... oh darn, we need to cyclelane somewhere too... ;)
The Dutch biking philosophy is very much the same as the Belgian biking philosophy. It's used for recreation as well as commuting.
Disagreed. Most belgians don't care if you do biking or not.
I live near the Dutch border and I often notice that Dutch drivers overtake more slowly, wider and more respectfully than Belgian drivers.
I also got cheered by a few of them, some just applaude, some just smile and thats very very encouraging. But I've never seen this from belgian people.
Also the main difference between BE and NL cities is that the NL cities are built with a biking network, wich make it easier to combine cars + bikes, and there are also "free car zones" in NL cities.
@@valuxlevelux5618 I guess I should move then haha
@@Ennello In Flanders for sure but there is next to no biking culture in Wallonia.
@@SL_NEURO932 In Wallonia it's all hills and mine dumps and, unless you live in a city, everything is further apart than in Flanders. Not saying biking shouldn't be the norm, but it'll always be less inviting than Flanders. Also, it feels like there are more bike thieves than bikers in Wallonia. Not helping.
I'm from Belgium and other cities are trying to be more bike friendly like Leuven en Mechelen. Public Transport and bikes are used all over and we have bike highways or 'fietssnelweg'. Those roads are build so we can go relatively fast and safely from one city to another, mostly for work. I used to do 64km per day for work using those highways.
Fietostrade van Herentals naar Limburg vandaag gedaan! 😉Greetings from Belgium!
En toch trekt het oprnbaar vervoer op geen kloten
@@eeftankianDat is bewust. Wij hebben vaak partijen in het bestuur gehad die vinden dat openbaar vervoer een vergissing is en geprivatiseerd moet worden.
Dit terwijl een fietsostrade of zelfs een iets ingewikkelder idee zoals een autovrije stad verwezenlijkt kan worden door een regionaal bestuur met politieke moed.
I'm from Belgium and it's good for people who live where they work. On the other hand if you need to get in and out of Ghent for work it's a fucking disaster. And our public transportation sucks ass
Exactly, I quit my job in Ghent after they introduced the pie-part system. It became impossible to drive out the city without being stuck in traffic for more than an hour in the streets of Ghent. Taking public transport all the way home resulted in travel times up to four times what I could do in a car previously. The problem with this kind of approach is that it's very isolationist; it's just Ghent doing for itself without taking into account Ghent is a part of Flanders, and it also needs to serve a role for other people that are not from Ghent as well. If they want to go back to the 19th century, well, it will be without me.
@@fredrivers6472 pakt uwe fiets he zeikerd
Use a bycicle
@@xt5181 house prices in cities are way higher than outside, it's often not a matter of choice when jobs are in the city and houses are not affordable. Me personally, i was in construction for 10 years where we can't choose where we work and more jobs started to be in ghent. I chose to quit. fuck ghent
@@xt5181 I live in Brussels and no, public transports are not great lmao. Stib sucks, Delijn takes too long to use (in brussels) and we know i should not start talking about TEC or SNCB. But i have to admit, Delijn are great OUTSIDE Brussels
I lived in Ghent all my life, i can assure you .. The ring road is a disaster, constant traffic jams. The city center is now car-free, but the around the ring road people can suffocate from the smoke of all the cars.
I've lived next to the ring for multiple years myself just before the start of circulation plan, and you could already say that then? I wonder if the air quality really got measurably worse.
Same here, don't believe the far left "green" propaganda.
About 10K people like it 200K hate it.
The politician that implemented this plan is the least favourite and most hated politician in ghent history
@@jorsm.3893yes it muts worse
Traffic got more busy. but that is irrelevant of the circulation plan. Online retail caused a massive increase in traffic of delivery vans. This is also noticable in Netherlands. In London in 1 year , over 15 000 new delivery vans were registered in just one year ! These vans drive thru the cities all day, (unlike commuters) from delivery adress to delivery address.
Because industry in and around Ghent is developping fast ??
They just removed the problem from inside the city to outside the city. A lot of shops (family shops) closed because of the circulation plan (and sometimes together with corona) it was too much. Now we have a lot of shops in Lochristi while before it was a flower village. It’s also very dangerous to ride the bicycle on the main road, Antwerpsesteenweg, because there are the shops but also a lot of cars, even though we have a cycle path but some people only have a bicycle and don’t have a car or can’t take the bus. A lot of people are also angry at Filip Watteeuw, because now he even made circulation plan for other places, outside Ghent but are sub municipality from Ghent. A lot of people need to ride a lot more with the car causing more emissions and they want less emissions 🙃 Also some changes are even more dangerous for bicycles than before the change. And a lot of bicycles near and in Ghent don’t give priority when they need to give it to the cars or to people who are crossing over the pedestrian crossing, in my opinion they think that they are the Kings/Queens on the road but they are not. Everyone needs to learn the road code not only mopeds, motorcycles, cars, trucks,... and use it but this is just my opinion. Change is good but not always. I’m happy that a lot of people can now ride the bicycle safer but it also has its cons. From someone who live near Ghent.
Exactly
Online marketplaces also ruined those smaller businesses. Its not only not being able to drive in the city. If anything it has been proven that if you bike in a city you zre more likely to stop somewhere for something while in a car you'd just go where you needed to go and park
@@lordmiraak8991 you’re a citizen of Ghent ? Another smartass…..
Belgium needs to get it's bike regulation in order. There are a lot of (safety) rules for every type of road-going vehicles, except for bikes. While they are one of the most dangerous methods of transportation. It's absolutely incomprehensible that safety regulations for bikes themselves have even started since the 19th century.
@@fredrivers6472 🤣says whom, from where?
I lived in the city centre for 15 years. When they implemented this plan I moved out. It's great if you live near where you work. But if you live in the city centre and have to get to work outside the city by car it's a nightmare. I lived near that bike highway (Coupure) and had to cross it in order to get out of the city in the morning (going the other way wasn't possible anymore). It was just impossible. You would be stuck there forever as bikes streamed by in both directions without interruption. Also the roads in and out of the traffic-isolated neighbourhoods are still small narrow streets. Truck delivery ? Stuck ! Idiot parked too close to the tram tracks ? Stuck ! I didn't mind parking 1km away from where I live but losing an extra hour every day to get in and out of the city made me leave.
Not complaining, just offering a different perspective.
jep there we go! they litterally F'd up for most of the people living in ghent and that are born and raised in ghent. those "green" and SPA really F'd the city
same here
just bike? take a train? lol
Yup the same here
Belgium has quite a few people who uses their bikes for general use. Everyone has a bike and everyone uses it at least sporadically, just less so than in the Netherlands. Sure we have recreational and sport cycling too, but that's just a hobby some people do.
There's also significantly more hills and bumps here in parts of the country than in the Netherlands, so before electric bikes where a thing that was quite a big disadvantage. Also roads aren't as save as in the Netherlands for cyclists, although rather recently that's getting much better and fast too. Here in Ghent there was already a decent, base to build on, but even in Brussels things are changing quit rapidly. Ghent is also a student city and student city universal are more bike oriented than other cities, also most big to medium size cities do have a car free centre.
And yes, the circulatieplan is pretty controversial, and a lot of people hate it. I personally see it as a great benefit, but there are quite of few people, who hate it and are very load about it.
The ringroad is quite busy, it was especially bad the few couple of years, but once people realise it was a bad idea to drive through or to the centre, the number of cars there decreased. There are traffic lights but you can get over and under the ring pretty easy by bike. If you want to go by bike from outside de ring to an other part of the suburbs, you can also avoid them by driving away from the city and take the R4, the outer ring, for instance.
The canal got filled up to use as parking lot. Now they changed it back to canal.
yeah we use less bikes than the netherlands because it's less flat. Flanders is more or less flat but that's not the case at all of Wallonia
a lot of fun mixed with tram rails! you never know when you will fall or get hit by a car because ur driving like crazy.
ive seen some bikers cutting off cars thinking they are invincible. or other bikers just riding on a car lane where there is litterally!! a bike lane next to them
allright, historian (allmost) here.
the cannals of Ghent were largely covered up during the mid-late 19th century as they were in Brussels and no doubt many other european cities. The reason for this is that they then doubled as open air sewers and by that point had lost their logistical/trade infrastructure roles.
they were uncovered during the last quarter +-of the 20th century though i'd have to look it up, they were then turned into places for leasure and relaxation for citizens and tourists.
The decision to cover them up was somewhat justified offcourse but around the same period the city walls were demolished and the gravensteen fortress was allmost torn down for the sake of more worker housing (small houses for factory labourers, nothing social about it either, it was all for liberal(libertarian+-) profits, the demolition of the city walls and ditches facilitated easier travel, an end to tolls and the construction of the later ringroad yet i can't imagine anyone even considdering doing the same today.
Same in Antwerp, although there a guided tours to go underground to view the still existing waterways. I wish they would open up some of these canals.
Hi Gentenaar, im happy you mentioned that!! I atually live at the Reep my whole live (43) and have seen change Gent the whole way untill now. I was a teenager in the 90's and spend all my time in the center and the way it was then compared with today is not recognisable anymore... Love Gent forever!! ;)
I'm belgian and live half an hour from ghent. It's the biggest city in my area so I go there a lot, almost always with car. Personally I really like the current transportation plan. You do have to be a bit strategic about how to go where but it works and is pretty efficient even for cars. The city is also a lot more enjoyable from the moment you car is parked and you stroll through the center. I have to say Ghent is not a huge city (pop. ~350k) so everything being pretty close together definitly helps in making all this work.
I live in Brussel. They transformed a little part of the historic center into a pedestrian zone. For years we heard the shop owners of the area complaining : "it will kill the center of Brussel, it will become a desertic place if customers cannot come with their car", blah blah. I've never seen so many people in the area, pedestrian area is way more enjoyable than before, is always crowded and I do hope the city planner expand it.
Bussel is expanding rapidly the number of cylcling roads as well and that's really enjoyable when you live in the city. People living outside of Brussel but working in the city are not so happy with the suppression of car lanes though.
In Belgium/Flanders more and more people use their bike for utilitarian reasons: take the kids to school, go towork, go to the shops, and, yes, also for leisure. More and more people get rid of their car and use bikes, public transport, or use a shared-car service.
Charlie, Ghent is a very dynamic city with a lot of history and an old university and art education. The digital gaming industry such as Bulder's Gate is world renowned, has a lively nightlife, an example is “The Ghent Festivities” starts this weekend and is a 10 day event with 700 bands spread across the city and largely free. Many Dutch people then also head to the city center. The rest of the year there are many concerts and exhibitions, a rich nightlife with clubs and bars, cheap restaurants because of the many students. A few years ago, a train of Parisians came to the city every week for the nightlife. I don't know you but I think this is really a city for you. The cycling culture was already there but has now been strengthened by the new circulation plan, but because it is a very old city with many narrow streets it was so easy. Regards.
And they are even taking measures against selfie tourists. It was about time... I hope many will follow that example!
@@upplysta3497 Yes! because that is important!
There's 1B in dept, but hey no more selfies.
Sad and pathetic administration!
@@a7ig8or. You have to understand: some tourists block the passing for others, also public transportation. It is annoying, also in my home town Bruges. Self esteem and vanity... urgh...
I grew up, and still live in the heart of this City. I started riding a bike to school when I was 12, and have always used a bike to get to work. I'm now 34 and have never in my entire life owned a car. all my friends who life and work in the city don't have one either. When i step outside of my house it's all cobblestone, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
aka, you never knew any better and that's the only reason you can tolerate it...
Almost everyone who I know that moved into Ghent also moved out again a few years after...
@@MrSimpsondennis good riddance, stay in your little farm town
@@MrSimpsondennisinteresting, i found it the opposite way. A lot of people from outside the city like the car free feeling of it. Sure it takes some time to get used to it, but once you figure out where to park and what tram to take into the city you're set.
used to visit a lot of cities in netherlands and belgium and by train too , decades ago , now most are like boring the same and dying financially / commercially :/
@@MrSimpsondennis jij kent duidelijk niet veel mensen. Iedereen die ik ken is hier blijven wonen.
Much respect to you for trying to pronounce the names of the places in the local language, even for Ghent/Gent is which known internationally and basically also has an English way of saying it.
When you tried to say the names after hearing it, I was surprised by how close you are to pronouncing it perfectly. You have excellent hearing and pronunciation!
The city of Ghent has three spellings:
Gent (for the Vlams speakers)
Gand (for French speakers)
Ghent (for English speakers)
plus the historic English name Gaunt as in John of Gaunt.
The sound of a g does change in the Dutch speaking areas
The further south you are in the Dutch speaking lands the more like
an English hard G is the sound.
In the middle and north of the Netherlands the g
has moved down the back of the throat
and approximates to a throaty H sound.
So the man from Utrecht says "Hent"
and the Belgians say "Gent"
;-) ... and the "G" is pronounced differently in Belgium than in the Netherlands (it is called a soft G)
Hent - West-flamish colonizer
My sister lives in gent and she doesn't use the letter G :p she uses H like west vloanders but less "hard"
Using the H sound for the G is West-Flemish . Maybe your statement holds for the Netherlands, but not Flanders.
@@Jorick 🤣
Ghent is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited a few times in my life, but it was years ago. I see they are on the right track to make the city more beautiful without cars.. That's new to me..
8.35 My compliments Charlie for you trying to pronounce the cities correctly, you were almost spot on.
I as an Austrian am impressed too because native English speakers usually butcher the German "ch", which is the equivalent to the Dutch "g", as well.
Totally!
please.. points for effort : yes. "almost spot on" : no way. "YouTrecht" : 50/50. Groningen .. .. After repeating it 20x times one could imagine it was 50/50 but i'm afraid it was less.
I lived in Ghent my whole life.
The street where i grew up is now one of the streets with the red stripes you can't drive through anymore.
It's so much nicer there now that there are no more cars passing through.
People who live on that street can still pass with a permit so they can bring groceries up to the front of the house with the car for instance.
It used to be a very busy street traffic wise, now it's completely quiet, it makes living there so much nicer.
There were, and still are, people who are very vocally against the circulation plan.
Some people even insanely so.
Those people can go live in suburbia.
If you live in a city like Gent you understand it's so much nicer without the cars.
Moved into gent 4 years ago. Best city I lived in so far.
I agree with all what you say. ANd I would add the following: a city became a city because of the businesses that came to settle. Then people went for working. Now businesses have to leave. For now, it is good. like living in a countryside village,but with all luxury of the city nearby. In 50 years, activity will have moved outside the city, and then people will leave too. Not so bad for Ghent, because there are a lot of students that fill in the gaps. So .. all by all , not bad for certain kind of people. Not for everyone
as a belgian I completely agree for people living in the city but when you live like me about 30 minutes away its frustrating as fuck with the huge amount of traffic on the rings around Ghent.
@@samdewindt9370 Traffic on the rings is not so bad outside of peak hours.
And there's options to park outside the ring and take a tram from there to the center
@@abc5228 What are you even talking about? Ghent is a bustling city, shopping streets are pretty much always full. Ghent became a city waaay before bussinesses ever moved there. Heavy industry still has its place in the harbor where it has always been. And offices (as the biggest sector of work providers in a tertiary economy) can easily be in the city center too.
6:06 It used to be a little river, but it was dirty and polluted, so they filled it up and put a parking lot on top in the 60s. Then in the late 90s plans were made to reopen this waterway. It actually got a lot of delays, so in 2014 I had a viral campaign on facebook "if this gets 1000 likes, we'll dig it open ourselves", got 3000 likes in 2 days, and we had a small gathering the next week, where we symbolically dug up some dirt. It put it back in the news and on the agenda, but then it took another couple of years before it was finally finished.
Tomorrow,18th of July, I'm going there for "Jazz Gent" to see DJ Shadow and AIR!!! The day after is the start of "Gentse Feesten" wich turns the whole city centre into one big festival for 9 days!🥳🥳🥳
i'm going the 19th :)
Yesss, Ghent! I live and have worked in the middle of the city centre. It's dear to my heart. Happy you got a look into it.
I practically live there and it's a blessing. The city feels much calmer than it did before, sure for car drivers it can be a hassle, but for us who live here it's perfect
Belgium has a lot of utility biking too, it's not just the Netherlands. Children in villages often take the bike to go to school and students in big cities (like Ghent) drive their bikes to classes/university which is spread out all over the centre of the city. People who don't live too far from their work sometimes takes bikes too.
People connect again ❤ love what you are doing most people don't know Belgium on the worldmap.
I used to live in the center of Antwerp city for years and now recently more on the country side of Antwerp. Both of the streets where I live(d) are those "bike streets". Even in the smaller town over here the whole town center is "bike street", where cars have to give way for cyclists. The whole northern part (mainly) of Belgium is focussing more and more on cyclists and pedestrian and trying to keep cars out of the populated centers.
I believe that Copenhagen also is a very bike-friendly city. In Sweden, we usually build separate ways for bicycles alongside ways for cars, with tunnels for the bikes, so both can safely go about their business.
This all sounds so nice until you realize it rains here almost everyday, I used to bike to work and would arrive completely soaked most of the time. Very fun experience
As a Flemish Belgian, I can confidently say that Ghent is a hell to get around in if you have ANY other plans than being a tourist that's not planning to buy anything.
Wanna visit a friend? Need to pick someone up? Own a car?
Well, NONE of those are possible unless you go through public transport...
And public transport IN a city is fine, public transport is a HELL if you need to travel intercity...
Literally had to be in Ghent last week, I'm from Antwerp, had a meeting on one side of Ghent and another meeting slightly outside of Ghent on the opposite side (so public transport wasn't an option)
Yeah... avoid at all costs... Not to mention that housing in Ghent is small and expensive and if you want any construction/moving work done, good luck finding a company that is willing to somehow get their trucks and stuff in Ghent...
The city markets itself as a pedestrian and cyclist city, but majority of the roads are cobbled, so good luck on that...
that's an absolute dummy and failse statement. I live (and have been living for the last 40 years) in centre Gent (in heirnis voor de ingewijden) .
Bollocks. I live centre Ghent. Only an idiot would take his car to do "stuff" in centre Ghent. There are taxis if you need one. And sure, there are cobblestones. But they're like what, 5%? And as far as construction/move goes, it's all well regulated. You sound like an american complaining there are no americans in a Paris' gym.
@@janbruggeman8465 And do you also work in ghent Jan?
Antwerpenaar 😂😂😂😂
@@FILIPKNOCKAERTPunisher ik heb in Gent, Antwerpen en Brussel gewerkt. Met de trein, of met de auto tot de rand, en dan met de vouwfiets verder .
I really like that they are finally investing in bike highways. I live in a small village between Gent and Kortrijk and going by train to Gent or Kortrijk takes me 45 minutes. With the bike Highway they are building I could go to both cities in 15 minutes by bike . Now it’s kind of impossible to go by bike because I would have to go trough a bunch of city’s and villages which takes about 2h by bike and the chances of getting hit by a car are quite high if you take that route.
in the Netherlands they have this throat G, in Belgium it's a soft G, your first pronunciation was better then the ones from the Netherlands :)
Great video !!! Nice you bring attention to my city , i'm from Gent ... it's a city where people that visit , they always come back !! We have great history (historic buildings) with castle's and old churches .... if you visit Europe make sure you do Gent !!!
I have friends that moved out off Gent because off the removal off Cars/low emission zone's... They bought a house in Gent and it needed a lot off renovations. But they didnt find contractors willing to come to renovate there house. Because the vans off the contractors are to poluting to enter Gent and Gent charges a lot to enter these zones with cars/vans.
That’s probably found to change in the future as more and more cities get stricter on emission these companies will start buying vans with lower emissions.
*going
Strange, the price of entrance with a "euro 4" class vehicle is 30 euro for a week or 1 euro/day if you pay for a year. So business-wise it wouldn't make sense to drop a good job over that. Also a lot of contractors probably drive around with "euro 5"+ class vehicles by now.
@@jorsm.3893het is al het “papier” werk dat er nog eens bij komt boven de al grote stapel. Ik werkte voor een telecombedrijf en zag het aantal afspraken die ik kon doen zakken van 10 naar 6. De rest zat ik vast in de file en rondjes rijden om 1 straat verderop te geraken. Dus bye bye rendement en een deel van mijn inkomen. Uiteindelijk moeten stoppen met een job die ik graag deed. Het systeem van de vergunningen werkt meer niet dan wel wat dan nog eens wat leuke boetes geeft.
True
I always go to Ghent in the past. But now they ticket you for everything. So my reaction a big middlefinger to Ghent.
Will spend my money in Brugge.
Check Bruges. We started this already in the 70s. And we are coping with + 8 milion visitors a year with only 20.000 inhabitants in the historic centre.
I used to walk that river parkinglot daily when i went to school in that area. I always wondered why the river in that part was just cut off but I'm really glad they opened it up again, it turned out really nice.
I live near Gent.. Before the plan you would just drive all over Gent with your car to all your different stops you had to go to.. After the separation into sections, you'd just drive into the section closest to where you're coming from, park the car, and do all your stops by foot. The plan was annoying for a month or so, then we were adapted, and not looking back.. Only downside, sometimes there are so many people about that you could walk over their heads..
Funny it is filmed on a sunny day in Flanders. should've done it in te rain. Would look more realistic..
Charlie Check Gentse Feesten
The oldest ring roads in Belgian cities are often situated on or near the city ramparts that were mostly demolished in 2nd half of the 19th century. From the 60ties onwards either that 1st ring was upgraded to motorway status or a brand new motorway ring was build. Driving (and parking) in Ghent is not all that easy in the medieval city center. I used to work there and my bro used to live there. Great city, great food, good connections, lovely atmosphere.
Best kept secret for expats but a bit pricey for real estate unless you look for a fixer upper.
We visited Ghent Castle with some members of a US branch of the family. Ron remarked that the castle walls were unsecured and that people could fall of. Law suit waiting to happen. My bro remarked that we wouldn't publicize being stupid enough to fall off 😂 Darwin awards and all that. I don't know if they secured the walls.
The rivers and canals were prime infrastructure in the middle ages. In the sixties barge sizes became to big. Upgrading the canals was not possible, big P-pressure so the canals were filled in. Similar problems with canals and rail roads so Gent is one of the few cities with a ring canal and a ring railroad.
Gent as we call it is very much a university city as well. so a large part of the moving people are by bike already. I have no problem going to the city by train or car.
I am very proud and happy for this evolution.
7:27 in Mechelen you have the same thing, in many cities in Belgium actually... The water was used for inner city and outer city transport and is also needed for heavy rainfall. It looked like we have a trend going on to bring back the "original" state of the major city's and bring back the waterways and less cars. Keep in mind to that our city's are as big is Birmingham for ex.
hello, as someone who has gone to school in Ghent all my life and lives close by, the video you just watched is very overly positive and don't talk about the negative things that this create, don' get me wrong it's a lot better now in the city scenter but also only the scenter :(
In Belgium we take our car to bring the kids to school, go to work, go on holidays, get groceries or heavy stuff but short distances or things to do in the city we do on foot or by bike. Nobody will take a car to get a loaf of bread from a bakery that is 500 meters or 1 kilometer away.
Ghent is a great city, was just there last summer, this only works in cities that have a strong culture of walking and utilizing local shops. in cities that are more metropolis based, this can not work and has failed. Ghent is probably one of the few medium-large cities that can pull this off.
it can work there, the circulation itsself in ghent is dumb though, people hate it because they just made it confusing, contractors simply refuse to do jobs anywhere near it, deliveries are hell, students can't empty their rooms cause only people with domicile status are allowed to park in certain places and take certain roads but students can't get domiciled in most student rooms to begin with so it automatically means you go there knowing you'l get a fine and it's easier to then just pay it anyway.
don't get me wrong, removing cars from the center and relying on public transportation, walking and bicycles to get around the city makes a lot more sense. The problem in the US is that people go everywhere by car whilst people in Belgium wil visit ghent mostly by train if they don't have to stay late.
besides ghent DID NOT REMOVE PARKING. They build massive underground parkings all over the city center. locals generally even park their cars in there if they don't have a garage
I own an electric motorcycle, so its REALLY easy to get around suburban and city areas close to me.
You have to really pay attention going near a city in a >2 wheeler, or you get fined in seconds.
As long as you dont live in the sticks or fieldlands, aside of heavy rainfall or snow, twowheeler is the way to go.
You absolutely need to come for a week to the * Gentse Feesten * , the whole city is then one big festival with free podiums and all the area in the city is filled with happy partying people. you cannot comprehend as an outsider how big and fun it is .
Ghent is the English way of saying it, so you are pronouncing it just fine. I used to live at the part of the river they brought back. Was amazing to see the transformation from an ugly parking lot to what it is now. I can imagine that the worth of any house in that street went way up. :D
Lovely video !! As a local I think it's amazing as it's a lot more comfortable and pleasant to get around the city. The people complaining are the type of people who take their car just to get some bread or are too good to take public transportation; In the end they are shortsighted and a tad bit selfish.
Ghent has always had a rebellious spirit and it's good to see we haven't lost it and are using it to shape ourselves a better future.
Nope wrong, Thats why I moved out, not my Ghent anymore, I my rebellion I even don’t go to the Gentse feesten, but I work and bike to Ghent everyday 15 km, live is beter outsider Ghent
In the Netherlands in some cities they already made a car free city centre. But to go by public transport cost more then if you would give a friend money for gas to go somewhere. They need to make public transport cheaper, that way more people will make use of it.
Ghent was already a pretty bike-heavy city before the car-free zone was implemented because of the many students who go to college or university there and use the bike to get from one campus to another or to their student homes
Hi Charlie , y'all peace was signed in Gent, "the peace of Gent" between USA and UK in 1814.
I live in Ghent. It's perfect this way. You can enjoy the beautiful scenery without any worry.
That's a lie. People die on tram tracks. Either by falling of their bike, or pedestrians getting scooped up by psychopaths driving those trams. It's insane
@geertdepuydt2683 I'm in Ghent nearly every day. That happens rarely. If cars were allowed in, it would be much, much worse anyway.
Love the video! I'd just like to point out that even though the netherlands might be 'known' for it's biking culture it's pretty much the same in Belgium 🤣
Been to Ghent several times , beautiful city especially at Christmas
I’m living in Ghent. The bike as transportation made sense as there 42000 students living in the inner center.
The architect of this plan, coming from the greens political faction consequently started to introduce these ideas also in the outer regions of the city. As of now we’re the proud owner of the most zone-30 traffic zones on the planet. When driving around in Ghent you’ll never have to shift second gear.
Imagine driving around in Los Angeles and every street is 20mph.
There's currently a city festival going on in Gent. It's full fun&party mode, come over 😄
As someone who regularly cycles to Ghent, since I live close by, I pass the inner Ring Road via one of the many cyclist/pedestrian crossings. Inside the city, the most dangerous obstacle are other cyclists, who often think that because they're cyclists, the traffic rules no longer apply. But that's everywhere I guess.
My beautiful little citie were the big castle is in the middle citie. Gent is student town there are a lot of bikes there like AmsterdamZ
Is easy there stoplight for the bikes and people that walk
If you like these views on European cities‘ infrastructure you can check out the channel „not just bikes“. It’s a North American fella (Canadian I believe) who now lives in the Netherlands and puts out a lot of educational stuff on infrastructure in general, infrastructure compared between US/Canada & Europe, etc :) super nice channel cause he’s got both perspectives too.
Dutch and belgians are equal when it comes to biking. belgian limburg for example has more trails like the flower route, beer route and the likes. In East and west flanders you have a whole plethora of bike trails as well like the route hageland and others.
The city didn't just remove cars, it also removed the elderly and disabled, including myself.
It's a totalitarian system that doesn't care for anyone who can't ride a bicycle (or chooses not to).
Both my dad and I used to live in the city centre. To take care of my dad, deliver groceries, do repair work to his home etc. I needed a car, but that was nearly impossible, so he had to move. Then I got handicapped myself and was forced to move to the edge of town, only because I'm unable to ride a bike.
Ghent is a green totalitairan bastion. Greens loved it, until they need a plumber or an other craftsman. They find none because all normal people avoid Ghent.
The city is more liveable now. I’m sorry that this happened to you but I still prefer it the way it is.
@@hansmemling7605 The city is more liveable for you perhaps, from your own selfish point of view.
It is not liveable for the already mentioned elderly and disabled. It is also not liveable for shop owners. Most of them are gone. All that remains are bars and restaurants.
That's not a city for everyone, that's a city for students, tourists and wealthy babyboomers. Everyone else is no longer welcome or can't afford to live there.
And now they have started the same process in the suburbs. As a result it takes me 25 minutes to drive back and forth to the supermarket instead of 5 minutes. It's expensive, it's time-consuming and it's polluting.
Yes, I have called the people responsible at the town administration, and they have made it crystal clear to me that I'm not welcome because I'm handicapped and therefore can't ride a bike. This is the ugly truth that you might not want to hear.
@@patrickmoens9308what kinda bullshit is this? How is it totalitarian?
@@LuffyL-ch1ku Please make a tiny effort to read stories from people like myself who actually try to survive there. You're obviously not from Ghent and not even from my country. Let the people who live here inform you and please accept what they say, even when it doesn't correspond to what you had in mind.
Yeah, they actually think about our environment, public health, safety. Ghent can be a very important example towards other cities/ countries...
Most major Belgian cities are converting their historic city-centers into car free zones, the biggest (of Europe I think) being in Brussels, smaller cities like Ghent, Leuven, Antwerpen are a bit less crowded by cars thus easier for bike users.I know for Brussels they wanted to use the same system as Gent to keep cars out but it was met with huge amounts of resistance unfortunately
Belgian here! A lot of cities here have a car free center 😊
as a random eastern flanders guy from really near Gent, cheers for watching and observing my capital of my province haha
I live in Ghent, and to be honest, there's not much to do with a car in Ghent. You park it on a Park&Ride or one of the underground parkings in the city center, and then you discover it using public transportation. This resulted in a busier city center, as it's a lot nicer to stroll there. The ring road has crossings with lights everywhere, and there's multiple points where you can drive under it by bike. It's great to live here, honestly. Unless you're a petrolhead, but then you won't appreciate the parks, fresh air and overall vibe of the city.
The Reep canal is one of the ways the city cools down during heatwaves. That's why water in the city is really important: it makes it more liveable.
3:07 The ring road had (well ... has) lights - so crossing it isn't hard; also bridges over the water have been adjusted to allow for pedestrians & bikes to ride under them (ex. 4:54 )
6:16 they had cement over it; it connceted the waters but I don't think it was usable (a.k.a. not enough space overhead for boats) To be fair, part of this canal still has that (google streetview Lieven Bauwensplein, where the water 'dissapears underground for about 100m/300ft )
8:08 those are more about the railways; but yes simelar things have been done near the rivers for the ring road.
9:30 As dutch we're used that some our letters are hard to pronounce (like the G & the R) - so no need to appologize.
(FYI your G is correct, but our R is a more a vibration with the tip of our tongue )
(Also, for Utrecht, the 'ch' is pronounced as a G ; the U is pronounced as at 10:03, but without the initial 'y' (he englishises it to y[u]trect ) )
In Belgium and most Western European cities, the historical centers of the major cities are carfree, that's not unusual. Same for Brussels, Mechelen, Antwerp, Leuven etc ... The problem in Ghent is that the train stations are not in the center of the city, like in Antwerp, Brussels etc. I live in Antwerp, only 60 km from Ghent but if I go to a concert in Ghent by train, I can't go back as the last train back is around 22.30 and the nearest station is 1 hour walking or 30 min by tram or bus. I would only be able to see the support act or I should stay in a hotel.
there’s no poignant ending to this but lived in Groningen 1+ years and recommend it to everybody. Such great life quality, such great people. Loads of internationals (like myself, so can’t shit on them), but I was mostly in a native bubble through work & they were the most loving and funny people.
I didn't know about the river. The way they did it works well for city like Ghen or Antwerpen. It's nice to preserve the historic center of the city that was anyway already kind of a nightmare to drive. It's also a small part of the city that you can go from on side to the other in like a good 30 minutes walk. I don't think the structure of US cities would suit that or maybe selecting some neighboorhood that you could preserve
The revival of an old canal/river was also done in Utrecht, and the division of the city in sectors with a ring road was implemented in Groningen.
Of course American cities could implement similar plans (and they probably should), but doing it on a checkerboard streetplan may add some extra challenges.
L.e.z Low emition zone has partially been invented to ensure clear air in the city as well
Ghent, Groningen, both is with a light G ;) you got pretty close! I studied in Ghent before the plan, it was pretty messy. It definately improved, even though I got a car now xD
Being Expert in HydroEngineering, Dutch persons are so smart in creating any new land from water territory ( Sea / Ocean ). On the other hand, from parking area in Ghent city can be changed to be a canal by the Dutch. As far as i know, majority of Belgian people are speaking Dutch ( Vlaam/Flemish ) and the rest is French language.
Basically, Holland and Belgium are twin and brother each other.
Duizends maal Dank voor jouw gedachten en verdiensten.
Warme groeten uit Indonesia als de land van paradijs ( Bali, Java, Komodo Eiland enz ) in zuid Oost Azie. 🌏🌎🌍
I live in a village near to Gent, and go to a academy in Gent.
My father drives a bus for public transport and has to drive through Gent alot.
Many people I know don't like the circulation plan, they feel it restricts their freedom, especially the older generations who worked their whole lives and where always accustomed to be able to drive freely trough Gent.
Also lots of older people in Gent can't easily take public transport to visit friends outside of Gent, and vise versa..
They are kind of stuck now and many people get lonely.
I wish they could also look to the older people and not only to the younger ones with children.
I myself like the fact that it's less dangerous to drive true the city on my bicycle, but it's not so beautiful and perfect as they try to show here in this video..
Its still a chaotic trip, especially in the ring around the city, it's kind of a "bullying atmosphere" for many car owners.
Because of the fines you can get if you drive into a zone restricted for cars.
Its just to chaotic for many people..
The problem is that Gent isn't a island..
Its a beautiful idea, but if the rest of the country still runs on cars it's difficult to introduce the idea of a city without cars.
Public transport is also not very efficient..
There are many problems in that sector, something I know from my father..
He has to drive 8 hours without taking a break, because driving around the city even with the perks of being able to drive trough some zones restricted to cars but not busses.
Is still a difficult job..
Technicly belgium is Dutch, it became a country in 1830 , before that , it was part of the Netherlands, Dutch means Diets that is the old name of the language.
We are the same people.
In which Universe ... politically? Yes. If you hadn't had the influx of Flemish people, you wouldn't have had the BALLS to be to passive aggresive ... or is it the other way around ... When A'dam was a swamp, we had things going
Belgium was Dutch only for a very little while in it's history before becoming Belgium. It was also independent quite a few times (not as a whole but different regions were), and also under the reign of Spanish, French, Roman...
And I don't think we are the same... similar, yes, but not the same.
If you have a second screen, or can make your recording program only record youtube, you could just use Notepad or Sticky Notes on the pc :)
We also bike a lot here in Belgium, however the Netherlands is the European leader by far, followed by Denmark, Belgium, Norway and Finland in no particular order.
We have a healthy intense competition with the Netherlands when it comes to Soccer and Pro Cycling 😄
and nearly everything else to be fair hahaha
People always protest in the beginning, but it's so much better. I live in Antwerp and such old cities are just not made for that much trafic. You can park at the edges and you are in the middle of the center by tram in 5 min. It doesn't hurt shipowners at all.
We have the same
Politics in Deinze also, ( near Gent ) where the mayor lives outside town near a big road where driving home not an issue .
This “bicycle rules “ policy is also very much an anti car policy , which has killed economics and commerce and logistics in a huge drastic way . More bikes less cars : fine, fine for students ,fine fir people who don’t own a car , but this kill all cars policy is typically more about green revenge than the overall economics of the city
It's good if you live in the city. If you don't live there, you will probably stay away. Public transport like trains is also too expensive if you have to pay it yourself as a working-class-milkcow without any reductions anymore.
This has become quite a long comment, I got carried away sharing about how it is to live in this area and enjoy the cycling-friendly policies and a little bit about inter-city trains rather than car driving. I hope it inspires someone to plea for a more car-less infrastructure since it is truly more carefree to commute with when well implemented.
I remember as a kid going to Ghent with my parents from a nearby town where we lived, and parking on the Graslei, which is now the core of the car-free city center. You can still get close to the center with a car if you need to. But you would only do it if you really really need to, and it will take you on a tour of half the ringroad torun a simple errand. Then again, these trips take 15-20 minutes and that really isn't that much in my experience. You kinda get used to it. What is even easier the get used to is walking and cycling in the city center. For 7 or 8 of my 17 years in Ghent I lived a short walk west of the historic center, and cycled daily to school through the city center. Every morning I would stop to take a breath after climbing the St-Michielsbridge and look around at the scenery. I lived close to Graslei and loved the calming vibe of the waterside. I can't remember a single time that I cross one of the bridges in the center and not take a pause or slow down to breathe and feel thankful for a city where you'd rather spend time on the street or by the waterside than in your sofa or even on a balcony if you'd have one, when the weather is nice. It makes the city a very social place.
I currently live in Leuven for my studies, and I was in Ghent yesterday and where I could have waited ten minutes to take a bus to my final destination, it didn't take a second thought to pick up one of the many shared bicycles and cycle the 14 minutes and both arrive at my destination 10+ minutes faster than the first public transport connection I had when coming of the train, but also enjoy seeing the city a bit and enjoying the ride. I can't exaggerate how amazing it is to have this vibe where you'd rather cycle or walk then take the bus, especially if it gets you there faster. Another thing that seems to set us apart, by the way, especially from the typical US city, is how easy and accessible the train is as a mode of inter-city transportation. Where an American won't think twice about hopping in the car, we barely think twice about taking the train somewhere: many connections a day and a dense network of railroads certainly help and in a Belgian city, the train station takes a central role as a place of transit, that has in my living memory always been more important than the local connections to the highways. Off course as I haven't owned a car for most of my life, I might be a bit biased towards traveling by train. Cool new thing: most Belgian train stations now have so named Blue Bikes, which for a rather low yearly subscription you can lend a bike for 24 hours for a mere few bucks (3.5 euros in Ghent) to go your last mile between the train station and your destination.
Long comment, I know, but I'm a fan. It would be amazing to see this green mobility mix take root in other places around the world. Much more than electric driving, I feel the mix of trains, public transport and cycling are capable of creating a comfortable and pleasurable way of commuting and moving around that respects the climate, mainly because of the colonial impacts and atrocities that supply the materials for this big electrification for cars.
Imagine, rather than driving 1.5 hours, including possible traffic, just cycling or walking to the train station, getting on, reading a book - but pay attention: one hour later you're in your destination city. You get off the train, scan a card at the Blue Bike station, pick up your assigned bicycle and cycle 10-ish minutes to your destination, having at your disposal a two wheeled, silent and even healthy to drive vehicle - I can't believe people go to gyms to cycle when they can just xD - that can take you anywhere in the city.
That is mobility in Belgium. That is my daily or at least weekly experience (I also choose to live in the town where I now study rather than daily commuting). I've had a car for a while, and I've driven the commute by car and I'd take the relaxing trainride over this any day. Nearly everyone I know tends to only use cars when there is no train available, such as when you want to return home between towns after midnight when there are no more train connections until morning.
I live here , it's 'Meh' . public transport from outside the the city into it is rather pathetic . I cycle from outside , but when I get older that will change
If you have any question about Ghent, just drop a message. I'll be glad to provide more information.
They are doing this in more and more cities in Belgium. I personally never drove a car and I do not intend to ever drive one. They do need to work on public transport.
I was born in Gent. The north of Belgium is flat, like the Netherlands.The south, with mountains. Thats why we take our bikes more often. Its an easy way to move. Try to do the same in the south of Belgium and you are dead tired after 15 minutes.
Ghent is a nice city but as a car enthusiast i dont like it becouse they put a speed limit of 90 kph on the outer ring road and they restrict cars by pollution
that parking lot that turned into a 'canal' is NOT a canal ! It is the original bedding of the RIVER Schelde , that got dumped (filled up) and turned into a parking lot in the '60s , and is now returned to it's original state. I emphasize the words canal : man made and river : natural occurence.
While flanders isn't up to dutch standards, biking has been very common here just like in the Netherlands. We're about 10years behind the Dutch when it comes to changing from car centric to alternative centric. But biking as an everyday commuting utalitarian mode of transport never really disappeared here just like in the Netherlands.
I as a kid in the 80s and teen in the 90s, biked everywhere on my own or with siblings and friends in my village. And calm streets were everywhere, and cycling paths were on every main road already back then. I biked to school in the city 5km away as a teen, and had relatively safe bike paths along main roads available all the way.
Secondly, as a resident of Gent since 1999 i can say this original video is VERY misleading. They did NOT remove cars in 2018 and it did not happen suddenly in one go. The current plan is the continuation of a process that's been going on for allost 30 years now that started in the mid 90s.
In the mid 90s gent was stuck in perpetual gridlock most of the time so the city government (mostly socialist party and green oartty back then) then decided to implement the first traffic plan based on the Dutch model in 1997, in which a large pedestrian area was created in the center, huge underground parking lots were created under most large squares, traffic was steered in towards these parkings and out of the city again through one way streets as quickly as possible, through traffic was steered around the city, and driving through the city was made less convenient. At the same time the city started redesigning public spaces to be more pedestrian and cyclist friendly and started investing in public transport and dedicated bus and tram lanes. The city continued this policy for 21 years until 2018. And it was a huge succes. The city became immensely popular again and went from a declining population to being one of the most popular and pleasant cities in the country.
And then in 2018 the city council decided to go even further and implement an even more comprehensive plan in which the city was made even more car resistant as explained in the video.
But it is VERY important to realise the city had been working on this already since 1997, and was already very car resistant compared to many European and even other Flemish cities. The 2018 plan just continued even further and made all through traffic in the city center impossible.
But it is important to note cars are NOT banned, they are very much allowed in most of the city. Taxis are allowed at all hours and deliveries are allowed at certain hours even in the pedestrian area. The big thing that changed is that the city became even more car resistant, and through traffic was made impossible, so now the only motor traffic left in the city center is from residents and people that actually need to be there, and any trips made in a car can usually be done faster by bike or public transport since those can take direct through routes and cars no longer can...
Big nuance to be aware of!
Great video! We love our bikes too, just not as nuts as the Dutch :)
So where are the delivery trucks, emergency vehicles, disabled access, refuse vehicles, service vehicles, etc,. It's just a big commercial for cycling, but doesn't explain how the requirements of daily life are met.
I don't know specifically for Gent, but in other cities in Belgium with a pedestrian area, the area may open for some vehicles at certain specific times for like suppliers, refuse and some services. If it's not a municipal vehicle, a request has to be filled in advance in order to have clearance during those specific hours. Emergency vehicles of course always have the priority to go anywhere they need. All the rest is usually done by bike, like mail delivery, or food delivery. And as not many people usually live in the exclusively pedestrian areas, the package delivery services are not that much used, and else, the packages are deposited at a bureau during the same access hours than the supplier times and people go retrieve their package there.
Quite a loaded question, but since I live in the pedestrian zone i'll gladly answer it for you. Delivery trucks that supply shops do so between 6-8am, and only during weekdays. Garbage collection is on a schedule, once a week you put the bags in front of your house and they collect it in the morning. emergency vehicles are obviously exempt. quick side note: there is a large hospital and police station in the centre of the city, so ambulances usually only take around 5mins to arrive...
As for disabled acces, there is a large offering of trams, busses and taxis as well as 2 trainstations on opposite sides of the city.
Life has gotten a lot easier for everyone, except of course for guys who need a large car to compensate for something
@@gabbathehut3235 Thanks for explaining. Not a loaded question, but the original video didn't explain how services worked.
@@RoyCousins anytime, I didn't mean to appear passive aggresive either
I actually live close to this city I work there and go there very often .
You have to understand that gent is a student city in the center there's a lot of students and they dont have cars they mostly use bikes. There's also lots of families that just dont have cars. Even the original gent people dont have a strong connection to cars . So for them not being able to cross from one part to another is not that big of a problem . Because they can with a bike , electrical step, on foot, with a bus ,... .
People that work in gent and use cars don't have much trouble getting around. Because we come from outside the city in the city so we know in wat part we have to be.
The industrial area where I mostly work is still easy to reach by car. Sinds in that part there's a lot more people from outside the city.
A lot of the R4 is high way so you don't cross it with a bike or on foot and if you do there's designated places to do so .
The R4 also doesnt have that many trafic jams gent is better then Antwerp or Brussels . Now there's a bit more traffic because they're working on a lot of the roads . But most of the time it's quite okay .
People that work in the center get bonuses if you come by bike. ( I think this might be in the whole of belgium) the other option is to drive to the edge of the city. Park in one of the free carpool parkings and from there you go by bike, foot or take public transport.
The only down side is if you have to visit several places in the city. like delivery services or people that hang posters and so on. because they do have to go from one section to the other . But some of them get exception to make it a bit easier .
You also have underground parking the parking is expensive but doable. And they're right next to the car free zones .
The city center is really beautiful and fun. it's really lively especially now during the "gentse feesten" 😁🎉
Did not work. It still reeks and changes are being reverted.
This is being done all over Belgium, not just Ghent. It’s about time they followed the Dutch way.
Focusing on college towns is key.
Public transport is much also better in BE than the USA.
I am originally from the east side of Belgium (Limburg) close to the Dutch border. There has always been a bicycle culture. However, just by watching the bicycle lane you can easily see where the border with the Netherlands is. But it is right to say that the general bicycle infrastructure in Belgium (Flanders) is getting better (we are trying to catch up with the Dutch 🙂)!
In the city of Mechelen they are also trying to keep the center as much as possible car free. Since I am living now about 5 km outside Mechelen it is much easier for me to visit the city center by bicycle than by car.
In our capital Brussels they are trying to give more rights to cyclists, but there is still a long way to go.
I think Gent is the most progressive town in Belgium It's also beautiful, old and authentic. A university city so many young people Forget the Dutch' Gent is green.
The river - was still there under the ground. They just opened it up
In belgium It is gent more like u said it first ;-) people from the netherlands pronounce it with the guturral sound but belgians speak with a much softer G.
It is one of the easiest ways to find out if someone is from the netherlands or from belgium if you are not completely used to the language
You pronounce the g differently in the Netherlands and Belgium, the G is hard in Groningen (throaty) but soft in Gent (then it's better to even say it like an English g)
i do everything on the bike and life at the Belgian coast so we do it also like the Dutch
i lived most of my life near ghent and went to school there. At first i hated the circulation plan. Now i am used to it. i put my car on big parking lot outside the city and take public transport. It works. But not of you want to do big shoppings.