After having worked in the private sector for several years, Koen Kennis, an engineer in electronics, decided to engage himself in politics and actively change his hometown Antwerp for the better. Belgium’s second largest city faces a historical mobility challenge, which is why a number of immense projects, such as the completion of the whole Ringway – Oosterweel, were initiated with the aim of forcing traffic underground, providing more green spaces and improving the overall quality of life for the people of Antwerp. As the city’s Deputy Mayor responsible for mobility, tourism, finances, retail and decentralisation, Koen considers it a true privilege to be part of this immense transformation.

Quote: My policy when it comes to mobility is user-centric. It recognizes that mobility depends on the context of the user and recognizes that every user is unique. This means that the user has the freedom to choose how to move around. Sometimes the best option for the user will be walking, other times this will be driving. Blindly offering mobility solutions or arbitrarily stripping the public domain of certain options does not make the users switch to the best solution.  By providing the right information at the right time; by offering an intermodal routeplanner unique in the world; by giving various types of incentives and by using various nudging techniques we intend to change user behaviour towards the  cities objective towards a modal shift.