Across Europe, bike and scooter apps are allowing city-dwellers to beat the traffic
a “cycle highway” by the River Scheldt in Antwerp recently, Charlemagne only noticed the electric scooter when it was too late. Spinning tyre met stationary scooter, British journalist separated from Belgian bike and Anglo-Saxon words were uttered. How irritating and obnoxious these twiggy little devices can seem with their silly names and their sudden invasion of the pavements of every large European city.
Antwerp is a good antidote to such objections. Like many European cities such as Cologne, Birmingham and Milan, it fell victim to post-war planners enamoured with car-centric American cities. Highways and overpasses were draped around and through it, old streets widened and squares turned into car parks. This gave Antwerp some of the worst congestion in western Europe.
The post-automotive jewel in Antwerp’s crown is the Groen Kwartier, an entirely carless neighbourhood built around the site of a former hospital. In the streets of this inner-city district can be heard only the sounds of children playing and chatter across balconies. Far from being a preserve of privileged hipsters, it is home to a mix of people with white Belgian, Arab, west African and Orthodox Jewish backgrounds.
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