Better public transport, affordable housing and the Oosterweel Link are the hot topics in the municipal elections in Antwerp

Antwerp is currently governed by a coalition consisting of the Flemish nationalists (N-VA), the socialists (Vooruit) and independent. Mayor De Wever’s N-VA is the largest party on the council with 23 seats. Vooruit has 6 seats and there is one independent councilor. The municipal coalition has 30 of the 55 council seats.  

The greens are the largest opposition party with 11 seats. The far-right Vlaams Belang has 6 seats and the far-left PVDA has 4 seats. The Christian democrats have 3 seats on the council and the liberals 1. After the 2018 municipal elections the liberals had 2 seats. However, councilor Erica Caluwaerts left the party. She is currently an Alderman. 

Three main topics have been at the top of the agenda during the campaign. These are transport, housing and the Oosterweel Link. 

The stated aim for the Antwerp Transport Area (the city of Antwerp and the surrounding municipalities) is to reduce the number of journeys made by car to no more than 50% of the total number of journey’s made by 2030. In order to achieve this ‘modal shift’ the City of Antwerp will need to make efforts to ensure that alternative modes of transport are available.

During the current legislature investments have been made in the provision of park and ride schemes and stricter rules on parking in the city centre have been introduced. The new rules on parking didn’t please everyone, particular those with businesses in the city centre. Several buisness took the case to the Council of State. A judgement is expected at the end of the year. In the meantime, the city authorities have made some modifications to the rules to address the concerns of city centre businesses.

Although initially not a sucess, the various park and ride schemes set up on the edge of the city have become more popular. Last October the Flemish public transport company De Lijn launched a new ticket costing 5 euro with which those that used the park and ride car parks can park their cars and get a bus (or tram) to and from the city centre.

Public transport in general is another big issue in Antwerp. Both the coalition and the opposition feel that public transport in Antwerp is not good enough. Alderman Koen Kennis has called it the “weak link in the modal shift”. He believes that an Antwerp transport company should be set up to ensure better cooperation between De Lijn and the Belgian rail company NMBS.

The head of the green list at this year’s municipal elections in Antwerp Bogdan Vanden Berghe believes that efforts needs to be made during the forthcoming legislature to ensure a transition towards more, better, punctual and pleasant public transport in Antwerp. 

Housing is an issue in many towns and cities across Flanders and Antwerp is no exception. In recent months there have been several demonstrations calling for more affordable and social housing. There have also been calls for efforts to be made to address the issue of social housing remaining empty.

More than 40,000 people in Antwerp are on the waiting list for social housing, while at the same time several thousand social housing units (houses and flats) are empty. Some of these are in a poor state of repair. 

For the first time a census has been conducted of people that are either living on the streets or have no fixed abode. Almost 3,500 people, 900 of whom children are homeless in Antwerp. Many of these find themselves in this position due to a shortage of social housing and other affordable housing. 

The Oosterweel Link that will finally complete the orbital motorway around Antwerp was to have been completed before 2030. However, this summer it emerged that the link won’t be completed until 2033.

The agency that is in charge of the project Lantis says that the delay is due to issues obtaining permits and the PFAS pollution in the soil along some of the link’s route. A lot of work has already been done, but the impact on residents that live near to where the link is being constructed has in some cases been immense and some have moved away.

The greens have doubts about the affordability of the project as a whole that also includes so-called “Ring parks”, areas of new parkland above parts of the orbital motorway that will be covered over to become tunnels. 

In 2018, the Flemish nationalist party N-VA achieved a clear local election victory with more than 35 per cent of the vote. With 23 seats, the party formed a coalition on the city council with the socialist party Vooruit (6 seats) and the liberal part Open VLD (2 seats). In the opposition are the greens (11 seats), the far-right Vlaams Belang (6 seats), the far-left PVDA (4 seats) and the Flemish Christian democrats (3 seats).

Will Bart De Wever (N-VA) continue as Mayor, or will he become Belgium’s next prime minister? This is the question on the minds of people in Antwerp and many others across the country. Mr De Wever heads his party’s list for the municipal elections. If he does leave to become PM, the aldermen Els van Doesburg (N-VA) and Koen Kennis (N-VA) are cited as the politicians most likey to replace him as Mayor.

That is of course assuming that N-VA remains the biggest party and the Mayor is a Flemish nationalist. One of the big challengers is Jos D'Haese, list leader for PVDA. After the party’s good results in Antwerp in the regional and federal elections 9 June, the party decided to replace its original choice as 1st candidate Ben Van Duppen and go to the polls with its charismatic group leader in the Flemish Parliament at the top of its list. Mr De Wever has already ruled out any form of cooperation with PVDA.