Bois de la Cambre in Brussels: park or thoroughfare?

VUB and ULB research into traffic preferences shows divide between respondents in centre and periphery. Sunday, May 30, 2021 — Traffic in the Bois de la Cambre in Brussels has been the subject of intense debate for some time. Should it be open or closed to traffic? Researchers from VUB and ULB, with the Brussels Studies Institute (BSI), conducted a survey on people's wishes for the park. In general, the study found that a respondent's personal situation is an important predictor for their vision of the park: their age, family situation, where they live or work, mobility habits, access to green spaces, etc. Researcher Nicola da Schio: "The findings show that it's mainly people living in the central areas of Brussels and people with less access to green spaces who want the entirety of the park closed to traffic. Older people and those who drive daily, on the other hand, would rather see the entire park open to traffic." Nicola da Schio of the VUB research group COSMOPOLIS, Claire Pelgrims of the ULB research group LoUIsE and Sebastiano Cincinnato and Anneloes Vandenbroucke of the BSI examined the preferences for various possible mobility arrangements for the Bois de la Cambre. The survey consisted of questions on people's current use of the park, their desires for its future, mobility habits, life and work contexts, and their use of green spaces.