Sint-Niklaas: from a congested town square to a green oasis

Sint-Niklaas is a modern city in the East of Flanders, Belgium. With more than 78.000 inhabitants it counts as the second biggest city of the region. Next to that, Sint-Niklaas features Belgium’s biggest square with 3.19 hectares.

Transforming Sint-Niklaas

Infrastructural improvements will start in 2023 to transform Niklaas’s square (Grote Markt) into a beautiful, welcoming location. In order to achieve this, a lot of trees will be planted and a traffic filter will be installed on the access routes toward the town square. As a result, the car park under the town square will only be accessible from the north of the city.

Els De Deken

Mobility Consultant

This traffic analysis has enabled us to make a correct estimate of the necessary parking area on the north side of the town square. Research made it clear that there is only a capacity problem at rush hour.

Optimal results through various data sources

To understand the impact of the proposed measure, Sint-Niklaas asked Localyse to get an overview of the current situation, before and during Covid-19. To gather optimal data we combined a number of data sources: