Hugo Bollen, inventor of Belgian cycle node network gets honorary doctorate

On May 27th, Hasselt University will award an honorary doctorate to Hugo Bollen, the inventor of the walking and cycling node network. Hugo Bollen, a former engineer at the Kempen Coal Mines (Kempische Steenkoolmijnen), came up with the now widespread cycling and walking junction network years ago.

The doctorate is a recognition of his essential contribution to the sustainable development of our region and how he inspired people to discover and appreciate the beauty of their environment.

Simple but ingenious

The principle is simple but ingenious. The node network allows walkers and cyclists to map a route, as long and as far as they want, and in the direction of their choice, without needing a map or navigation system, by choosing a combination of short trips via the numbered junctions or ‘nodes’.

In the meantime, the network has grown to around 2,000 kilometers of paved, safe, and partly car-free cycle paths in Limburg. The concept has become so popular that it has been copied in the rest of Flanders, Wallonia, and later abroad. The same system is now operational in the Netherlands, Germany, and Croatia.

Economic boost for the region

“With this honorary doctorate, UHasselt honors Hugo Bollen as the spiritual father of the walking and cycling route network. A network that is just as much a part of the sustainable economic renaissance of the Limburg region as the many ecosystems and innovation hubs that have grown here in recent years,” says UHasselt rector Bernard Vanheusden.

“His vision and ingenuity have contributed to an economic boost for the region, but above all, also to a unique connection between people and nature,” he concludes.