According to the latest Clean Cities Campaign, comparing emission-free mobility in 42 European cities, Brussels (11th place), Antwerp (12th), and Ghent (18th) have achieved a place in the top twenty rankings. Liège, on the other hand, sits in 36th place. Still, all four Belgian cities could step up their game toward a zero-emission future, especially in the bus category.
The Clean Cities Campaign is hosted by Transport & Environment. They organized this survey among 42 European countries to see who’s speeding ahead when it comes to shared and electric mobility.
Four categories
The report highlights to which extent urban authorities focus on four categories to make mobility emission-free. The four categories are shared electric bicycles and e-scooters, shared cars, and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Of the four Belgian cities surveyed, none reached the top ten, led by Copenhagen in first place, followed by Oslo and Paris. Amsterdam sits in 5th place, and Hamburg closes the top five.
Brussels has a perfect score for shared mobility
With a perfect score of one hundred percent on the number of shared e-scooters and electric bicycles, Brussels took 11th place, followed by Antwerp in place 12, with a maximum score for charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Only five European cities score 100% for EV charging infrastructure: Copenhagen, Oslo, Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Ghent. Cities with a perfect score of 100% for shared e-bikes and e-scooters are Paris, Helsinki, Lisbon, and Brussels.
Ambitious policies
Liège, on the other hand, achieved a zero score on the number of shared electric cars and the share of zero-emission buses. Brussels scored 12% for the latter, Antwerp 2%, and Ghent 3%. The worst results are for Greater Manchester (UK) in 42nd place, Dublin (Ireland) in place 41, Granada (Spain) in place 40, Birmingham (UK) in place 36, and Edinburgh (UK) in place 38.
The Clean Cities Campaign (CCC) is a European coalition of more than 80 civil society organizations, campaigning for zero-emission urban mobility by 2030. Together, they want to urge cities to adopt more ambitious policies.
This survey’s data collection and analysis took place in the first quarter of 2023 with the help of the CCC’s network and experts from global sustainability consultancy Ricardo Energy & Environment.
Some remarkable conclusions
• Shared mobility can be a shortcut to future-proofing urban transport systems as progress can rapidly be made with relatively limited public funding.
• Political leadership makes the difference: the best-performing cities are those where decision-makers set clear, strong objectives and make targeted investments.
• The difference in the availability of (semi-)public EV charging infrastructure between the leaders and the laggards represents about an order of magnitude. Many cities need to step up local policies to accelerate the roll-out.
• Zero-emission and shared mobility solutions are vital to tackle the climate crisis, improve people’s health and well-being, and create more equitable cities.
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