Crowd control & mobility in the city

After two lockdowns, everyone is craving a getaway. Hiking is immensely popular. Natural areas and locations where there is something to experience can count on a large influx. On December 1st, the non-essential stores will reopen in Belgium. It promises to be busy in the shopping streets, city centres and shopping centres. And what about the Christmas holidays? The government calls on not travelling abroad, ski resorts remain closed… It also promises to be busy times for tourist destinations in Belgium. And yet it's not quite back to business as usual. The safety measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus remain in force. We must avoid as many contacts as possible, keep distance and give everyone the space to move in a safe way.

The easing of measures and the continuing threat create a field of tension that requires creative solutions. During the past summer, To B-Seen and Scelta Mobility acquired a great deal of expertise to manage mobility and visitor flows in the city. Perhaps our approach offers inspiration for other cities? Chris De Smet and Bart Busschaert explain our approach in this interview. 

Mobility and crowd control cannot be separated from each other. That was the starting point for our approach in Ostend this summer which was to guide visitors safely and comfortably to the beach or through the city. Avoiding bottlenecks in the city centres and in crowded places starts in the car and on public transport. An optimal distribution of visitors over the city increases the carrying capacity of the environment and prevents problems in busy places. We’ve got the inspiration for this paln from our many years of experience with large events and mass gatherings. In this article from the Belgian Newspaper ‘De Tijd’ you can read everything about it.

Spreading, monitoring and measuring visitor flows are crucial elements to prevent problems. A good spread ofinformation and management measures ensures that tougher interventions such as bans, closures or cancellations can be postponed or even become unnecessary. If you want to know more about our way of working, contact us for more information.