Through the Active Cities project, the City of Mechelen, Belgium, has focused on enhancing its network of eight cycling hubs to encourage active mobility practices among the local population.
Written by Veerle de Meyer & Harry Dobbs
As an early adopter of innovative approaches to active mobility, the City of Mechelen continues to build on its ambition to make cycling an accessible, attractive, and convenient choice for residents and visitors alike. Through the Active Cities project, the City of Mechelen, Belgium, has focused on enhancing its network of eight demand-driven cycling hubs. This initiative supports everyday cyclists with practical on-the-spot services and helps foster a more active and sustainable urban mobility culture across the city.
One of Mechelen's Cycling Hubs in use
Cycling has been a major focus for Mechelen in recent years, alongside major infrastructural investments and broader mobility policies. The cycling hubs, introduced during the previous legislative period, provide cyclists with self-service tools such as tyre pumps, repair equipment, charging points for e-bikes, and route-planning support. Their purpose is simple: to help people keep cycling.
Through Active Cities, Mechelen has been able to further develop and strengthen the cycling hub concept, raising awareness, gathering feedback, and testing new ways of engaging with the public. This included organising a series of hands-on bike repair workshops at multiple hubs and launching community interaction activities to better understand users’ needs.
Across all activities, Mechelen’s overarching goal is to increase the use, accessibility, and overall value of the cycling hubs. By encouraging local engagement and providing practical, easy-to-access support for cyclists, the city aims to make cycling an even more common choice for everyday mobility. Ultimately, the integration of the cycling hubs and associated activities aim to promote cycling as a safe, convenient, and attractive mode of transport, contributing to a more active, sustainable, and connected urban mobility system.
To maximise the impact of its hub-focused activities, Mechelen partnered with Mobiel 21, a Belgian non-profit organisation with more than four decades of expertise in sustainable and active mobility. Following a detailed selection process, Mobiel 21 emerged as the ideal partner for Mechelen to achieve their objectives, particularly in relation to citizen engagement and targeted promotion of the cycling hubs.
A key component of Mechelen's approach to increase local active mobility numbers is the use of Citizen Dialogue Kits (CDK), an open-source platform developed by Research[x]Design (RxD) at Active Cities partner KU Leuven, Belgium. The CDKs consist of interactive, wireless public displays designed to facilitate real-time, location-based civic engagement in urban spaces. These devices enable passers-by to participate in surveys and view data visualisations on topics such as mobility, environment, and public services.
Two CDKs were deployed across four cycling hubs for several weeks, inviting cyclists and other passers-by to share their experiences and suggestions. The result: 152 completed responses and a valuable dataset reflecting how residents use the hubs and what improvements they would like to see.
Despite the initial challenge to encourage local people to participate and use the CDKs, they have since been described as an accessible, easy tool for fostering engagement among local citizens. Their placement directly at the cycling hubs facilitated the quick collection of feedback, with 150+ responses by the end of the initiative.
The relevant feedback collected has allowed the City of Mechelen to prioritise future improvements, including:
- Longer tool cables
- Foot pump repairs
- Additional repair tools (e.g., pedal tools, chain oil)
- New hub locations (such as behind the train station)
- More bicycle parking in areas like Battel and Heffen
- Fast-charging options
- Water access
- Stronger hoses for bike-wash facilities
- A new bike wash in Muizen
- Clearer user instructions
The findings gathered during the Active Cities project will guide Mechelen as it continues to optimise its cycling hubs. With clear community feedback and a stronger understanding of user needs, the city is well-positioned to further enhance the hubs’ functionality and accessibility, continuing its journey toward an even more active and cyclist-friendly urban environment.