(toespraak bij de opening van het European Transport Congres, UAntwerpen)
Good morning ladies and gentlemen,
My name is Koen Kennis, vice mayor, responsible for mobility in the great city of Antwerp.
Let me first wish you a warm welcome on behalf of the city council.
My dear friends,
It is my firm belief we can learn a lot from history.
For centuries Antwerp has been at the crossroads of trade routes. In the 15th and 16th century Antwerp hosted the biggest port in the world, nowadays we are Europe’s number 2 port. Today we are hosting the world’s number 2 petrochemical cluster.
Antwerp has mobility in its DNA, the mobility of people, goods and ideas.
Good, smart ideas have always been welcome in Antwerp, and will always be.
This was the case in the 16th century when Christoffel Plantijn founded the world’s first printing center, becoming the Steve Jobs, the Marc Zuckerberg of that area.
Soon Plantijn was surrounded by some of the most influential artists and intellectuals of his time, creating an ecosystem which resulted in Antwerp’s Golden Age.
Writers such as Thomas Moore, painters such as Rubens and Van Dijck, translators, scientists, geographers, highly skilled craftsmen, … they all joined forces in Antwerp, making it the New York of that time.
It is these people who made Antwerp into what it is today: a trade hub. An arts center. A culinary heaven. A place full of history, and yet full of young, innovative entrepreneurs. A place of great hospitality.
A great place to live and work. A great place to exchange ideas.
My dear friends,
There is a straight line from those days to why we are gathered here today.
In 2024 we are building an ecosystem for mobility in Antwerp.
I consider Antwerp to be a living lab, open for new and innovative ideas.
I see a lot of similarities between my job as vice mayor for mobility, and you as professionals in the transport sector.
We share the responsability of integrating economic prosperity with social well-being.
Nowadays, there are people, also in Antwerp, who believe in what is called ‘degrowth’. According to them, we have to back down on economic development. According to them we need less mobility.
I could not disagree more. We need more mobility, in every sense of the word.
I tend to see mobility in a broader perspective. Mobility as a changemaker, as a driving force for development, for prosperity and social change.
Dear friends,
I know all of you here present can bring surprising ideas to the table.
Your timing to visit Antwerp is perfect.
This is a city in full change, once again.
We are overcoming 20 years of political deadlock on how to solve mobility issues in our city.
I invite you to pay a visit to the Oosterweel works, massive infrastructure works on both sides of the river Scheldt. These works include building new river crossings, finally closing the ringway around the city. It also includes large new parks, new connections for bikes and pedestrians, even creating new spaces for recreational use, and constructing new neighbourhoods.
A reachable Antwerp is a liveable Antwerp, and vice versa.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Antwerp story is about ambition, hard work, dedication, trust, innovation and a creative approach.
Some things never change, and happily so.
So welcome once again in Antwerp,
a city rooted in the past,
a city where the future is being written right now.
Thank you for your attention, enjoy your stay.
