Leuven, a small city in Belgium, has been the front-runner of many green initiatives and policies. Due to a clever car-reduction mobility plan several years ago, the city made it harder to navigate by car than by bike. Since then, cycling has gone up from 20% to 40%. During Covid-19, Leuven managed to implement even more environmentally sustainable policies in a shorter about of time, making the center a bicycle zone—effectively prioritizing bikes as the most ideal mode of transportation. “People just accepted it, because there was already that use of public space," the mayor says.
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