Towards a modal shift in Brussels, Belgium? An elaboration on the 2010 IRIS II regional mobility plan

In 2010, Brussels’ mobility situation was worrying. Congestion gripped the city and it became known as the ‘traffic jam capital’. Previous efforts failed to provide an intelligent and integrated vision that would define the future of mobility in the Belgian capital. Starting in 2010, the IRIS II regional mobility plan vowed to become a vector in transitioning towards a sustainable city. However, various identified influential factors negatively impacted the development of modal alternatives. Consequently, despite the achievement of the desired modal shift, authorities failed to provide a coherent vision for a transition towards a sustainable city. This thesis ,therefore, aims to explain how the factors impacted the implementation of planned ambitions and subsequent achievement of the objective.

The thesis first addresses the risks related to increased congestion and reduced regional accessibility, as such, it provides a background and statement of the problem. After defining the research’s relevance and research questions, the research provides an overview of the relevant state of the art theories and concepts to formulate a conceptual framework. The third chapter defines the research design and describes how the survey and secondary data findings were collected, analyzed and used. Based on this, the variables and indicators are operationalized. Next, the fourth chapter presents the research findings for all indicators under each sub-research question. The last chapter provides conclusions for all research questions, as well as some recommendations.

The research finds that despite several cities around the world using this type of planning instrument to facilitate cooperation and ease the development of modal alternatives, the IRIS II plan failed to address reoccurring institutional limitations. As such, a remedy must be found to address the inefficiency of Brussels’s mobility policies.

In true Belgian fashion, authorities (the region and municipalities) failed to create a culture of continuous, synergetic cooperation. Inconsistent and improper methodologies affected both the practices of participatory governance and the monitoring and evaluation activities. This caused additional challenges in the implementation of proposed actions. Similarly, the absence of information led to authorities being ill-informed. Therefore, this research stresses the need to address such reoccurring issues to facilitate consistent cooperation and improve the quality of information used in decision-making. Thus, ensuring institutional cooperation is a challenge that still forms a recurrent stumbling block in defining a common development vision for Brussels.