With last week giving Belgium a much-needed soaking, I was a little concerned that one of the best days in the Brussels calendar – Car Free Sunday – would be a wash-out. Yet miraculously we were spared and the rainclouds that had brought such a dousing on Saturday scudded past the capital (I kept a weather eye on the satellite just to be sure).
The day unfolded with its customary merriment: neighbours gathered for impromptu brunches, pedestrians zig-zagging unhindered down main thoroughfares and everywhere the tinkle of bicycle bells.
The most striking views were on the main boulevards and Inner Ring, normally no-go zones for anyone without a vehicle. From Arts-Loi towards the Triumphal Arch of Parc Cinquantenaire, bicycles thronged one of the city's busiest and most polluted arteries. I happened to be walking down this same road on Saturday and the number of boarded-up buildings is striking yet not surprising: who would open up shop with three lanes of traffic on your doorstep?
Brussels authorities are well aware of the gains to be made by rethinking the city from a human-oriented angle. Allocating space more strategically has worked wonders elsewhere and initiatives like yesterday's provide a rare opportunity to envisage how things could be better.
Of course, car-free days are unusual occasions for festivities that wouldn't be repeated on a daily basis. But ministers would be foolish to ignore the popularity of events that would boost local businesses and make enormous steps to achieving climate targets.
So will we have more Car Free Sundays? The Brussels Minister for Mobility is certainly in favour and hopes to please the crowds with more regular, perhaps slightly smaller, repeats.
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