Mechelen

Mechelen is located in the heart of Flanders, halfway between Brussels and Antwerp. In the top 10 of the largest Flemish living and working cities, Mechelen is in 5th place. Our city is becoming more popular year after year and that is how we attract even more people and companies.

Mechelen breathes history, but at the same time is bubbling with culture and a vibrant city life. 126 nationalities feel at home here and a total of 86,766 ‘Maneblussers’ put the city at their heart. As an innovative city, we have ambitions to grow and prosper.

The inner city is the area that used to be situated within the city ramparts with narrow cobble stoned streets. There are only a few remains of these ancient ramparts. They have been replaced by the ring road around the city. In this part of the city there are about 20.000 inhabitants.

Nekkerspoel and Battel are mainly urban housing areas with a high density. The villages of Walem, Heffen, Leest, Hombeek, and Muizen have a lower density as there are mainly detached houses with a larger total surface.

The peri-urban area comprises the industrial zones in the north and south of the city. It also comprises the main access road to the industrial area in the neighbouring municipality, called Willebroek. There are logistics traffic flows going back and forth between the city of Mechelen and this industrial zone in Willebroek. It is connected by one main national road (N16) and is therefore very congested.

Mechelen is/was involved in the following EU projects: Active Cities Interreg North-Sea Region, Citcom.ai Digital Europe, Cyclelogistics ahead, GLEAM Interreg North-Sea region, Novelog, Select Interreg North-Sea Region, Share North Squared Interreg North-Sea Region, Spotlog Interreg Europe, Surflogh, Access, ART-forum, ULaaDS, Urbane Horizon Europe & ZCI (Zero Carbon Infrastructure) Interreg North-Sea Region.

Mechelen has published the following documents:

• Visienota Mobiliteit (in Dutch)
• Mechelen van morgen 2020-2025 (in Dutch)
• Convenant - Duurzame en efficiënte stadslogistiek in Mechelen (in Dutch)