Young families still prefer suburbs

27 March 2007

BRUSSELS – Fewer people left the cities and large town centres in Flanders compared to several years ago, except in Louvain and Kortrijk. This emerged from the most recent city monitor, which measures the liveability of the 13 central Flemish cities and large towns on the basis of 200 indicators.

Young families still choose to live in the suburbs or the countryside more often, the study showed.

“Flemish cities are doing well, which means Flanders is doing well,” concluded Flemish Minister for the Interior, Urban policy, Living, and Integration Marino Keulen (Open VLD).

“In comparison to the benchmark of 2004, cities fared better in 2006,” he said, though he does understand why many young parents opt to raise children outside of the cities.

“If you are on the edges of the cities your children can move around freely and cycle without much danger while that isn’t possible in the busy centres,” the minister said.

“But you can see that families are choosing to live in the suburbs so that they can still enjoy the facilities that a city has to offer, like libraries, the cinema, theatre and hospitals.”

Subject: Belgian news