Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) is an Initiative of the European Union that provides urban areas throughout Europe with resources to test new and unproven solutions to address urban challenges.
What happens when residents rewild their own street? The City of Ghent found out.
In this podcast episode, we return to Ghent and the European Urban Initiative (https://www.urban-initiative.eu/) project Rewild the City (https://www.urban-initiative.eu/ia-cities/gent/home). The project is not simply about removing asphalt or adding more greenery. It is an attempt to change the rules, routines and relationships that have made soil sealing the default way of building cities.
We speak with members of the REWILD project about the project’s first year of experimentation. They discuss working with residents and businesses, creating space for nature on public and private land, and addressing the institutional barriers hidden beneath Ghent’s ambitions.
Do you want to know more? Read the full article here (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/urban-stories/european-urban-initiative/podcast-what-happens-when-residents-rewild-their-own-street-city-ghent-found-out).
Listen to the previous Ghent episode
In Reimagining Ghent: De-sealing the City (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/urban-stories/european-urban-initiative/podcast-reimagining-ghent-de-sealing-city-8253), Linde Vertriest from the City of Ghent and Annelies Sevenant from the Ghent Environmental Front introduce REWILD and explore what it takes to rewild an entire city.
Read more about REWILD on Portico
Building belonging through climate adaptation: The story of Ghent’s Buurtpark Hãm (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/urban-stories/european-urban-initiative/building-belonging-through-climate-adaptation-story-ghents-buurtpark-ham-9304)
How the temporary use of a former industrial site is helping Ghent build community and shape the identity of a future neighbourhood park.
A blueprint to overcome institutional desealing barriers (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/urban-stories/european-urban-initiative/blueprint-overcome-institutional-desealing-barriers-ghent-shares-their-rewilding-practice)
A practical look at how Ghent identified the regulations, standards and competing interests that stand in the way of desealing.
REWILDing by doing… and undoing: Urban Diary #1 (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/urban-stories/european-urban-initiative/rewilding-doing-and-undoing-urban-diary1-8702)
The experiences, achievements and lessons from REWILD’s first year in Ghent.
Explore the full REWILD collection on Portico (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/european-urban-initiative/fast-forward-rewild-city-6971)
More information
Visit the REWILD project website (https://www.rewildthecity.eu/)
22 Sept 2026
Reimagining Bruges' historic waters to tackle climate change
What happens when a city looks beneath its streets for answers to the climate crisis?
Bruges may be famous for its canals, but water did much more than create the city’s postcard views. It helped turn medieval Bruges into one of Europe’s largest and most internationally connected cities. Beneath today’s streets, parts of that historic water system still survive. Ancient pipes continue to carry water. Medieval wells are rediscovered during construction work. One was found when the city tried to plant a tree.
Could this forgotten infrastructure help Bruges prepare for drought, heavy rainfall and a changing climate?
In this episode, Johannes Riegler sat beside the canals with landscape architect Ilse Vansevenant and city archaeologist Frederic Roelens from the City of Bruges. Tourist boats pass as we explore a water story spanning more than 700 years.
We talk about the network that once supplied “medieval Manhattan” with fresh water, why residents knew exactly which well provided the best water for peas or tea, and how one of these wells could soon help people water their plants again.
But this is not only a story about the past. Ilse explains how sensors are helping the city understand groundwater, water quality and the needs of individual trees. Together, we explore what happens when archaeology, climate adaptation and new technology meet.
If you would like to find out more follow Blue4Green on Portico (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/european-urban-initiative/blue4green-hydrating-city-combining-heritage-natural-and-high-tech-solutions-green-blue-challenges-6961).
More information and materials mentioned in the podcast:
European Urban Initiative (https://www.urban-initiative.eu/)
Portico - The EU gateway to urban learning (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/)
31 Aug 2026
Reimagining urban swimming
What does it take to transform a former industrial dock into a place where people can safely swim?
In this episode of Cities Reimagined, Johannes visits the Keerdok in Mechelen, Belgium. Once dominated by warehouses, parking and industrial activity, the area is being transformed into a new urban neighbourhood that opens the city towards the water as part of the 'Water as the Source of Urban Public Space (https://www.urban-initiative.eu/ia-cities/mechelen/home)' Innovative Actions funded by the European Urban Initiative (https://www.urban-initiative.eu/).
He speaks with Sander Belmans from De Vlaamse Waterweg and An Schepers and Barbara Enckels from the City of Mechelen about the long process behind the city’s open-water swimming zone.
After five years of temporary experiments, Mechelen is now preparing a permanent swimming facility at the Keerdok. The new design will combine swimming infrastructure, public space, shade, greenery and floating habitats for animals and plants.
In this episode:
How can cities make open-water swimming possible when the rules are not yet ready?
How can swimming, shipping, biodiversity and public space coexist in the same waterway?
What does it take to transform an industrial dock into a place where people want to swim?
How can cities build a culture of safe and inclusive open-water swimming?
How can cities overcome cultural barriers to open-water swimming?
How can swimming areas work for different ages, abilities and user groups?
Previous Cities Reimagined episodes from Mechelen
Reimagining Mechelen, Parts 1 and 2 (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/urban-stories/european-urban-initiative/podcasts-reimagining-mechelen-city-its-river-and-voices-nature-6760)Explore how Mechelen is reconnecting people, public space and nature along the River Dijle, including how the city is experimenting with giving nature a voice in urban development.
Nature’s comeback to Mechelen (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/urban-stories/european-urban-initiative/podcast-natures-comeback-mechelen-michiel-van-mele-and-maarten-de-jonge)A conversation with city ecologist Michiel Van Mele and Maarten De Jonge about biodiversity, water quality and the return of nature to the Binnendijle.
Learn more
Discover WATSUPS on Portico (https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/european-urban-initiative/watsups-water-source-urban-public-space)
Find articles, podcast episodes, project stories and lessons from Mechelen’s journey to reconnect people, animals and plants with the river.
Visit the WATSUPS project page on the European Urban Initiative website (https://www.urban-initiative.eu/ia-cities/mechelen/about-projects)
Learn more about the project, its partnership and its ambition to develop water as an accessible and inclusive form of public space.
WATSUPS, Water as the Source of Urban Public Space, is an Innovative Action supported by the European Urban Initiative and a New European Bauhaus demonstrator.
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