Humankind‘s global approach to consumptive patterns and economic growth is exceeding the planetary boundaries (Towards Territorial Transition, 2023). In the city, and much more in the peri-urban areas, this is reflected above all in land consumption and urban sprawl.

The urgency to adapt to climate change through the mobility transition moved Flanders, Antwerp and a wide range of civil society groups to undertake a concrete, radical transformation of the city region that counteracts urban sprawl.

Since 2017, work has been underway on a city-wide overbuilding of the motorway ring road into a green, multifunctional open space for people. With the reclaiming of the additional central land, we ask the question: if we [RE]claim the space - what do we do with it?

The comprehensive territorial vision of the green ring enables the activation of new potential inner-city spaces. Buildings and uses have over the. Over the decades, buildings and uses have turned their backs on the noise and air polluted infrastructure. With the transformation of the ring to a green infrastructure, obsolete areas represent potentials to give the ring a new face, to couple inner-city densification with a high-quality open space and to transform the urban structure sustainably.