Antwerp 2030: The city centre is being redrawn
Antwerp’s city centre is entering a major transformation. At The Lobby, the Stad Antwerpen presented key projects that will reshape the city’s most important squares and shopping streets towards 2030.
The Antwerp of 2030 is taking shape now. On 14 October, we invited our clients to The Lobby to hear it first-hand. The City of Antwerp’s retail and investment team walked them through its plans for the city centre: four projects, one timeline, years of impact.
No press release, no second-hand summary. Straight from the people drawing the plans, to the people whose assets they affect.
Wapper: under way since march 2026
Works started on 23 March 2026 and are expected to last approximately two years. The square gets walking zones at least five metres wide, island terraces and 23 new trees. A 130-metre water feature runs down the middle and ends in a city fountain on the Meir.
Groenplaats: works start spring 2027
A more open square with better terraces, a central water element, a double row of trees, a new premetro entrance and underground bicycle parking. The surrounding streets change with it. The Schoenmarkt becomes fully pedestrian, and a clearer north–south link opens at the Meirbrug.
Meir: starting 2028
The concept for the Meir, Leysstraat, Jezusstraat and Twaalfmaandenstraat was approved in February 2026. The goal is a more open, higher-quality shopping boulevard with fewer obstacles, green spaces to linger, a focus on heritage and better-organised loading. The preliminary design follows this autumn and the final design in 2027. Works start in 2028 at the earliest.
Koningin Astridplein: starting 2030
The concept was approved in summer 2026. It brings a central garden with 101 extra trees, an event forecourt at Antwerp Central Station and no tram turning loop. Cycling and public transport move to parking level -1, cars to level -2. Works start in 2030–2031 at the earliest.
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