Team, Trust, and Trams: Two days in Ghent

Last week, the Stories team packed light, dressed down, and boarded the Eurostar for Ghent - a city of canals, cobblestones, and quietly radical reinvention. Our trip was a mix of discovery and downtime, with a loose excuse of trying to find out what makes places work for people.

Here are a few reflections from two days of wandering and wondering together.

From the first steps off the tram, Ghent feels like a city that’s been carefully stitched back together. We walked past medieval guild houses, vibrant public art, post-industrial docks, and modernist icons like De Krook Library or the Melopee School - all coexisting without shouting for attention.

The ongoing regeneration of the Old Docks is particularly striking. What could have been just another waterfront redevelopment has been handled with nuance: restored industrial infrastructure sits alongside contemporary architecture, all stitched together with bike paths, new housing, cultural venues, and public space. The masterplan creates spaces for the wide variety of residents that make up the Ghent population – from students and start-ups to families and the retired. It’s not perfect, but it’s proof that you can preserve history and add density without defaulting to pastiche or erasure.

The built environment needs more humility and humour

In Ghent, even the serious stuff is approached with playfulness. Wintercircus provides a quirky new public square and workspace within a city centre structure that has long since been neglected. The repurposed former circus is heated and cooled using 100% renewable energy.

The Stadshal, essentially a huge contemporary canopy dropped into a medieval square was controversial at first, but now it’s well utilised. It’s generous, slightly weird, and completely public, providing cover for everything from markets to music events.

Our visit to Graffiti Street sparked lots of discussions. Ghent has made room for mess and experimentation - something UK planning rarely tolerates. Not everything has to be precious. Cities need colour, texture and spontaneity as much as masterplans.

Graffiti Street

Wintercircus

Team time matters

Yes, we were here to be inspired by Ghent’s built environment. But what made the trip really valuable was simply spending time together.

El Capitan

We shared vegan food at Le Botaniste, meaty cuisine at Pakhuis, late-night beers all over town and the best cocktails at Piu di Piu. We had a lovely jaunt out of town on an electric boat, masterfully captained in turn by Richard and James.

This stuff matters. We don’t just build projects - we build long, complicated, and sometimes messy relationships. Trust, ease, and joy make the difficult parts possible. The hard work ahead, of delivering meaningful, ethical, people-first development only works if we invest in each other too.

Final thought: Go slower, look closer

Ghent reminded us of the value of moving slowly and seeing cities as living things. From its careful adaptation of old infrastructure to its open embrace of new ideas, it’s a place that seems to ask: how can we make this work for more people, for longer?

That’s a question we’ll be carrying home, along with some mild beer fatigue and a lot of photos.

To everyone who made the trip happen (looking at you, Wiggy the logistics queen), thank you. And to anyone thinking of visiting Ghent: bring comfy shoes, an open mind, and Wiggy’s excellent agenda.

See you on the next tram.