The Belfius Smart Cities & Sustainable Development programme

Why does Belgium need a "smart cities" approach?

98% of the Belgian population lives in an urban environment of small cities and municipalities. So the country itself is, basically, one urban zone.

The population within Belgian cities is said to increase by 5 to 26% in 2026.

The problems of air quality, CO2-emission and global warming are not only concentrated in the larger Belgian cities, but are a global challenge for the entire Belgian urban environment. There’s an increasing awareness about this problem, as already 253 municipalities ( 43% ) signed the Convenant of Mayors around the reduction of CO2-emission.

Why is Belfius Bank involved?

Belfius has been the leading Belgian bank in public finance for over 150 years, so it is logical that the bank follows the challenges its clients face.

Since Belfius also has a strong value proposition in corporate banking, it wants to bring businesses and government together around the challenge of creating the "smart" environment of the future, thus using its large network to enhance exchanges of ideas and solutions.

By developing solutions like the "Smart Cities" programme, Belfius wants to facilitate access to funding.

The Programme

Belfius Bank’s collaboration with the European Investment Bank (EIB) led in 2014 to a 400 Mio EUR credit line for projects that match concrete criteria around urban regeneration, energy efficiency and mobility. This collaboration is a first in Europe.

Eligible projects benefit from a co-financing solution where up to 50% of the project cost can be financed via the EIB. This often leads to more competitive rates for "smart city" projects compared to more classical solutions for other types of projects.

The programme allows small cities and municipalities, that often lack the staff to do in-depth research on the matter, to benefit from the global support of the solutions provided by the EIB while having their own local banker who takes care of the technical aspects. Since only 19 out of the 589 Belgian cities and municipalities have more than 75.000 inhabitants, it is clear that this programme facilitates the access to this type of funding.

The Projects: some examples

Since its launch in 2014, about 120 projects have been or are being analyzed in the "Smart Cities and Sustainable Development" programme. 20 of them have been financed. Some cases here below.

As soon as the "Smart Cities and Sustainable Development" programme was launched by Belfius and the EIB, the Town of Gembloux submitted a financing application for its new town hall. During the appraisal of the dossier, it rapidly became clear that the project was based on an integrated, innovative and sustainable approach.