TOPNoordrand Workshop1 Hein Tekst
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Transcript of TOPNoordrand Workshop1 Hein Tekst
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Synergies Brussels-Europe:An international and European future for the Brussels metropolitan area and its Northern fringe. Carola Hein Brussels, like many large metropolises around the world has grown beyond the city’s administrative boundaries. Also like some other major cities, Brussels is a city region, surrounded by another region with different actors, plans, political and economic goals and histories. What makes the case of the Brussels city region special is the existence of different official languages and cultures on both sides of the city’s boundaries. Any attempt to propose a common urban and development plan for the metropolitan region that crosses Brussels’ borders will be challenged by a patchwork of histories, cultures, municipalities, regions, languages and identities. The current search for a vision for the Noordrand, a border-crossing area that includes the Zaventem airport and other national and international institutions and infrastructures therefore poses major challenges to architects, planners, and politicians. Any spatial solution expressed into a planning vision for this area will have to take into account the particular regional and local framework. Given the existing and long-standing tensions in the area that are expressed in multiple competing projects for shopping centers, office spaces and other facilities, it is important to remember that a regional plan for Brussels, established as part of a larger national concept has historic precedents. Such visions were usually conceived in the context of national initiatives, several of them related to the international destiny of the city. Brussels as home for international organizations and world city was a major theme for Paul Otlet (1868-1944), a Belgian lawyer turned bibliographer and international activist, who promoted his native city for several decades.1 Otlet had long-standing interests in urban planning and had attempted since 1911 to give architectural form to the international center he envisioned. He found his ideas echoed in a project prepared independently by the Norwegian sculptor Hendrik Christian Andersen and the French architect Ernest Hébrard (published in 1913) and hoped that the simultaneous presentation of his ideas and the design of the world center project developed by Andersen and Hébrard would stimulate interest for his internationalist visions. The plan,
proposed for a city of 600,000 inhabitants, was an easily recognizable design that could be replicated anywhere (fig. 1). In fact, Hébrard considered various locations for his city, envisioning its placement not only in the vicinity of old European centers such as Brussels. In all cases, however, the idea was to use an existing city, its infrastructure and other facilities, to support the international city. Figure 1: Andersen and Hebrard
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In the 1950s, in the context of an application for becoming the capital of Europe, Belgium once again reflected on the development of the capital Brussels. On the request of the government, the Group Alpha proposed a metropolitan development plan for metropolitan development to 2 million inhabitants, identified potential sites for the creation of a European district and sketched a design for a European headquarters (fig. 2). Among the 1958 candidate proposals, the Brussels application stood the best chance of being accepted. In addition to offering an array of opportunities for urban development, national and local authorities had begun a large-scale modernization of the city. A new social-liberal government, elected in 1954, supported a European future for Brussels and the city consequently underwent vast transformations to propel it to the level of a metropolis for Europe. Any creation of a capital city, political, economic, or cultural, needs important support structures, including transportation, housing, leisure and other facilities and the project by Groupe Alpha acknowledged these. However, the national government promoted these concepts against local interests, and the national powers were rapidly declining.
Figure 2: Proposal for a European district in Brussels as part of metropolitan planning by Groupe Alpha, 1957
These regional scaled projects for Brussels are a half century old, but did not lead to realization. At the time, the Belgian government had extraordinary planning powers in the Brussels urban area, and competition among the communes allowed many decisions to be made by the national government. After World War II, disputes between the two major cultural and linguistic groups eventually led to three regional governments–for the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region, and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region (this last established only in 1989)–as well as Flemish and French community organizations that address cultural issues beyond regional spheres.2 The conflicts between the two cultures and languages on a national level influenced strategies for the development of both Brussels as a city and as a headquarters for European and international institutions. As a result, the national government with support from the City of Brussels aimed to establish the international organizations on the land of the City of Brussels, with the European headquarters located in the Quartier Leopold and Cinquantenaire area and NATO in Evere.
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Figure 3: Top Noordrand
The TOP Noordrand aims to rethink the metropolitan region in a 36-year perspective for the year 2050.3 We don’t know exactly the technological and other possibilities of that time, the ways that transportation will be organized, or what the social and cultural preferences of the citizens of that era will be.4 We do know though that there are multiple political, economic, ecological and other challenges ahead and that there will be a need to redefne our approaches to urban form and cities. Many leading metropolises around the world have chosen to address questions of metropolitanization, transportation and sustainability in their future plans—with more or less convincing implementation strategies.5 Metropolitan planning for Brussels and particularly the Noordrand could aim to overcome the challenges of the past, while establishing a paradigm of the city of the future, creating a metropolitan area that would become a paradigm of the future European city, a space that would respond equally to the needs of the local citizens and those for whom Brussels is a capital, as well as to the institutions and enterprises it hosts. As the national government, the City of Brussels and the other municipalities aimed to address the requests from the international institutions, they focused on specific buildings and limited urban areas, without being able to plan for the implications of the presence of these institutions for the infrastructure and other facilities of the metropolis as a whole. The Plan Alpha from the 1970s, proposing a major transformation and destruction of the
city center that was heavily and rightly critiqued by opposition groups, was a last attempt at thinking the institutional and European dimension of Brussels, as it had come about through a series of compromises, on a more than local scale (fig. 4).6 A later project for a European district in Brussels, the neo-traditional design suggested by ARAU and IEB for a new European district on the thirty-hectare site of the no longer used Josaphat railway station did not consider a broader urban or Figure 4: Plan Alpha, Source
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metropolitan perspective (fig. 5).7 It did, however, propose to think the concept of a European capital as more than an institutional setting, and offered locations for cultural institutions and housing, on a limited scale recalling Hendrik Christian Andersen and Ernest Hénard’s ideas. Figure 5: AAM, Proposal for Gare Josaphat
Absent a strong national and European desire regarding the Brussels metropolis and its area, these proposals were unexecuted and urban development followed a haphazard path. Given the increasing number of conflicts between the regions and municipalities in Belgium, the integration of the European institutions occurred through the debates on select buildings rather than as a part of a larger metropolitan project. These buildings restructured entire neighborhoods, nonetheless, their symbolic value is very limited. Changing design preferences complicated the identification of Europeans with their capital. Originally celebrated by the professional press as an architectural-engineering achievement, the local press viewed the Berlaymont, the headquarters of the Commission, as a monstrous construction. Only in 2012, more than 40 years after the opening of the Commission headquarters building in 1968 (the Berlaymont building in Brussels) and after ample discussion about demolishing it, did the Commission identify itself with the architecture of its headquarters in a new logo, selecting an emblem that celebrates the structures sweeping curves (fig. 6).8
Figure 6: Berlaymont: from monster to emblem
Despite the absence of a comprehensive vision and enforced urban plan for a European district, the presence of European institutions and its collaborators from around the world, attracted other activities that catered to these Europeans: providing housing for expatriates or short-term rental apartments, international restaurants and kiosks selling journals from around the world or European-themed souvenirs (fig. 7). The presence of the Europeans expressed itself also in rising rents, gentrification and other socio-economic developments.
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Figure 7: Europeanization adjacent to the European institutions
As the European Union grew to be a major political force on the European continent and in the world, Brussels effectively became its capital. Today, after a half century of existence, the EU thus has little power, funding, or standing to create symbolic buildings or urban structures and it is only starting to claim a strategy for planning the European district and to establish social practices to create a political identity. In Brussels’ European district, through deliberate policy as well as concurrent inadvertent action, new “urban imaginaries” are emerging of a capital that is “European,” rather than “national.”9 The presence of the EU has also attracted delegations from special interest groups and from cities and regions (more than 300) to learn about European activities and events, to gather materials to take home, and to lobby European decision-makers. Their presence reflects a transforming Europe, one in which the nation state looses some of its power and documents the power of cities and regions to shape spaces beyond their physical space: buying, restoring, transforming or erecting buildings in Brussels. Given their small scale, but also their political and economic independence, these subnational institutions have a different and generally less destructive impact on Brussels’ built environment compared to the larger institutions. Their architectural choices are often driven by strong local identities, reflected in an appreciation of architectural design, iconic spaces and other symbols. Many of these offices are clustering in the vicinity of the European district.10 These local and regional institutions that are active beyond their own spatial borders and that have formed a noticeable presence in Brussels with its own spatial imprint, are an example for potential partners for the Brussels’ local authorities who aim to strengthen their standing in conversations with the international institutions. The combined architectural presence and location of the regional delegations reshapes Brussels’ urban form and architectural debate and reflects the understanding that each of these entities has about its home politics, its financial status and its experience with iconic buildings. Location is a key to the success of these subnational institutions, but architectural design and urban presence have become more important in recent years. Symbols are central to building a new political identity. In researching the EU,11 political scientist Michael Bruter distinguishes between civic identity, related to a political system, and cultural identity, related to a human condition. His research shows that “consistent exposure to symbols of Europe and the EU (flag, maps, euro banknotes, etc.) makes people feel more European over time and confirms that symbols have a strong and dominant effect on the cultural component of citizens’ European identity.”12 By the same token, the presence of regional and city offices in Brussels, the restoration of historic buildings or the construction of new ones in the name of foreign regional entities and the
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display of regional or local flags and emblems in and around the EU district reflects the diversity of Europe within Brussels, showcases the political and economic impact of the EU on its regions, and demonstrates how Brussels is effectively becoming the capital of Europe. As public representatives of smaller entities subnational offices are at times more attentive to questions of identity and representation; some make a small, but novel contributions to Brussels as capital of Europe, both physically and on the web. They confirm the city’s function as the seat of EU power while inserting their own concepts of historic preservation and of urban representation into Brussels. Their websites and use of social media help make Brussels built environment visible on a European scale. The extent to which a well-chosen location and an attractive physical environment can promote the functions of an institution is best showcased in the palatial headquarters of the Bavarian regional office. The office’s website – part of the state’s multi-language website - celebrates its various buildings. Under the heading “The Free State. Bavaria in the Federal Republic, in Europe and in the World”, the site emphasizes the importance of
physical representation, showcasing the historical building it occupies in Berlin near the Brandenburg gate and its preservation of the historic building of the Institut Pasteur in Brussels. That building, located in the Parc Leopold, at the back of the European Parliament and very near to other key European institutions, housed the Institut from 1903 to 1987 (fig. 8). The Free State purchased the building, after winning the support of all political parties in the Bavarian parliament, a demonstration of the strong local identity of the Bavarian state leaders and their conviction of the power of physical display, and spent 30 million Euros to restore it.13 The delegation hosts a multitude of activities in the building and has become a major player in the backyard of the European parliament.
Figure 8: The Bavarian Delegation in the formr Institut Pasteur Building
Brussels is also linked into city and regional networks and some of these connections are reciprocal. The Office Wallonie-Bruxelles occupies a historical building in Prague and the city of Prague, located in Prague House at Avenue Palmerston 16, an important Art Nouveau building by Belgian architects M. Bosmans and Henry Van de Velde for the Van Stratum dentist family. Clearly the Prague delegation moved into this building quite mindfully, for its website (hosted by the City of Prague) lauds the “common sense” that ultimately led Brussels to classify buildings, including the Prague House,” as a historical monument and highlights common interests (fig. 9).14 These kinds of city-city or region-region networks may help to rewrite the Brussels metropolitan regions.
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Figure 9: The Prague House
Another example of the ways in which city and regional offices can highlight European networks, is examplified on Rue Palmerston, where a number of Nordic delegations are clustered around the Hanse Office, the representation of Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and the Bremen delegation. The Bremen office features another, very different example of the ways in which city and regional offices in Brussels can become the physical embodiments of diverse European pasts and networks. Outside the Bremen office, a metal plaque encased in concrete (a so-called Stolperstein, or stumbling stone) reminds passers-by of a man called Jean Sugg (deported for being a free mason and member of the resistance) (fig. 10). An exhibition hosted by the Hanse Office (first held in Hamburg) explained the concept of the Stolpersteine, a memorial practice that started in Germany to prevent forgetting about deportations in WWII (the horrors of which also brought about the EU) and has since spread through 17 countries to commemorate the deportations at the hand of German authorities in World War II.15
Figure 10: Stolperstein outside the Bremen Office
The example of city and region networks exemplifies the existence of small but meaningful actors, with strong urban and architectural interests based on their local histories and who have already transformed the city. These institutions may be called
upon to rethink the Brussels’ metropolitan area building upon their distinct experiences from across Europe. Brussels’ citizens and planners may want to identify these and other players to rethink the metropolitan space and the Northern area. Conceiving of the physical space of Brussels in local and regional but in larger national, European and international scales, may allow for new spatial approaches as well as bringing in new collaborators.
Figure 11: Roman streets in the IV century, Source: http://www.insee.fr/fr/regions/nord-‐pas-‐de-‐calais/default.asp?page=themes/ouvrages/atlas/09_08_Terre_echanges_route.htm
Terre d’Echanges : la route
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Meu
se
Escaut
Argentorate (Strasbourg)
Lugdunum (Lyon)
Augustobona (Troyes)
Rotomagus (Rouen)
Caracotinum (Harfleur)
Lugdunum (Lyon)
Ceuclum (Cuijk)
Aquae (Aix)
Maza (Mauzon)
Lutecia (Paris)
Bagacum (Bavai)
Divodurum (Metz)
Orolaunum (Arlon)
Nemetocum (Arras)
Noviomagus (Spire)
Aduotuca (Tongres)
Turnacum (Tournai)
Trajectum (Utrecht)
Camaracum (Cambrai)
Durocortorum (Reims)
Noviomagus (Nimègue)
Barbetomagus (Worms)
Viroviocum (Wervicq)
Samarobriva (Amiens)
Mogantiacum (Mayence)
Augustomagus (Senlis)
Gesoriacum (Boulogne)
Tervanna (Thérouanne)
Durotalaunum (Châlons)
Colonia Trajana (Xanten)
Colonia Agrippa (Cologne)
Caesaromagus (Beauvais)
Lugudunum Batavorum (Leyde)
Augusta Treverorum (Trèves)
Augusta Suessianum
(Soissons)
Augusta Veromanduorum
(St Quentin)
Mosae Trajectum (Maastricht)
Cortoriocum (Courtrai)
Castrellum Menaplarum
( Cassel) Rhin
Meuse
Lys
Moselle
Escaut
Somme
Demer
Sambre
Semois
Ourthe
Béthune
Diekirch
Saarlouis
Sarralbe
SélestatNeufchâteau
Torhout
Breskens
Ruremonde
Utrecht
Landauin derPfalz
Aix-la-Chapelle
Rhin
RI 3RI 2
RI 4
RI 5
RI 1
RI 18RI 17
RI 19
RI 20
RI 21Mons
Metz
Laon
Breda
Reims
Paris
Rouen
LiègeNamur
Arras
Verdun
Calais
Amiens
Anvers
Cologne
Mayence
Châlons
Coblence
Doullens
Beauvais Soissons
Abbeville
Bruxelles
Phalsbourg
Strasbourg
Saint-Omer
Maastricht
Luxembourg
Charleville
Gand
Lille
VenloBruges
Trèves
Nimègue
Ostende
Cambrai
Mannheim
Charleroi
DunkerqueDüsseldorf
Valenciennes
Neufchâtel-en-Bray
Les routes impériales
(1811)
Le Havre
Amsterdam HanovreGroningue
Nevers Besançon
0 50 10025
Kilomètres
Routes impériales
Limite extérieure des départements
Limite de l'Empire français
1ère classe
2ème classe
3ème classe3ème classe (tracé imprécis)
Provinces romaines
Belgique première
Belgique seconde
Germanie première
Germanie seconde
Voies romainesVoie structurante
Voie importante
Voie secondaire
Ville romaine au IVe siècle
Les voies romainesau IVesiècle
0 50 10025
Kilomètres
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Another approach to rethink the metropolitan space of the Brussels region could be through the identification of other historical European networks that could inspire the future transformation of the site. A study of ancient streets and roads, or railroads or canals that have crossed the area could be a start for reimagining the territory. Biking trails, green passages or canal cruises can promote a rethinking of the area beyond its historical, cultural and linguistic boundaries. A study of mental maps produced in 2004 showed that British members of the European Commission had a very selective image of Brussels, one, in which British institutions dominated and where much of the city’s West was absent.16 A conscious rewriting of European-themed networks might help to reorient the city’s use and its citizens’ identities. It may also help to build a more positive image of the city. To transform the Noordrand, such mental maps may be an effective tool, to understand the current space and its future transformation.
Figure 12: Mental maps, Source: Cailiez
European citizens have long been accustomed to strong “urban mindscapes,” defined in Franco Bianchini’s introduction to Urban Mindscapes of Europe as “something which exists between the physical landscape of a city and people’s visual and cultural perceptions of it,” and captivating “urban imaginaries,” a concept that further “emphasises desire, fantasy and imagination.”17 For politicians, policy makers, or tourists, urban imaginaries are often more relevant and vivid than the actual city and its buildings. Capital imaginaries include urban spaces beyond political buildings. Particularly in cities with strong political leadership, governments make statements outside the core buildings in which they work, attaching their name to urban form and monuments. The built landscape of Paris illustrates the relationship between strong government and urban form particularly well. The city is traditionally the political, economic, and cultural center of France, and the closely interrelated elites from all of these sectors have collaborated in the physical reshaping of the city. As a result, the capital imaginary of Paris does not focus on specific capital buildings such as the Parliament or its equivalent—which are of great importance in Washington, Berlin,
93L ’ U n i o n e ur o p é e n n e à Bru x e l l e s à t r a v e rs l e r e g a r d d e f o n c t i o n n a i r e s b r i t a n n i q u e s
tant les communes vertes du sud-est, elles constituent des axes incontournables. Le rond-pointSchuman est évidemment représenté de par sa position au centre du Q uartier européen. Unautre nœud important est le square Montgomery, situé sur l’axe sud-est de l’avenue de Tervuren.Il est toutefois utile de souligner que la ma jorité des points de repères ou des quartiers misen évidence font partie du c œur de la ville , de son centre historique . Peu d’éléments archi-tecturaux ou d’éléments imposants appara issent dans les communes du sud-est. Les archesdu C inquantena ire qui dominent l’avenue de Tervuren renforcent néanmoins cette directionvers le sud-est de la ville . Le nord et le nord-ouest de la ville sont largement méconnus et
Fig. 1. C arte menta le de Cécilia : Cécilia est âgée de 26 ans.Elle est céliba ta ire et n’a pas d’enfants. Elle habite Bruxelles(à Etterbeek) depuis un an et demi. Source : Julie C a illiez .
Fig. 2. C arte menta le de Lawrence : Lawrence est âgé de 37 ans. Il est marié et a deux jeunes enfants. Il vit àBruxelles depuis deux ans et vient d’acheter une ma ison à proximité du Q uartier européen. Source : Julie C a illiez .
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J u l i e C a i l l i e z96
sur la fonction européenne de la capita le, ma is surtout les discours des fonctionna ires sontécla irants à ce sujet.
Bruxelles, capitale de l’Union européenne
Comme nous l’avons précisé précédemment, la qua lité des cartes menta les centrées sur laprobléma tique européenne est décevante . Deux types d’approches sont envisageables pourexpliquer ce résulta t. Premièrement, la difficulté de dessiner des éléments issus du champdes significa tions urba ines, de se dégager du champ étroitement spa tia l, du doma ine ma té-
Fig. 5. Forme visuelle de Bruxelles telle qu’elle ressort des entretiens. Source : Julie C a illiez .
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London, or even in Moscow. Instead, the capitalness of Paris is associated with all those places where the powerful hand of the central government has interfered, from the construction of avenues, train stations, subway lines, theatres, or the opera, to the holding of world’s fairs and other international events. This correlation is carefully maintained. Hence the yearly July 14 parade and fireworks involve the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the Eiffel Tower, and the Élysée Palace. The power of these places is underscored by non-scheduled events such as the gathering of millions on the Champs-Élysées after France’s 1998 FIFA World Cup win, or the use of representations of the Eiffel tower to make political statements, such as its lighting up with the European flag to celebrate the French EU presidency in 2008 (fig.). Figure 13 The Eiffel Tower with the European emblem, Source:
The importance of symbols in the emergence of new identity has been highlighted by various scholars including the political scientist Michael Bruter, who analyzed the question of political identity in the context of the EU.18 Distinguishing between civic identity, related to a political system, or cultural identity, related to a human condition, he concentrates on the political systems and the mass media that have an interest in forming and transforming identities. His research shows that “consistent exposure to symbols of Europe and the EU (flag, maps, euro banknotes, etc.) makes people feel more European over time and confirms that symbols have a strong and dominant effect on the cultural component of citizens’ European identity.”19 He also demonstrates that even the highly cynical European citizens will be influenced by negative one-sided news reports in the mass media, reducing their identification with Europe/the European political system.
Figure 14: European Emblems
There is also a need for urban and architectural structures that can inspire the European and Brussels’ imaginary, raising the question: Could the Noordrand become the local and a partner for new European imaginaries? If yes, what kind of urban projects would be needed?
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The time frame for the current exercise is 36 years. What are the global previsions for the year 2050? According a range of sources, we can expect physical, social, economic and political transformations. These changes and our architectural and urban responses need to be at the basis of changes in the Noordrand rather than ad hoc decisions based on current needs. That means we need to take inspiration from new technologies and urban practices as we rethink the Noordrand area. Interventions in that space can become a model for European urbanism, for a dense, sustainable, equitable and interconnected city, as it is being developed and imagined in other parts of Europe, a city that embraces European principles of walkability and public transport that are different from the American model and its focus on monofunctional districts, individual traffic, office centers and malls (even multifunctional ones).
Figure 15 The World in 2050, recent publications
Figure 16 Urban Visions of the future, Source:
Given that Brussels and the European Union are both similarly in need for symbols and identity and for territorialization and urbanism, I suggest that the Noordrand may be the appropriate location for imagining and testing the European city of the future in the metropolitan area of Europe’s capital. The questions are thus: How to build a Metropolitan Brussels Region at the scale and the imaginary of Europe? How to build a Europe at the scale of its history and future, its symbols and imaginaries in its capital Brussels (and in other European cities)? The new zone could be a multi-cultural and multi-lingual area where citizens from the Brussels metropolitain area can come together to test their spatial visions. I am thus suggesting that « Brussels » could serve as the key reference for its larger metropolitan
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area including parts of the Flemish Region as well as of Brussels Region, (re)-connecting sites that are spatially joined, but have been separated by cultural and language boundaries, even if this may go against local traditions. Recognizing major metropolitain infrastructures of national and international importance (air, rail, car) as being part of the capital region at a time when the international population is increasing on the borders of the city and the multilingual and multicultural population is equally growing and while conversations occur regarding further installation of public and private international and European institutions.20 The name of Brussels is recognized world-wide and other metropolitan areas have made a similar choice to collaborate across different regions under the name of the leading metropolis. The city-state of Hamburg may serve as an example here. Hamburg and parts of its surrounding area in Schleswig-Holstein and Niedersachsen cooperate under the label metropolregion.hamburg.de.. This virtual promotion includes (parts of) three German states and allows for regional development planning and integration of transportation plans. It provides the framework for an integration of economic and institutional projects and statistical resources, using the power of the internet to mobilize diverse regional resources (urban and rural, land and water, traditional and modern, work and leisure, offering particular opportunities for citizens such as a commuter exchange data base.
Figure 17: Metropolitan Region Hamburg, Source:
Hamburg has furthermore created a strong urban imaginary that is tied to its urban development. The city-‐state of 1.8. million people and 755 km2, has adopted the concept of the “growing city” and all its major redevelopment projects are part of this vision. Notably the redevelopment of the waterfront and the former inner-‐city port fall under that concept. For the HafenCity redevelopment, the city-‐owned corporation that is in charge of the development has established specific actors and control mechanisms, development techniques such as urban and architectural competitions and particular marketing strategies including a current application for World Heritage status for its historical warehouse and office building districts. Besides the HafenCity redevelopment, Hamburg has also recently held an International Building Exhibition (IBA) under the theme of the Leap across the Elbe, another reference to the growing city. Wilhelmsburg, the site of the IBA, is a centrally located area close to the port, across the river from the traditional core of the city, with numerous social and economic challenges.
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Figure 18: IBA Hamburg 2013
Other examples of large cutltural events with a spatial and regional component that might serve as references for Brussels are the IBA Emscher park or the Ruhr 2010 European Capital of Culture event.21 To conclude, I suggest that a capital, in contrast to a headquarters, is not limited to buildings, but needs to take into account all the functions need for the creation of a capital imaginary. Europe is in Brussels to stay, the institutions occupy some 3,4 million m2 (source) and the European presence attracts a growing number of European and international institutions and people. The European project can help Brussels overcome its internal conflict and can provide the metropolitan region with a strong vision and orientation to build a If the Brussels metropolitan region accepts the functions of capital of Europe with all its implications beyond hosting the political functions for all of its citizens in Brussels and Europe, expatriates and immigrants, individual or institutional, and explores how European functions, political but also more generally speaking cultural and social events and infrastructures can help build a common imaginary for the metropolitan area and particularly the Noordrand, where the airport is located, where major national and international infrastructures shape the urban form, where some international institutions exists (including NATO and a European school), where internationalization can be observed and where a true need exist for building bridges beyond cultural and linguistic divides, a goal that inspired the creation of the European institutions. Europe needs a metropolitan region and the Brussels Metropolitan region needs a new vision. Europe and Brussels can develop in a mutually supportive manner. To implement such a vision, it is important to create a common space, starting with a common metropolitan web presence that brings together all the actors and data in a way that includes institutions as well as people. Such a virtual site would allow for “one step shopping” and expand European and Brussels synergies. Citizen participation and open forums would have to be part of a political regional project for the entire metropolitan region Architectural and urban exhibitions at an urban or regional scale (for example that of the Noordrand) could contribute to introduce such a new imaginary, perhaps based on the concept of a Low Carbon Europe. Select institutions or respected figures, such as a Bouwmeester are needed to insure the realization of the vision. European city and regional partners could help concretize the project. New installations could contribute to the revitalization of brownfields rather than the destruction of greenfields. International
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installations and schools open to the general public could render the area attractive for a diverse citizenry. Heritage and innovation could stand side by side to transform the Noordrand. The goal would be respect local needs, histories and boundaries of citizens in both regions, and to create an innovative European city space in the capital of Europe, building the Brussels metropolitan region as a model for Europe with Europe. Footnotes 1 For the historic background see: Carola Hein, The Capital of Europe. Architecture and Urban Planning for the European Union (Westport (CT): Greenwood/Praeger, 2004); "Brussels and the Capital of Europe," in Bruxelles, L'européenne. Capitale De Qui? Ville De Qui?/European Brussels. Whose Capital? Whose City?, ed. Carola Hein (Brussels: La Lettre Volée, 2006); "Brussels, the Unofficial 'Capital' or Europe: A Motor for European Unification," in Brussels: Perspectives on a European Capital, ed. Pierre Laconte and Carola Hein (Brussels: Foundation for the Urban Environment, 2007). 2 The Brussels-Capital Region, the Flemish regional government (joined with the Flemish community), and the French community all have Brussels as their headquarters. The Walloon Region is headquartered in Namur. On Brussels’ multiple capital functions see also: Evert Lagrou, "Brussels: Five Capitals in Search of a Place. The Citizens, the Planners and the Functions," GeoJournal 51, no. 1/2 (2000). 3 See for example: Life in 2050", Ulrich Eberl (2011), Beltz & Gelberg, Weinheim; OECD. Oecd Environmental Outlook to 2050. OECD Publishing, 2012. https://community.oecd.org/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/40641-102-1-76036/OECD, Climate Change: A three-degree warmer degree world by 2050? http://www.irinnews.org/report/95182/climate-change-a-three-degree-warmer-world-by-2050, The Guardian, Climate change could leave another 50 million people facing hunger by 2050, http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/mar/Naderev M Saño, 25 March 201425/climate-change-equivalent-spanish-population-hunger-crisis-2050. 4 BBC News Technology, 20 August 2013, The city of 2050, http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-23524249 The Guardian, Forty years from now ... http://www.theguardian.com/smarter-cities/forty-years-from-now, Siemens, Life in 2050. How we invent the future today, http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/publications/booktip-future-2050.htm. 4 European Climate Foundation, A practical guide to a prosperous, low carbon europe. http://www.roadmap2050.eu. 5 Numerous cities have adopted green plans, i.e. Tokyo, London, Paris, Philadelphia, to name just some. 6 Plan Alpha voir: Evert Lagrou, "La Politique D'urbanisation Dans Le Pentagone Bruxellois Depuis La Fin De La Guerre," in Pierres Et Rues, Bruxelles: Croissance Urbaine 1780-1980, ed. Exposition organisée par la Société Générale de Banque en collaboration avec la "Sint-Lukasarchief" et Gustave Abeels 18.11.1982-21.1.1983 (Brussels: Société Générale de Banque, St.-Lukasarchief, 1982).p. 339 7 See: Inter-Environnement Bruxelles, l'ARAU et le groupement des comités du Maelbeek, projet réalisé par Brigitte d'Helft et Anne Gérard, Extension CEE: Voici l'Alternative Josaphat, document prepared for press conference 4.5.1980. 8 Vice President of the European Commission, New Commission Logo Unveiled on Berlaymont, 2012 http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/sefcovic/headlines/news/2012/03/2012_03_09_logo_com_en.htm (accessed May 26, 2014) 9 Andreas Huyssen (ed.) (2008). Other Cities. Other Worlds. Durham: Duke University, Alev Cinar & Thomas Bender (eds.) (2007). Urban Imaginaries, Minneapolis: Minnesota University. 10 Political scientists have explored the impact of the presence of regions in Brussels, but they have paid little attention to physical form. For references see: Michel Huysseune & Theo Jans (2008). Brussels as the Capital of a Europe of the Regions? Brussels Studies, 23, Tom Donas & Jan Beyers (2013). How Regions Assemble in Brussels. Publius. 11 Michael Bruter, Citizens of Europe?: The Emergence of a Mass European Identity (Houndmills [England]; New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).
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12 "Time Bomb?: The Dynamic Effect of News and Symbols on the Political Identity of European Citizens," Comparative Political Studies 42(2009).: 17. 13 Bayerische Staatsregierung, The Free State Bavaria in the Federal Republic, in Europe and in the World http://www.bayern.de/Bavaria-in-the-Federal-Republic-in-Europe-and-in-the-World-.624.htm and Steffen Dagger and Till Schröder, "LäNder-Lobby, Tatort BrüSsel: Flagge Zeigen: Landesvertretungen in BrüSsel," Politik & Kommunikation (2005). Hans-Otto Mühleisen (2009). Brüssel, Vertretung des Freistaates Bayern bei der Europäischen Union, Kunstverlag Josef Fink. 14 Prague House in Brussels http://www.praha.eu/jnp/en/city_hall/foreign_activities/prague_house/index.html. 15 Belgieninfo.net, Stolpersteine gegen das Vergessen, http://www.belgieninfo.net/artikel/view/article/stolpersteine-gegen-das-vergessen/ (accessed June 6 2014) 16 Cailliez, Juilie. "L’union Européenne À Bruxelles À Travers Le Regard De Fonctionnaires Britanniques: Analyse De Cartes Mentales." In Bruxelles, Siège Majeur De L’union Européenne: Capitale De Qui? Ville De Qui?, edited by Carola Hein and La Cambre, 82-111. Brusels: Cahiers de La Cambre-Architecture, 2006. 17 Franco Bianchini, "European Urban Mindscapes: Concepts, Cultural Representations and Policy Applications," in European Studies: Urban Mindscapes of Europe, ed. Godela Weiss-Sussex and Franco Bianchini (New York: Rodopi, 2006).13, 15; Andreas Huyssen, ed. Other Cities. Other Worlds. Urban Imaginaries in a Globalizing World (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008).; Godela Weiss-Sussex and Franco Bianchini, eds., Urban Mindscapes of Europe (Amsterdam; New York: Rodopi, 2006). Alev Cinar and Thomas Bender, eds., Urban Imaginaries. Locating the Modern City (London, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007). 18 Bruter, Citizens of Europe?: The Emergence of a Mass European Identity; "Time Bomb?: The Dynamic Effect of News and Symbols on the Political Identity of European Citizens." 19 "Time Bomb?: The Dynamic Effect of News and Symbols on the Political Identity of European Citizens." p. 17 20 Degadt, Jan, Machteld De Metsenaere, Mieke Devlieger, Rudi Janssens, Ann Mares, and Caroline Van Wynsberghe, eds. De Internationalisering Van De Vlaamse Rand Rond Brussel: Academic Scientific Publishers, 2012. 21 Dorothée Kohler, "Die IBA Emscher Park--ein typisch deusches Projekt? The IBA Emscher Park--a typically German project?," Topos: European Landscape Magazine, no. 26 (1999), Anette Kolkau, "Emscher Landschaftspark nach der IBA = Emscher Landscape Park in the post-IBA era," Topos: European landscape magazine, no. 40 (2002), Wolfgang Pehnt, "Changes have to take place in people's heads first," Topos: European Landscape Magazine, no. 26 (1999).