The interest of the neighbourhood: Where municipal councillors live within the Brussels Capital Region

This article examines the extent to which certain types of neighbourhood are underrepresented or overrepresented in the Brussels municipal councils. It is found that as the prosperity of a neighbourhood increases, so does its representation. Neighbourhoods in difficulty therefore suffer from a doubl...

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Main Author: Filip de Maesschalck
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Université libre de Bruxelles - ULB 2009-06-01
Series:Brussels Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/brussels/676
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author Filip de Maesschalck
author_facet Filip de Maesschalck
author_sort Filip de Maesschalck
collection DOAJ
description This article examines the extent to which certain types of neighbourhood are underrepresented or overrepresented in the Brussels municipal councils. It is found that as the prosperity of a neighbourhood increases, so does its representation. Neighbourhoods in difficulty therefore suffer from a double form of deprivation as not only do they accumulate a number of urban problems, but they are also underrepresented within municipal bodies. There are also significant differences between the political ideologies that can be linked to their position within the political spectrum. A comparison with the previous legislature indicates a stable picture. However, the increasing number of municipal councillors of non-European origin is leading to better representation of neighbourhoods that accumulate the most problems, even though they are still underrepresented. The same observations are made for the Brussels Parliament, albeit that the representation of prosperous neighbourhoods is even higher there.
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spelling doaj-art-90484675cb6648eaa85c04beeaa9968c2025-08-20T02:52:13ZengUniversité libre de Bruxelles - ULBBrussels Studies2031-02932009-06-0110.4000/brussels.676The interest of the neighbourhood: Where municipal councillors live within the Brussels Capital RegionFilip de MaesschalckThis article examines the extent to which certain types of neighbourhood are underrepresented or overrepresented in the Brussels municipal councils. It is found that as the prosperity of a neighbourhood increases, so does its representation. Neighbourhoods in difficulty therefore suffer from a double form of deprivation as not only do they accumulate a number of urban problems, but they are also underrepresented within municipal bodies. There are also significant differences between the political ideologies that can be linked to their position within the political spectrum. A comparison with the previous legislature indicates a stable picture. However, the increasing number of municipal councillors of non-European origin is leading to better representation of neighbourhoods that accumulate the most problems, even though they are still underrepresented. The same observations are made for the Brussels Parliament, albeit that the representation of prosperous neighbourhoods is even higher there.http://journals.openedition.org/brussels/676electionsmunicipalitiespolitical staff
spellingShingle Filip de Maesschalck
The interest of the neighbourhood: Where municipal councillors live within the Brussels Capital Region
Brussels Studies
elections
municipalities
political staff
title The interest of the neighbourhood: Where municipal councillors live within the Brussels Capital Region
title_full The interest of the neighbourhood: Where municipal councillors live within the Brussels Capital Region
title_fullStr The interest of the neighbourhood: Where municipal councillors live within the Brussels Capital Region
title_full_unstemmed The interest of the neighbourhood: Where municipal councillors live within the Brussels Capital Region
title_short The interest of the neighbourhood: Where municipal councillors live within the Brussels Capital Region
title_sort interest of the neighbourhood where municipal councillors live within the brussels capital region
topic elections
municipalities
political staff
url http://journals.openedition.org/brussels/676
work_keys_str_mv AT filipdemaesschalck theinterestoftheneighbourhoodwheremunicipalcouncillorslivewithinthebrusselscapitalregion
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