Réaffectation urbaine et développement socio-économique
The « Tour et Taxis » site, an industrial wasteland of about 30 ha in the centre of the Brussels urban area, is the place of a huge reallocation project within the framework of a now classic pattern of urban remodeling policy. The flagship projects, aimed at vast luxury urban renovation and building...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography
2003-12-01
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| Series: | Belgeo |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/16822 |
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| Summary: | The « Tour et Taxis » site, an industrial wasteland of about 30 ha in the centre of the Brussels urban area, is the place of a huge reallocation project within the framework of a now classic pattern of urban remodeling policy. The flagship projects, aimed at vast luxury urban renovation and building operations with international visibility, claim to revitalize the image of Western cities in order to attract new international investments in the leading economic sectors. The « City of science and knowledge » on the « Tour et Taxis » site, fits into the same scheme. Thanks to the presence of architecturally remarkable buildings, it is based upon high technologies, whether regarding educational (Grande École of engineering), economic (it attracts innovative enterprises from the secondary and tertiary sectors, business incubators) or cultural activities (interactive techno-scientific museum, congress centre).After having summarized, on the basis of foreign experiments, the stakes linked to the flagships, the article examines the conditions under which the project could bring about economic development, so much for the Brussels-Capital Region as for the district itself. The article also analyses the social risks threatening the adjoining neighbourhood, presently in precarious socioeconomic situation. Finally, the authors plead for the creation, in parallel with the building project, of a range of supporting measures aiming, on the one hand, at perpetuating the targeted economic activities through anchoring them in the local economy and, on the other hand, getting the local social polarization under control so as to avoid exclusion and gentrification phenomena. |
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| ISSN: | 1377-2368 2294-9135 |