Twelve Meanings, politics and realities of social mix and gentrification – a view from Brussels
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Mathieu Van Criekingen
Abstract
In Brussels, since the early 1990s, notions of ‘social’ and ‘functional mix’ have acted as core political values in urban policies and planning frameworks that assert the indisputable need for a multi-dimensional ‘revitalisation’ of the city. This chapter traces the historic origins of these common-sense representations in order to excavate the politics behind them in the Brussels case. The rise of social/functional mix as mainstream political values is strongly associated here with the changing political position of the local bourgeoisie in the wake of the federalisation of the Belgian State, and expresses, on the one hand, aspirations to ‘open up’ inner-city working-class neighbourhoods to the middle classes while fostering ‘territorial cohesion’ and, on the other, attempts to regulate the development of an oversized office market in the core city. Very recently, the adoption of a ‘Plan for the International Development of Brussels’ backed by economic elites pushing neoliberal political agendas indicates the re-conceptualisation of social mix as an urban asset to be marketed in new city-branding strategies for the ‘Capital of Europe’. The second part of the chapter turns to an exploration of the migratory dynamics associated with the ‘revitalisation’ of Brussels’ historic core — i.e. who is moving in/out the area?; where do out-migrants relocate? — in order to critically confront the notions of ‘social mix’ and ‘territorial cohesion’ at the city scale. The results suggest trends towards rising socio-spatial inequalities between different parts of the agglomeration fuelled by diverse gentrification-induced displacement processes.
Abstract
In Brussels, since the early 1990s, notions of ‘social’ and ‘functional mix’ have acted as core political values in urban policies and planning frameworks that assert the indisputable need for a multi-dimensional ‘revitalisation’ of the city. This chapter traces the historic origins of these common-sense representations in order to excavate the politics behind them in the Brussels case. The rise of social/functional mix as mainstream political values is strongly associated here with the changing political position of the local bourgeoisie in the wake of the federalisation of the Belgian State, and expresses, on the one hand, aspirations to ‘open up’ inner-city working-class neighbourhoods to the middle classes while fostering ‘territorial cohesion’ and, on the other, attempts to regulate the development of an oversized office market in the core city. Very recently, the adoption of a ‘Plan for the International Development of Brussels’ backed by economic elites pushing neoliberal political agendas indicates the re-conceptualisation of social mix as an urban asset to be marketed in new city-branding strategies for the ‘Capital of Europe’. The second part of the chapter turns to an exploration of the migratory dynamics associated with the ‘revitalisation’ of Brussels’ historic core — i.e. who is moving in/out the area?; where do out-migrants relocate? — in order to critically confront the notions of ‘social mix’ and ‘territorial cohesion’ at the city scale. The results suggest trends towards rising socio-spatial inequalities between different parts of the agglomeration fuelled by diverse gentrification-induced displacement processes.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables, figures and photographs v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- Introduction: gentrification, social mix/ing and mixed communities 1
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Reflections on social mix policy
- Why do birds of a feather flock together? Social mix and social welfare: a quantitative appraisal 17
- Social mix and urban policy 25
- Mixed communities and urban policy: reflections from the UK 35
- Gentrification without social mixing in the rapidly urbanising world of Australasia 43
-
Social mix in liberal and neoliberal times
- Social mixing and the historical geography of gentrification 53
- Social mix and encounter capacity – a pragmatic social model for a new downtown: the example of HafenCity Hamburg 69
-
Social mix policies and gentrification
- Mixed-income schools and housing policy in Chicago: a critical examination of the gentrification/education/‘racial’ exclusion nexus 95
- Social mix as the aim of a controlled gentrification process: the example of the Goutte d’Or district in Paris 115
- Beware the Trojan horse: social mix constructions in Melbourne 133
-
The rhetoric and reality of social mix policies
- Social mixing as a cure for negative neighbourhood effects: evidence-based policy or urban myth? 151
- Meanings, politics and realities of social mix and gentrification – a view from Brussels 169
- ‘Regeneration’ in interesting times: a story of privatisation and gentrification in a peripheral Scottish city 185
- HOPE VI: calling for modesty in its claims 209
-
Experiencing social mix
- The impossibility of gentrification and social mixing 233
- Not the only power in town? Challenging binaries and bringing the working class into gentrification research 251
- From social mix to political marginalisation? The redevelopment of Toronto’s public housing and the dilution of tenant organisational power 273
- Mixture without mating: partial gentrification in the case of Rotterdam, the Netherlands 299
- Afterword 319
- References 323
- Index 365
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables, figures and photographs v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- Introduction: gentrification, social mix/ing and mixed communities 1
-
Reflections on social mix policy
- Why do birds of a feather flock together? Social mix and social welfare: a quantitative appraisal 17
- Social mix and urban policy 25
- Mixed communities and urban policy: reflections from the UK 35
- Gentrification without social mixing in the rapidly urbanising world of Australasia 43
-
Social mix in liberal and neoliberal times
- Social mixing and the historical geography of gentrification 53
- Social mix and encounter capacity – a pragmatic social model for a new downtown: the example of HafenCity Hamburg 69
-
Social mix policies and gentrification
- Mixed-income schools and housing policy in Chicago: a critical examination of the gentrification/education/‘racial’ exclusion nexus 95
- Social mix as the aim of a controlled gentrification process: the example of the Goutte d’Or district in Paris 115
- Beware the Trojan horse: social mix constructions in Melbourne 133
-
The rhetoric and reality of social mix policies
- Social mixing as a cure for negative neighbourhood effects: evidence-based policy or urban myth? 151
- Meanings, politics and realities of social mix and gentrification – a view from Brussels 169
- ‘Regeneration’ in interesting times: a story of privatisation and gentrification in a peripheral Scottish city 185
- HOPE VI: calling for modesty in its claims 209
-
Experiencing social mix
- The impossibility of gentrification and social mixing 233
- Not the only power in town? Challenging binaries and bringing the working class into gentrification research 251
- From social mix to political marginalisation? The redevelopment of Toronto’s public housing and the dilution of tenant organisational power 273
- Mixture without mating: partial gentrification in the case of Rotterdam, the Netherlands 299
- Afterword 319
- References 323
- Index 365
