Brussels Studies: the e-journal for academic research on Brussels
Brussels Studies welcomes, since last January, his new Senior Editor, Benjamin Wayens.
20/12/2011
New RER stations for Brussels? Challenges, methods and constraints
This article goes back over the debate which still remains to be settled and which divides the Brussels-Capital Region and the SNCB regarding the creation of new urban railway stations in the framework of the RER project. Our aim is to provide an objective (or at least methodologically transparent and clearly presented) assessment which is up to date as regards the relevance of these stations. Thus, after presenting the problem and discussing possible methods, we propose a calculation of the potential of each of the stations proposed by the different urban planning documents of the Brussels Region.
We thus illustrate the pertinence of most of them, a significant share of which are more relevant than some of the existing secondary stations in Brussels. However, the most promising stations are often those which seem the most difficult from a technical point of view. Conversely, new stations that would be the easiest to build often have the lower traffic potential.
Beyond the impartiality of the results, we also insist on the fact that the decision to put a station (back) into service depends above all on political action, which reflects the fact that challenges of various dimensions and natures have been taken into account. This is illustrated in our case studies.
29/11/2011
The political representation of Muslims in Brussels
Compared with other major European cities, the Brussels-Capital Region has a unique configuration in terms of the political representation of elected representatives descended from diverse ethnocultural groups, and in particular Muslim elected representatives. Nearly one out of five members of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region is of Muslim origin. This is all the more unique given that, for the first time in Brussels and in the entire European Union, one of the seats in the Brussels Parliament is held by a Muslim member who wears a headscarf (Mahinur Ozdemir). The present article is based on documentary work as well as an empirical approach carried out using interviews which were conducted with Brussels MPs and community stakeholders mobilised before the elections as well as an ethnographic observation of the election campaign. Its objective is to understand the explanatory factors regarding this political representation which is quite unusual in Europe, by formulating the hypothesis of the deciding influence of institutional parameters combined with the demographic evolution and community mobilisation of Muslims in Brussels.
11/08/2011
Brussels at the heart of urban legends?
This article presents urban legends told in Brussels which reflect an urban imagination crossed with local characteristics. Presented as news items although their truthfulness is questionable, these stories mentioning Brussels tell of attacks or harm committed against an anonymous person or the friend of a friend, in everyday public spaces, places of constant coming and going, personal itineraries or familiar shops. These legends feature the confrontation with others, machines or nature, and present Brussels as a dangerous place where security is everybody’s business. These legends serve as warnings and allow people to reassert their identity by designating scapegoats. The stories which take place in Brussels may, however, come from elsewhere and be told around the world. The places mentioned are lures intended to increase a feeling of proximity, affects and an identification with the characters. Brussels is featured as an empty shell with the same characteristics as every big city in industrialised western countries – an empty shell necessary for the contemporary imagination.
18/10/2011
Commercial transactions and social relations between the Greeks and Turks of Brussels
This article examines how the extent to which Greeks and Turks 'live together' in Brussels can be measured by means of commercial transactions. The question is knowing what the impact of monetary exchanges on the symbolic borders between these social groups is and how these exchanges have changed over time. Whereas the market interactions between Greeks and Turks in the years that followed their moving to Brussels were defined by the attitude of affinity (out of conviction or necessity), those that occur today belong more to the framework of an urban cosmopolitanism defined by the attitude of indifference. Even if the commercial transactions constitute an area for hierarchizing the players, they also operate as a place of encounters or confrontation, where each person reinterprets his or her own national past and positions her/himself with regard to the legacy of the Greco-Turkish conflict and its representations.
29/09/2011
Regional building archaeology. The stakes involved in the improved management of historic architecture in Brussels
Although the situation in Brussels has improved considerably in recent years, the management –identification, protection and preservation – of built heritage from the Old Regime is still faced with a certain number of administrative, regulatory and scientific problems. This article intends to illustrate the importance of the development of regional building archaeology: [1] by reviewing the current situation of the study and protection of historic architectural heritage in Brussels; [2] by identifying the main problems which hinder this management; and [3] by proposing several ideas for solutions and by showing the potential of this type of development for the future of the city-Region.
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> Editor-in-Chief:
Michel Hubert
> Senior Editor Assistant:
Stefan De Corte
> Senior Editor:
Benjamin Wayens
> Editorial Assistant:
Emilie Vossen