From Factory to Symbol: Identity and Resilience in the Reuse of Abandoned Industrial Sites of Belgium

ABSTRACT

The economic crises of recent decades have result ed in the appearance of numerous brownfield sites across Belgium. In order that urban regeneration remains sustainable, the country will need to make strategic decisions in terms of the preservation, conversion or destruction of such industrial relics. At the same time, the rise in population, consumption and changing lifestyles require more and more space for urban development. It now appears that priority is being given to the remediation of these disused industrial sites in order to reinvest them with new functions and architectural forms. Is it really necessary to destroy everything when doing so means losing so much in terms of the cultural legacy and identity represented by these brownfield sites? This paper examines how former production sites can evolve an identity and develop the character of a heritage site of benefit to the community.

KEYWORDS:

• Brownfields site
• heritage status
• urban resilience
• reconversion
• Belgium

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. 12 August 1911.

2. 7 August 1931.

3. SRV – Siedlungsverband Ruhrkohlenbezirk.

4. Joly, “Loisirs, Cadre De Vie Et Développement,” 328

5. In the 1960s and 1970s, this plan was supplemented inter alia by plans for the development of the basin (1962), the green spaces system (1966) and by landscape plans (1975).

6. Siedlungsverband Ruhrkohlenbezirk.

7. 23 July 1976.

8. The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage.

9. Luxembourg, “Patrimonialiser, Revitaliser, Habiter L’industrie En Ville.”

10. We should also note the first survey of industrial buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries in France by M. Dumas in 1975.

11. The CCI is a French cultural body founded in 1969 associated with industrial design.

12. Payen, “A Propos De L’archéologie Industrielle.”

13. The Editions Des Archives de l’architecture moderne published a catalogue of the exhibition le Paysage de l’Industrie: région Du Nord-Wallonie-Ruhr [exhibition from 10–31 October 1975], Ecole nationale supérieure d’architecture et Des arts visuels.

14. CNRS, L’étude Et La Mise En Valeur Du Patrimoine Industriel.

15. See note 12 above.

16. Grenier et Wieser-Benedetti, Les Chateaux de l’Industrie.

17. (DATAR) (Délégation interministerielle à l’aménagement du territoire et à l’attractivité régionale – Interministerial Delegation for Territorial Development and Regional Attractiveness).

18. Sarlet et al., Région Wallonne - Les Cahiers de L’urbanisme 12, 107.

19. Ibid.

20. Remarkable landscape shaped by three centuries of coal extraction.

21. Gravari-Barbas et Guichard-Anguis, Regards Croisés Sur le Patrimoine Dans le Monde.

22. Di Méo, “Processus De Patrimonialisation Et Construction Des Territoires,” 88.

23. Littré, le Dictionnaire de La Langue Française.

24. Levy et Lussault, Dictionnaire de La Géographie Et de L’espace Des Sociétés, 692.

25. See note 9 above.

26. Di Méo, “Processus De Patrimonialisation Et Construction Des Territoires,” 97.

27. Luxembourg, “Patrimonialiser, Revitaliser, Habiter L’industrie En Ville,” 3.

28. Andres et Ambrosino, “Friches En Ville.”

29. Beslay, Daynac et Grossetti, La Construction Des Politiques Locales.

30. Deshaies, Les Territoires Miniers, Exploitation Et Reconquête.

31. One of the approaches to Charleroi.

32. Carballo et Emelianoff, “La Liquidation Du Patrimoine, O Ula Rentabilité Du Temps Qui Passe,” 50.

33. See note 22 above.

34. Ibid., 100.

35. Verschambre, Traces Et Mémoires Urbaines, 174; Woronoff, Histoire de L’industrie En France, Du XVIeme Siècle À Nos Jours.

36. Di Méo, “Processus De Patrimonialisation Et Construction Des Territoires.”

37. Serfaty-Garzon, “Muséification Des Centres Urbains Et Sociabilité Publique.”

38. See note 9 above.

39. de Saussure, Cours de Linguistique Générale.

40. Verschambre, Appropriation Et Marquage Symbolique de L’esapce.

41. Gasnier, “Territorialisation Urbaine Et Processus De Patrimonialisation.”

42. See note 36 above.

43. Cenci, La résilience Des territoires industriels en mutation.

44. Ibid.

45. Letellier, “Qu’est Donc Devenue L’architecture Industrielle,” 5.

46. de la Broise, “Esthétique Et Mises En Scène Du Patrimoine Industriel Architectural.”

47. Howard, Kincey et Carey, “Challenges for the Heritage Community”; Water framework Directive 2000/60/EC .

48. Becher and Becher (2002).

49. Gasnier, “Territorialisation Urbaine Et Processus De Patrimonialisation,” 1178.

50. Verschambre, “Le Recyclage Urbain, Entre Démolition Et Patrimonialisation,” 83.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeremy Cenci

Jeremy Cenci is an architect and a geographer. He obtained his doctorate degree in building art, town planning and land use planning in both university of Mons and Lille 1. His research focus on the resilience of changing industrial territories and the role of valorisation of this type of heritage. He has participated at several international conferences in Europe and publishes in that field. He also offers architecture and urban planning courses at the faculty of architecture and urban planning in Belgium, with specialisation in industrial heritage, urban vulnerabilities and the process of resilient projects.