Revitalization of urban space – case study of Ghent, Belgium

Abstract

Revitalisation is a natural consequence of social, economic and spatial transformations taking place around the world. This process seems to be particularly dynamic in Europe where it is a characteristic answer to the industrialisation of the turn of the 20th century. Revitalisation, understood as a reaction to the appearance of degradation processes and negative socio-economic consequences related to them in the urban space, seems to be the answer to adverse phenomena and processes taking place in the urban space, in particular in highly developed regions of the world. In the study, authors considered the urban revitalization as the case study of Ghent. Ghent, the second-largest city in the Flamish Region in Belgium after Antwerp (253,266 residents as at 2017), located in the Flemish Region, is among the first cities in Europe to have noticed the opportunities related to the correct planning of revitalization. The main source of data for this paper consists in an on-site query performed between August and September 2016. During the query, the researchers confronted information contained in the zoning plans with the facts, and carried out a questionnaire survey. Four different parts of Ghent implementing revitalisation projects were covered by the study, including The Sint-Pieters Station site, Brugse Poort, Oude Dokken, Dampoort. In order to follow the manner in which revitalisation is perceived in different parts of the city, respondents were asked what they thought were the problems present in the discussed parts of the city and, consequently, what projects were implemented there; what were the advantages of the implemented projects; and finally how they assessed prior activity in this field and what else should be done in the future within the implemented revitalisation projects in the discussed areas. In our study we have shown that Ghent’s authorities have created a good vision of the revitalisation process with significant support from the city’s inhabitants.