Whose Future Is Here ? Searching For Hospitality In Brussels Northern Quarter

ARCH (Action Research Collective for Hospitality) was created in January 2019, in the continuity of the work carried out at Metrolab Brussels on the theme of “urban inclusion” with the intention of pursuing observations, analyses and practical considerations on the qualities of hospitality in Brussels’ urban spaces, mainly where this issue seemed most pressing: the Maximilian Park, the North Station, the Northern Quarter (on whose periphery is located the Metrolab studio). ARCH has gradually been built up through the voluntary involvement of many researchers (academics or not) and practitioners with diverse backgrounds (sociologists, architects, urban planners, artists, activists, anthropologists) in a collective action research project aiming to promote urban hospitality in Brussels, which is a metropolis either crossed and impacted by migration movements. Urban hospitality is understood as the ability of an urban environment to open up and welcome newcomers who come forward ; here more precisely, people in migratory situations occupying different places in the Northern Quarter. Witnessing the deplorable conditions of their extreme reception, vulnerability and distress, ARCH members have come together to highlight their situation and call on the people of Brussels (particularly public authorities, administrations and urban affairs professionals) about our common duty of hospitality and humanity. The research was developed over a short period of time, in close collaboration with the Citizen’s Platform – which welcomes hundreds of people every day among the 800 migrants and refugees present in this part of the city. The Platform co-defined the lines of the survey with ARCH members according to some of the needs and problems it faced on a daily basis, and contributed to the implementation and progress of research activities, as well as the production of results. We conducted this inquiry using a combination of methods based on collective exploration of the neighbourhood, ethnographic observation and mapping of places of occupation and reception, participation in the work and activities of the Platform, organisation of focus groups, conducting interviews, etc. Today, we’re publishing the results of this collective research – already exhibited, presented and discussed for the first time at a symposium held in June 2019 – in order to share the knowledge produced with all those interested in this issue, and to challenge the politicians on the hospitality issues facing the Northern Quarter. The Brussels government has recently made available a significant amount of funding to enable the Humanitarian Hub and the Porte d’Ulysse shelter to continue their activities over the next two years, demonstrating in the same way its attention to the challenges of reception and its commitment to a more decent migration policy. However, the problems arising from the presence of migrants in the Northern Quarter and its public spaces remain poorly considered in the field of urban policies. By adopting a socio-spatial perspective on these issues, this book invites us to extend this commitment towards a policy of urban hospitality.

Densité et logement collectif

Nicolas Bassand

As a measurement, built density (coefficient of land surface to be built and total floor space) has been the object of numerous researches on urban morphology and architectural forms during the twentieth century. However, for the last ten years, its sensory and qualitative dimension seems to be particularly valued: the perceived density. In multi-unit housing, dense, innovating and compact forms show a significant change of architectural and urban conception. In fact, project practices seem to have been marked by three major changes. Firstly, the importance of the precept of sustainable development, attempting at reducing urban sprawl. Secondly, the increased interest in urban values and the idea of "building a city within a city". Lastly, the current asserted need to redefine density: on one hand, new means are being researched to control it, on the other hand there is a widening of its definition due to the main impulse of architects and researchers. Within this framework, it is illuminating to reconsider the multiple disciplines using this term, as well as the distinct spatial scales tackled in this notion and changes in its use through time. However, focusing only on built density, the present research concentrates on the architectural and urban framework, also known as physical density. It is measured by a density figure but is also qualified by the perception of density. We propose as preliminary approach, an examination of this perceived density in fields where it is more frequently used, such as literature, painting and music. Another important notion of this research requires definition: architectural and urban innovation. Standing out from pure invention, this type of innovation consists essentially in a reinterpretation of previous architectural and urban productions worth naming "retro-innovation". Despite a housing program dependent on past models reluctant to rapid and important changes, radical innovations do occur, though more seldomly. Several ''moments'' of the collective housing architectural history allow for an updating of the different stakes manifested in the density – innovation relationship. Density perception plays a large role in a particular problem emerging from these two notions in contemporary Switzerland. The issue is how encouraging people coming back to the urban centers by proposing larger apartments with more square meters and urban architecture composed of numerous and various spaces, but protecting them at the same time from too close a proximity between neighboring housing and from environmental nuisances. The state of the art brings to light the enormous influence of the researcher and anthropologist Amos Rapoport on perceived density starting with his article, "Towards a Redefinition of Density", published in 1975. For more than thirty years now, architects, psychologists, city planners and geographers refer to this work when defining this notion in their respective fields. As a consequence, it nourishes several reflections in this research. Following these various observations, we propose the analysis of fourteen contemporary multi-unit buildings. They represent the current urban stakes at play and show the architectural and urban conception facing the double requirement of density: to insure a high enough floor area ratio (measured density) and to qualify the housing density (perceived density). In parallel, this research determines if this conception, unique to dense multi-unit housing, tends to modify architectural practice. In the first phase, we examine seven rectangular housing units, in which the width of the building is significant, and seven courtyard buildings in order to examine the exterior spaces contained by the building's volumes. In the second phase, we focus our attention on the wall expression of the fourteen buildings. In this way, these distinct analyses offer three new definitions of the perceived density expressing conception aspects particularly significant for understanding the architecture and urbanity of these dense multi-unit buildings. As a fundamental knowledge, it is shown that density, within the corpus, orientates the architects project's mode. The frequent reinterpretation of paradigmatic dense lodgings is one of the most striking proof of this conceptual change searching for innovations in the register of collective housing. So, in the density of depth, introversion and anonymity on the exterior seems to encourage distinct individualized space within the building as common domestic spheres only opened towards the inside of the apartment. In several cases, the usual urban and public spaces are integrated into the private interior of the apartments as if to domesticate a certain urbanity. In the density of the void, the proposed introversion of semi-public courtyards seems to help maintaining a larger sense of community in these multi-unit buildings. Altogether, it demonstrates a particular capacity to produce small cities within the city, at the same time independent and linked to the city. Finally, through the analysis of wall density, the exterior materiality and expression, dynamic or static, monumental at times, present a decidedly urban architecture enhancing a compact city in quest of new inhabitants.

EPFL2009

Conception et évaluation d'un prototype de simulation de la morphogenèse urbaine par agents vecteurs multi-échelles

Vitor Silva

The research work of this PhD thesis was carried out in the context of an interdisciplinary project related to the study of urban morphogenesis. A team composed of architects and engineers specialized in GIS technologies have worked together in this project during three years, sharing their knowledge in order to understand and simulate the evolution of the urban environment of cities. The fundamental hypothesis that conducted this research is that the city can be seen as a self-organizing system governed by a set of morphogenesis rules, which can for example, determine the location of new architectural programs and induce the city's organization, from local to global scales. Architectural programs themselves are supposed to determine city's development. In this PhD thesis a simulation prototype of the urban growth based on the use of multi-agents systems was carried out. This prototype is a computer tool that allows the analysis and representation of the growth of the built environment. Nowadays, the ability to understand and simulate urban evolution proves to be essential in order to control the evolution of a city in a sustainable development view. Furthermore, this tool should facilitate the understanding and decision-making of those concerned with problems related to urban development. The urban system has been modeled as a set of space objects, such as buildings and networks, which interact between themselves. These interactions are carried out at different levels, from local to global scales, being controlled by behavioral rules or laws of growth. The result of their interaction can be figures or emergent phenomena represented at several scales. The approach using multi-agents vector systems was chosen in order to model a geographical complex system like a city, which integrates a vectorial modeling of space. Hence, each spatial agent does not possess a limit of form and size. The interest of using multi-agents vector systems also lies in their ability to manage various models of individuals, from simple entities to more complex ones. Thus, various levels of representation, such as individuals and groups of individuals, can be managed, which is not easily feasible, for example, with cellular agents. The development platform used is GeOxygene (Java computer programming language), which is an open-source platform developed at IGN (Institut Géographique National, France), by COGIT laboratory. This platform provides several GIS functions, allowing the development and implementation of the prototype here presented. An interaction model between agents was defined and the type of scenarios of each of these interactions was detailed. A set of methods and associated classes was developed. Agent's architecture was conceived in order to allow manipulation (sending, receiving and treatment) of exchanged messages. In order to show the relevance of the multi-agent multi-scale methodology, examples of buildings creation in a case study zone were carried out. Using the multi-scale vector simulation prototype here presented, the development of cities can be computed in a very innovative way. However, the developed prototype still lacks some accuracy, mostly due to the fact that the specified laws adopted for simulation do not reflect the whole reality, which is obviously much more complex to traduce. We have not yet validated the model for other cities – nevertheless, the model could already be used as a decision support tool, particularly as a planning support instrument for architects and urban planners. With regards to future work this prototype shall be integrated in a global approach of urban simulation, allowing the analysis of environmental risks, demographic and economic growth and transports simulation at different scales of analysis and 2D/3D visualization output, such as district and city.

EPFL2010

Living Without a Car

Dominic Villeneuve

This research explores the links between social exclusion, car dependence and public policies for members of non-motorized households who are potentially socially excluded. It is at the crossroads of urban sociology, public policy and transport geography. Comparing urban areas in North America and Europe, it comprises two case studies: Quebec City in Canada and Strasbourg in France. Using a mixed methods approach, I combine qualitative and quantitative research tools to examine how the interactions of various policies, levels of car dependence, urban planning and land use affect mobility-related social exclusion with special attention to gender-based differences. The analysis is based on official origin-destination survey data from both urban areas, semi-directed interviews within non-motorized households and with public servants, and policy documents. I find that the factors causing non-motorized households to feel socially excluded are similar on both sides of the Atlantic. Mobility-related social exclusion can be associated with the fact of having to find an alternative to the car in order to reach certain destinations. Relying on the bus is often experienced as inconvenient, linked to long waiting times, having to leave early during evening outings and making detours instead of using a direct route. Such feelings made many of the study participants feel excluded. Participants who felt socially excluded commonly mentioned feeling left out of the political process and not listened to during public consultations. Some participants also felt excluded for not having a driver's licence, especially in France. Non-motorized households revealed that aggressive behaviour by motorists or their refusal to share the road with alternative mobility users were a further factor leading to social exclusion. Finally, judgmental comments by others who literally could not understand how they could live without a car - or who thought they didn't have one because of drunk driving or poverty - was also associated with social exclusion in my sample. The study participants often felt that owning a car had negative repercussions on their independence, as it comes with financial burdens, including car payments, vehicle repairs and maintenance. They reported feeling liberated from such burdens, as well as from logistical grievances like finding a parking spot or moving the car during snow removal, thus presenting a point of view not often explored in the literature. The public servants considered that some of the population was car-dependent, which made the implementation of restrictive measures on the car challenging. When discussing policy solutions, the main challenge brought up by civil servants were urban sprawl and political aspects related to urban planning. The policies in place to address transport and social exclusion contained three distinct sets of discourses. They either discussed social aspects, legal aspects, or mobility and land planning aspects. Each level of government had its own different focus, but car dependence per se was almost completely absent from policy documents, and most causes of mobility-related social exclusion were not addressed.

EPFL2017