Brussels, a truncated metropolis |
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Authors: | Christian Kesteloot Pieter Saey |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Social and Economic Geography, Catholic University of Leuven, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium;(2) Department of Geography, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium |
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Abstract: | This paper describes and analyses the geographical development and the governmental, budget and administrative structure of
Brussels. It defines the place Brussels occupies among the cities of Europe and assesses the value of its Regional Development
Plan. Brussels appears to be highly successful in international inter-city competition, but it also appears to be unable to
develop a strategy for dealing with the problems of the divided city it has become in the late-20th century. Key factors in
explaining this paradox are a discrepancy between the political delimitation of the Brussels Capital Region (a member state
of the federal state of Belgium) and the geographical urban region, and the administrative fragmentation of the Brussels Capital
Region. These factors are strongly related to the reform of the Belgian state and the forces behind this reform. In the absence
of a strategy based on solidarity within the metropolitan community, one has to fear for the development towards a repressive
city.
This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | Brussels Capital Region Brussels metropolitan area divided city reform of the Belgian state |
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