Brusselization

Cities 29 (2012) 126–132 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Cities journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities Transforming Brussels into an international city – Reflections on ‘Brusselization’ Katarzyna M. Roman´czyk ⇑ Vrije... More

Cities 29 (2012) 126–132 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Cities journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities Transforming Brussels into an international city – Reflections on ‘Brusselization’ Katarzyna M. Roman´czyk ⇑ Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Centre for Urban Research COSMOPOLIS – City, Culture and Society, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Jagiellonian University, Institute of European Studies, ul. Jodłowa 13, 30-252 Krakow, Poland a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: The paper illustrates the transformation of Brussels since the 1960s with a special focus on ‘Brusseliza- Received 30 July 2010 tion’, and evaluates its consequences for the capital of Belgium today. ‘Brusselization’, defined as a Received in revised form 19 April 2011 destruction of certain areas of Brussels’ urban tissue, became apparent during the 1960s and 1970s, Accepted 23 August 2011 mainly as a result of the Belgian Town and Country Planning Act approved in 1962. This a Less