Some reflections looking at Brussels from Milan

Alessandro Balducci

Politecnico di Milano

1. THE OVERALL PERSPECTIVE

2. THE SPECIFICITY OF BRUSSELS

3. HOW THE PROPOSALS RESPOND TO NEW CHALLENGES

A few consideration based only upon the reading of the text without a real knowledge of the Brussels Region.

1. THE OVERALL PERSPECTIVE

We are trying to govern the city and the economy of the 21st century

with the governments of the 20th century

with the boundaries of the 19th century

This is the reason why many cities are using informal planning tools looking for new interpretations and perspectives on wider urban areas.

Brussels has adopted an interesting methodology based upon a preliminary phase of diagnosis and a competition of ideas

Paris, Helsinki, New York, Rhur region, Camberra,

LOOKING AT MILAN

The mismatch between planning authorities and the new form of the urban region is evident in Milan

- Boundaries of municipalities, provinces, regions and even nations are blurred by the urbanisation process

- Governments are unable to control and address growth

- Urbanisation is stronger than administrative divisions

- This is happening in many other European cities

Milano: 1972 (Global Land Cover Facility)

Milano: 1972 (ARPA Lombardia)

Milano: 2004 (ARPA Lombardia)

1999, 2004: Source Arpalombardia (red: urbanized between1999 e 2004)

Barcellona 1978

Barcellona 1999

Monaco 1973

Monaco 1999

Istanbul 1975

Istanbul 2000

CONCEPTUAL TOOLS

conceptual tools like “city” and “metropolis”, with their hierarchical and dichotomous implications, are not useful any more to understand what is happening to the spatial organisation of society

In many European urban regions we are in a post-metropolitan phase of development which is profoundly different in spatial terms

THE MEGA-CITY-REGION CONCEPT

“.. A series of anything between 10 and 50 cities and towns, physically separate but functionally networked, clustered around one or more larger central cities, and drawing enormous economic strength from a new functional division of labor. These places exist both as separate entities, in which most residents work locally and most workers are local residents, and as a parts of a wider functional urban region connected by flows of people and information carried along motorways, high-speed rail lines and telecommunications cables..”

(Hall, Pain 2006: 3)

2. THE SPECIFICITY OF BRUSSELS

All the teams explicitly mention the mega-city-region context of which Brussels is part

But here it seems that the urbanisation process has not been able to overcome political and administrative boundaries

The political division between Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels region has been an element of resistance which has affected urban development much more than in any other urban region

BRUSSELS REGION

162 sq Km Brussels Region

100 sq Km Paris municipality

180 sq km Milan municipality

Traditional metropolitan development prevented by political divisions

Policentricity reinforced

A stratum of urbanisation has stretched over the ancient framework

A peculiar post metropolitan space

BACK TO MILAN HOW TO DEAL WITH POST METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT

Intermediate aggregations within the urban region, experimented by spontaneous coalitions, give rise to new urban conditions and can be legitimately interpreted as a set of new “cities ” which may represent a privileged field for developing new policies for habitability.

BRUSSELS REGION

The studies propose a strategic vision of the whole, and then exemplary strategic projects in different areas.

Is it enough?

Wouldn’t be interesting to conceive something in between, intermediate scales aggregating different municipalities?

These cities outside the Region, with a significant degree of autonomy, do they belong also to some other meaningful urban system, which is different from regional territorial divisions?

3. HOW THE PROPOSALS RESPOND TO NEW CHALLENGES

Challenges for cities: climate-change, energy-supply, globalizing economy, demographic changes, increasing migration, social inequalities.

If taken separately they lead to apocalyptic perspectives

- Hardening of climate conditions- Energy crisis- Exasperate competition- Ageing and connected immigration flaws - Hard social conflicts due to polarisation- Metropolitan Governance

In Brussels, like in Milan, at the cross-road of all these challenges there is the divergence between the “city of residents” and the city as a “platform for activities”.

The enlargement of the urban region has brought about a tension between these two cities producing congestion, pollution, increase in carbon emissions, abuse of certain urban space, attraction of poor immigrants and expulsion of young families, polarization etc.

At the cross-road of all these problems there is the issue of the habitability of the urban region for residents and city users.

Habitability

Residing

Moving and breathing

Space sharingMaking culture

New localwelfare

Innovative and responsiblebusiness

Working on the physical space of the urban region the proposals of Brussels 2040, despite their many differences, converge upon a strategy which is not based upon big projects or infrastructure but on the quality of the everyday life:

• mobility as a first strategy to diffuse accessibility, • open and green space as a connective infrastructure, • water and natural resources to be rediscovered • public spaces as sources of a reinforced identity • new public spaces at the scale or the urban region, • “no cars city”.

Is there something missing?

The ageing metropolis is not directly addressed

There seems to be little consideration of the impact of digital relations as something which changes the functioning of the city from inside

There is no mention of European Commission documents like EU 2020, nor of the European Commission as an actor of multi level governance

The governance issue which is really undermining the possible implementation of the visions is outside of the picture

Brussels 2040 provides a very rich material of analysis and foresight that is offering not only a basis for reflection, but also visions and a number of interesting projects to be developed.

Now the issue is how to use this creative effort to change the governance culture of the urban region.

Given the constraints of the administrative structure this passage requires a new creative effort not less challenging.

The objective is to re-combine in an innovative way, boundaries, government initiatives and regional development.

Thank you …..sandro.balducci@polimi.it