GHENT

Ghent has a historical city center characterized mainly by low-rise buildings. More to the outskirts
of the city, the densely built and populated landscapes extend into suburban neighborhoods with
more detached houses interspersed by green patches. Suburban and rural landscapes are found
outside of the city with an important exception being the port of Ghent in the north of the city.

INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION

Ghent’s Industrial Revolution was not based on coal, steel, and glass, it was textile production that
put the city again on the map.
Flax processing in the Leie valley had not stalled during the eighteenth century, wherefore a lot of
expertise in textile processing was still concentrated in Ghent, which was easily accessible via the
dense waterway system. Meanwhile, also cotton had become a well-known type of fabric in Ghent,
and the introduction of the steam spinning machine led to rapid expansion of the textile industry, in
which linen too retained an important position.
In the build-up to the automation of the industry, Ghent’s population increased again from about
44,000 inhabitants in 1740 to 51,000 half a century later (Deprez, 1957). The waterlogged
grounds outside the city fortifications proved an insurmountable urban development boundary,
especially in combination with the toll that was until 1860 levied on all goods that entered the city.
Nevertheless, part of the defensive walls were already dismantled at the end of the eighteenth
century, while some canals were filled in and converted into public promenades. The numerous
spinning and weaving mills, print houses and auxiliary metal workshops had to find shelter inside
the city walls, just like the thousands of workers who found a job in these new workshops and
factories.
(The Castle of the Counts, a fortress that was built in the twelfth century on the site of the former
castrum, was in 1807 transformed into a cotton mill, where outbuildings of the castle sheltered
some fifty workers' families (Coppejans-Desmedt, 1986). Similar developments occurred in former
convent buildings, while extremely high-density workers' districts developed in courtyards and
between existing buildings. Scarcity of space caused the emergence of narrow dead-end alleys
with small, terraced houses composed of one single room per floor, sharing three walls with the
neighbors, and no private sanitary facilities.)
On the other hand, several urban agricultural areas were maintained, because the toll on food
imports made urban agriculture rather rewarding. In addition, a few no-build areas were enforced
around military fortifications, which resulted in an early de facto zoning system. Between 1819 and
1831 the Dutch Citadel was founded on the higher areas to the south of the city, stressing the
importance of Ghent as a garrison town.

The government that controlled the new nation state of Belgium since 1830, developed an
alternative to the city toll in the form of a municipal fund, closing the toll gates in 1860.
(Segers, 2000). The city could now develop outside its walls too, an option that was attractive.
to the industrial enterprises. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, some large textile
factories and metal construction plants expanded just outside the city gates. These companies also
parceled the adjacent land in order to build the new working-class neighborhoods that should
accommodate workers in the vicinity of their factories. Consequently, between 1856 and 1890 the
built-up area of the city doubled (Dumont, 1951), which allowed for the first time a reduction in
the city’s population density.
Vandermaelen’s map in 1856, just before city toll was abandoned

Military map in 1892, just after city toll was abandoned

In the years after the construction of the first rail station (De Block, 2011), the surroundings of
the railway terminus were redeveloped, with new straight boulevards and squares providing light
and air while simultaneously connecting the railway with the commercial inner-city districts
(Ryckewaert, 2011). The architecture of the houses and buildings flanking the new streets was of
a markedly classical nature. Also, in the vicinity of the citadel, a new neighborhood of large
townhouses was built.
In addition to the expansion and construction of roads and squares, public buildings were erected
on the sanitized sites. Next to the Coupure canal, a casino and a prison were built, near the Kouter
square the Opera House and the Palace of Justice were established, the old Bijloke Hospital was
expanded and modernized, and academic buildings were constructed with the "Palais de
l’Université" and the later "Institut des Sciences" as major showpieces of the University.

But waterfront activities were in full expansion too. In 1827, the Commercial Dock was built,
which offered through a new northbound channel a connection to the Westerscheldt estuary.
This dock was the cornerstone of what would eventually become the Ghent seaport. The
independence of Belgium in 1830 would complicate the access to the sea via the Netherlands,
and led in 1863 to the construction of the New Waterway canal linking the Commercial Dock
with the old canal to Bruges.
Meanwhile, in what is known today as the nineteenth-century belt, new districts grew rapidly
outside the former ramparts. Existing intermunicipal roads were retained as principal axes, and
churches were erected at very central positions, usually long before the housing rows were
finished. Although the streets were relatively narrow, these were planned according to a geometric
pattern of visual axes (Fig. 5). The terraced houses followed uniformly the grid, while spaces
within the blocks were filled by smaller scaled industrial activities (Heughebaert, 2007). Although
some of the new dwellings were larger than the miniature alley houses, they were to replace, also
quite a few of such substandard alley estates with one-facade houses were built in the new
districts, again resulting in poor living conditions for the future. Between 1862 and 1864 a
number of canals were filled in and replaced by boulevards that would later constitute the basis for
the inner ring road (De Clercq, 2005).
CLIMATE
Ghent is home to a vast group of residents (258,000 inhabitants, 1,650 inhabitants/km²), including
at-risk populations such as the elderly, small children, the disadvantaged. Ghent is also home to
major functions such as care institutions, childcare centres, … In addition, Ghent houses a great deal
of economic activity, as well as major economic hubs such as the Ghent seaport. Ghent is about 50
km from the coastline, at an average elevation of 8m above sea level. Along the Sea Scheldt, the
city experiences the tidal effect of the North Sea. Ghent is also linked to the North Sea via canals
and docks.
Heat waves, prolonged bouts of winter precipitation, extreme summer storms, or simply extended
drought periods entail risks. Climate change hits cities even harder. The considerable infrastructure
of cities, such as buildings, pavements, streets, and squares, … store heat. In summer this may lead
to uncomfortably warm nights. This is known as the urban heat island effect. Because of this,
downtown Ghent is on average 3°C warmer than surrounding areas. On hot days this difference may
even grow to 8°C. But there is more. For instance, extreme rain showers are becoming more
frequent. This causes problems for our sewers which struggle to cope with the vast quantities of
rainwater washing off infrastructure.
PROTECTED BUILD HERITAGE
ESTABLISHED BUILD AREAS
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE
HISTORICAL CENTER

UNESCO PATRIMONIAL AREAS

PLANNING (He de traducir la leyenda)
SITE

Surface area of plot: 5362.08m²

Surface area of plot: 1862.76m²

Surface area of plot: 4823.13m²