From planning to profiling: reactivating characteristic watermarks to structure the Flemish territory

Abstract

Flanders distinguishes itself in Europe by its flat and dispersedly urbanized territory. If water was originally the main spatial structure, its role has been minimized over the last two centuries with the manipulation of the hydrologic network, the overlay of infrastructures, and a generalized urbanization. The development of a preventive and decentralized water policy, synonymous with making room for the water, could however, potentially reactivate the structuring capacity of water. Reporting on design investigation in the urban region of Genk, this paper demonstrates how the search of ‘space for water’ highlights and reinterprets the micro-topographic features of the landscape. Besides dealing with pressing water issues, the design of space for water can indeed simultaneously unlock the latent structure that underpins Flanders's (sub)urbanization and thereby play a key role in a requalification that redirects its development into more sustainable avenues.