CITY COMPETITION IS GENTRIFICATION - INTERVIEW FOR "LA CAPITALE"
Do you think there are cities that Brussels could look to as a positive example?
This is a challenging question!
We recently gave an interview to the Belgian news agency "La Capitale". The interview focused on our content creation and our critical view of Brussels' urban environment. During an inspiring conversation with journalist Elie Bok, we arrived at the final question: could you name a city that might serve as a positive example for Brussels?
While these questions are solution-oriented, we find them quite tricky. They often prompt affirmative reactions because they encourage solutions based on comparative analysis, something we humans love doing as part of our survival instincts.
Although it's beneficial to look at other places and cities for inspiration and problem-solving ideas, we should be cautious not to shift the discussion from "comparative thinking" to "competitive thinking".
Viewing different cities through competitive lenses is problematic for several reasons:
1.copy-pasting solutions without considering local dynamics
2.focusing on numerical data and neglecting life experiences
3.fostering gentrification
And yes, the last one is the most concerning. In today's globalized world, we see how different cities compete with each other to attract leading investors. This pattern encourages explicit gentrification and erodes the trust between municipalities and citizens. This "competitive" behavior of cities prompts authorities to treat urban real estate purely as a market resource. It leads to policies aimed solely at quick investments and profits.
In such economic environments, global corporations have the privilege to choose which city offers them the best conditions for their next deal.
It's easy to see that in this competitive process, the nuanced problems of everyday citizens are often overlooked and marginalized.
Ultimately, our response to the journalist's question was simple:
"We can't provide relevant answers to this question because in Brussels we are residents, and in other cities, we are visitors"
You can check the full article at the following link: