Johan Veeckman

Head of Heritage Department, City of Antwerp. The City of Antwerp Heritage Department makes part of the Urban Planning Department. Antwerp, Belgium.

Until the 1960s, Het Eilandje (‘the Islet’) in Antwerp was a lively port neighbourhood, where industrial and maritime activities co-existed alongside an active community. The shift of the port’s epicentre to the north led to the neighbourhood’s economic and social demise, transforming it into a problem area, where vacant buildings and deterioration were the norm. In the early 21st century, the neighbourhood experienced a revival. The keys to success were the unique maritime ambience on the one hand and the incentive provided by urban renewal on the other. It goes without saying that the neighbourhood’s heritage played an important role in this process. Specific rules were set out in Visual Quality Plans, such as the Architecture Paper, which evaluated the heritage and defined new architecture as the new warehouses of Het Eilandje. The Visual Quality Plan for public space also focused on the mix between the old and the new (‘no future without the past’). Quay walls, bridges and cranes were renovated, the old docks reinvented as ‘new’ squares while the sweeping quay plains were kept open where possible and planted with greenery. The lessons we learnt from this urban renewal project inspired other developments, elsewhere in the city. The importance of continuing to build on the identity of every neighbourhood and the role of heritage in this process is now a starting premise for every project. The different layers of the past, which define Antwerp’s identity, act as a foundation for future-proof urban development.