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Brussels: Neighbourhood contracts

Introduction Budgets Stages of development
Actors Programmes Implementation
Sites Social aspects Neighbourhood data

See Kuhk A., Stellingwerff M. (2004) Local report Brussels: Strategic Frameworks, Brussels: Departement Architecture Sint Lucas
See also Presentations for the PICT-research project (transnational meetings of a Leonardo da Vinci project about Public Participation and the use of ICT in local urban development).
Introduction Back to top
Urban Regeneration in Brussels Capital Region:
Brussels Capital Region is a capital of a relatively modest size, yet with important decision centres and high economic activity. At the same time, the region has to cope with considerable internal disparities and polarisation and a constant low of incomes for the ‘Bruxellois’ (s.a., in: ‘Urbanisme’ 2002, p. 11). Certain neighbourhoods, especially in the central areas of the region are fighting high rates of unemployment, degradation of public spaces, difficulties in cohabitation of different groups of population, insufficient collective facilities and infrastructure, etc.
The Regional Development Plan addresses these tensions and expresses the will to develop more solidarity between different parts of the region. Targeted are, amongst other aspects, the attractiveness of the region and possible return of inhabitants, a social mix and integration and more generally, the enhancement of quality of life, notwithstanding the demands from economic actors and administrative levels. Map 3 of the Regional Plan defines areas for specific development of housing. These are the possible sites for neighbourhood contracts.

Parallel to the Regional Development Plan, specific instruments are developed to address deprived neighbourhoods, one of them are the neighbourhood contracts since 1994. Brussels has a longer history of projects for Urban Regeneration, some examples to illustrate this:
- Back in the 1970s, a pilot project for urban renovation was launched at the ‘Marollen’ in Brussels,
- Former formulas of ‘renewal of residential nucleuses’ have been left behind and changed into a more integrated approach of urban renewal,
- Other initiatives are for instance projects in the frame of the OBJECTIF 2-programs or projects that gain the support of the federal level. the URBAN-framework, Objective II,
- Together with the Neighbourhood Contracts, there was also an program for so-called ‘Initiative Neighbourhoods’. For roughly the last ten years, Brussels has been more thoroughly investing in urban regeneration on a neighbourhood level. Still, many centrally located districts are in decay and poor situations. The quality of residences and public spaces, as well as the general social and economic situation need to be enhanced. The neighbourhood contracts in Brussels Capital Region are part of the urban renovation policy in Brussels. These projects of urban renewal aim at qualitative and sustainable interventions. Neighbourhood contracts are designed to address many different issues of development, as it is of no use to focus only on residences, only on public space or only on the general social or economic situation. Neighbourhood contracts are designed to be integrative, coherent programs. Issues at stake are besides renovation of housing also for instance the creation of employment or measurements to support social cohesion. Participation of citizens is guaranteed in Neighbourhood contracts through for instance the General Neighbourhood Assembly at the beginning of each project and through the possibility to participate in a Local Commission for Integrated Development,
- Prioritaire Actie Programma’s /Prior Programmes of Action only once,
- Brussels also participated in the ‘Four cities project’: Developing people’s ‘capacity to do’ with a validation of experience, training through collective action, support for self-confidence and motivation,
- Initiatives of the federal cel for Metropolitan Development (‘cel grootstedenbeleid’). Regional authorities aim at a global approach for the development of most deprived neighbourhoods. Nineteen districts were indicated in the Regional Development Plan as priority. Criteria for this selection were the state of decay of buildings and public spaces, vacancies, the number of fallow sites, etc. All potential sites for neighbourhood contracts are located within the perimeters for development of housing as indicated on the Regional Development Plan.

Actors and co-ordination Back to top

According to Rose-Marie Royer-Vallat, consultant for the CREPAH, the key to success for urban regeneration projects lies in the involvement of a variety of actors: “Urban regeneration is not about treating exclusion by groups of ‘beneficiaries’, but about deploying a global strategy for mobilising the involved players- all players, whether formal or informal, public or private, endogenous or exogenous to the area.” (Royer-Vallat, in: Urbanism 2002, p. 27).

Brussels Capital Region takes the neighbourhood contracts as a chance to develop ways of concerted partnership approaches. Three main instruments are designed to involve a large variety of actors: the General Neighbourhood Assemblies (open to all inhabitants, initiated from the municipality), a Public Hearing about the preliminary program (open to all inhabitants), finalised in the advice of the Consultative Commission, and the gatherings of the Local Commission of Integrated Development (open to members, which were chosen at the first General Neighbourhood Assembly).

GENERAL NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSEMBLIES
General Neighbourhood Assemblies are open to all inhabitants and aim at facilitating the exchange with official institutions from both the municipal and the regional level. In the first gathering, officials from the municipality inform the inhabitants about the start of the neighbourhood contract. Subsequently, weaknesses and strength of the neighbourhood are discussed with all participants in order to develop a list of prioritised interventions. The first assembly allows also choosing members for the Local Commission of Integrated Development, which does a closer follow-up of the neighbourhood contract for the next four years. The municipality organises the general neighbourhood assemblies: three in the 9 months of preparation and at least 2 for the each of the four years of implementation.

CONSULTATIVE COMMISSIONS FOR PUBLIC HEARING
The Consultative Commission for the public hearing includes representatives of different official institutions: the Municipality, Brussels Capital Region (both the administration of spatial planning and the administration of monument care), the BIM (Brussels Istituut voor Milieubeheer, an organisation focussing on environmental questions in Brussels Capital Region) and the GOMB (Gewestelijke Ontwikkelings-maatschappij, an association focussing on housing and economic development in Brussels Capital Region). For the Neighbourhood contracts, there is a first public hearing to discuss the preliminary program and more public hearings about separate important interventions (all in the frame of what is legally demanded for urban permits).

LOCAL COMMISSIONS FOR INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT
The main co-ordination in the development of the neighbourhood contract is done through so-called Local Commission of Integrated Development (abbreviated as LCDI, in Dutch called PCGO or Plaatselijke Commissie Geïntegreerde Ontwikkeling, and in French CLDI or Commission Local de Development Integré). LCDI’s are developed as a part of track 5, the ‘social track’. The legal background for the setting up LCDI’s is given in art. 5 § 2 of the ordinance on neighbourhood contracts (7th of October 1993). Herein, it is determined that the municipal council should define the composition of the LCDI.
The task of the LCDI is to give advice for the project over four years, before the agreement of the municipal council is attained. The LCDI also advises yearly about the financial and administrative reports of initiatives in track 5. This is a financial and administrative report. The recommendation in the ministerial circular is to gather at least once every four months.
The LCDI should follow-up all realisations for the projects within a neighbourhood contract, such as the acquisition, contents of the pre-design and final design proposals, allotment of orders for the execution of the projects, and so on.
In order to evaluate the functioning of the LCDI, the regional institutions can base their study mainly on the date and number of gatherings and the detailed composition of the LCDI’s.

The 2001 Study of Deloitte & Touche and ARIES formulated following observations:
- LCDI’s were established as foreseen in all neighbourhood contracts,
- they advised on the project before the municipal council stated their options,
- the gatherings stopped when track 1 and 4 were executed (for the projects which started in 1994, this point was reached in July 1998).
- None of the neighbourhoods with a contract in the frame of the 1993 ordinance therefore fulfilled the legal recommendations concerning LCDI’s, some LCDI’s did not even have yearly gatherings.
- The absolute minimum of gatherings is one at the beginning of the contract and then one yearly. The actual frequency varies strongly with for instance a total of 28 gatherings for the ‘Anneessens-Fontainas’- project, but only three for the ‘Sint-Jan-Baptiste’-contract.

Interesting is the causal relation which is forwarded in this study between the number of gatherings, being an indicator of intensity of involvement, and the representation of social and economic actors. High involvement assumes a large concentration of social and economic actors.
A social co-ordinator can be appointed if actions are planned in connection to track 5. As al alternative to an appointed official who is responsible for the co-ordination, an effort can also be asked from local associations.

The minimal composition of a Local Commission of Integrated Development is described as follows in the ordinance on Neighbourhood Contracts: 8 representatives of inhabitants, 2 representatives of associations, school organisations or commercial representatives for the specific neighbourhood, 3 representatives of the municipality, 1 representative of the OCMW or CPAS (Public Center for Social Assistance), 1 representative of the OOTB (Overleg Opleidings- en Tewerkstellingsprojecten Brussel) if there is a connection to projects of social-economical integration in the neighbourhood, 2 representatives of Brussels Capital Region, 1 representative of the FGC (Franse Gemeenschaps-commissie, the Commission of the French speaking Community), 1 representative of the VGC (Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie, the Commission of the Flemish speaking Community) 2 representatives appointed by the Netwerk Wonen or ‘Residential Network’, and 1 representative for each operator who is executing a part of the program.
Location of sites Back to top

The selection of sites for neighbourhood contracts is executed from the Brussels Capital Region. The Government of Brussels Capital Region revises each year, in relation to available budgets, the list of neighbourhoods to which a contract can be applied.

Values on a list of 18 criteria are determining whether a site can be selected or not. Twelve criteria are related to the social-economical status of the quarter and 6 are related to the quality of life in the neighbourhood. Amongst the variables are for instance the degree of unemployment, the distribution of incomes, the quality of housing blocks, criminality rates, the degree of vacancies, the state of decay of buildings and public spaces, the number of fallow sites, high population density, absence of comfort in the neighbourhood, high rates of unemployment, or the low average educational level. A positive aspect in favour of the selection of specific sites is the potential impact on surrounding areas through an intervention.

The average values for the 18 criteria were calculated for all these neighbourhoods in Brussels Capital Region together and indicated for each neighbourhood as being above or below the average. Those neighbourhoods which were most neglected are the highest in the ranking for future neighbourhood contracts. The delimitation is discussed between the Region and the Municipality. All sites are located within the perimeters for development of housing as indicated on the Regional Development Plan. The sites are centrally located in Brussels. So far, out of 19 municipalities within Brussels Capital Region, following municipalities have been involved: Anderlecht, Sint-Gillis, Brussels city, Sint-Joost-ten-Node, Elsene, Schaarbeek, Molenbeek and Vorst. Most sites for neighbourhood contracts are located within the so-called ‘first crown’ of Brussels which is a ring of areas around the old historic ‘Pentagon’ or centre of Brussels, and developed mainly in the 19th century.

 

Budgets Back to top
Subventions are calculated according to the number of real estate in bad conditions, the amount of offices and the number of inhabitants in the neighbourhood. Subsidiaries are approved if the start of the realisation is executed before the legal frame of four years has passed. The Auditor’s Office opposed this interpretation of the Region as being not in the sphere of the Ordinance.
Subsidiaries (or bonuses) can be obtained for the renovation of residences, the embellishment of facades, for the purchase of a residence.

Public funding for neighbourhood contracts (CQ= Contrat de Quartier) was initially provided from municipalities and Brussels Capital Region. From 2001 on, also federal actors provided subsidiaries.
The study of Deloitte & Touche and ARIES engineering and environment s.a. also looked at the financial developments of the contracts. According to this study, none of the neighbourhood contracts had used that far the full budget available. In 2001, a share of 15% of the total budget for the contracts between 1994 and 1998 was not used yet.
The 2001 study also presented the budgetary development for different tracks: Track 1: the original budget was used, in some contracts even a considerably larger share than first expected; Track 2 was only calculated for two of the six neighbourhood contracts of the first generation. The used budgets were slightly higher than what was initially calculated due to higher real estate prices; Track 3 was as well only calculated for two of six contracts and zero for the four others, actions for track 3 were only realised in Sint-Gillis and Vorst; Track 4 was extended in three of the six contracts as the projects were developing, all others used the budgets as planned; Track 5 is initially low for all contracts, but increases for five of six contracts in the course of development, the global percentage of this track remains low. The program for a neighbourhood contract can still be changed within the second year of implementation, but only if the total budget remains the same.

Attracting private investors for deprived areas? Neighbourhood contracts in Brussels Capital Region incorporate the possibility to combine public funding and private investments (mainly track 2 and 3). So far though, it seemed to be difficult to attract the latter. Howard Green and Hichem Trache, British Academics investigated these difficulties in the frame of the ‘Working Group on Urban Regeneration in North West Europe.’
The rationale of private investment is usually calculated as ‘return on investment’. An investment in urban regeneration projects can also be seen in terms of risk reduction through diversification and portfolio balance. Investing in neighbourhood contracts might be perceived by many investors as entering untested and new property market with the first mover assuminlgly carrying the highest risk. According to Green and Trache, it is essential to investors involvement to make sufficient information available, to clarify capital constraints and to study market trends. It is a major challenge for urban regeneration projects to provide a continuous flow of private investments. Projects in deprived neighbourhood can be looked from alternative perspectives: ‘Often stigmatised as derelict and deprived, many sites are strategically located and therefore offer investors an alternative investment opportunity outside well-established property markets.’ (Green, Trache, in : Urbanism 2002, p. 30). Fundamentally important in attracting private investors is furthermore also the political commitment and the support for urban regeneration from official institutions.

Programmes Back to top

The neighbourhood contracts in Brussels aim at economical and social renewal of neighbourhoods in crisis. It is intended to integrate the projects in a comprehensive level of urban planning, such as the Regional Development and Land Use Plan. The attention is drawn on the whole neighbourhood rather than on specific housing blocks. The interventions are designed to be catalytic and as such an example of ‘best practice’ to be inspiring for the remaining and adjoining areas of the neighbourhood or municipality. In general, three domains of interventions can be distinguished.

1. HOUSING AND REAL ESTATE (track 1 to 3)
- Public action: Rehabilitation of buildings owned by the township or the CPAS in order to realise social dwellings. The buildings renovated or rebuild can also be used as art and craft spaces or industrial areas of maximum 500 m² per project, the total area of this type of building being less than 20% of total housing area.
- Public/ private Partnerships: Grant allotments to investors at lower cost (25% of normal value) with obligation to realise dwellings for people with average revenues.

- Emphyteutic lease: Another mechanism, more complex and eventually combined with the previous one, consists in guaranteeing the investors who build and finance a construction, a revenue of maximum 75% of dwellings constructed by means of an emphyteutic lease by the township in order to rent them at social conditions.

2. PUBLIC SPACES (track 4)
The development of public spaces covers a wide range of actions as for instance the upgrade of streets, sidewalks, lighting, planting, realisation of low-speed areas, avoiding the transit traffic in the area of the contract, playing areas, green areas and parks, actions on private properties (i.e. cleaning of buildings)

3. SOCIAL ACTION (track 5)
Social actions in the frame of neighbourhood contracts include for instance social assistance for housing problems, gathering and distributing information about the rehabilitation process and the opportunities to get subsidies for rehabilitation of private properties, the history of the concerned areas,…, help with local papers, exhibitions, organisation of local feasts, health in relation with building occupancy (CO, lead,…), increase of subsidies for private rehabilitation in the area and for the duration of contract, employment actions and teaching mainly in buildings fields, building of socio-cultural infrastructures such as cultural centres, sport halls, etc.

In the ordinance on Neighbourhood contracts, programs are divided according to the kind of intervention and actors involved. Neighbourhood contracts focus on five different tracks (description based on Thiry, 2003, p. 8; Mertens, 2002, p. 3; and the ‘Handleiding Wijkcontracten’ of the Stadswinkel vzw):
- Track 1: HOUSING by LOCAL AUTHORITIES: the renovation or rebuilding of housing and the construction of new housing projects, executed exclusively by the local authority , for buildings which are owned or will be owned by the local authority. This track is under strict government control. The residences are equivalent to social housing and accessible to those who can apply for social housing (according to income and specific priorities). The calculation for the rent is described in individual tenant contracts.
- Track 2: HOUSING in CO-OPERATION with PRIVATE INVESTORS: the acquisition or leasing by the local authority of land to make building possible; to make the ground available at a price below market values. The housing focuses on middle-class incomes. These ‘adapted residences’ are accessible to families with an income not higher than about 31.000 €, and can be bought or rented.
- Track 3: leases on (parts of) residential buildings by private investors. The housing is comparable to public and social housing. One third of the dwellings remains under control of the private companies involved.
Spaces for small or large scale industrial and entrepreneurial activities can accompany housing, but may not comprise more than 500 square metres.
- Track 4: PUBLIC SPACES: Reconstruction of public spaces e.g. inside residential blocks, footpaths, green areas, squares, crossroads, but also school environments, access to housing or improvement of public lightning, street furniture, etc.
- Track 5: SOCIAL and ECONOMICAL DEVELOPMENT: Creation or improvement of local infrastructure and services or facilities to benefit the public and local communal life, also called ‘le volet social’ or ‘social track’. A second part of track five contributed more to the economic development of a neighbourhood as for instance education or aspects of health in relation to living quality. These actions contribute to the enhancement of both the social and economic situation of the neighbourhood.

Track 1 is under responsibility of the official institutions, whereas track 2 and 3 are developed in co-operation between the public and private sector. Even if different tracks can be distinguished within a neighbourhood contract, the projects are meant to evolve as a kind of ‘integrated development’. In practice though, it is often difficult to realise the co-ordination between different tracks (see also ‘evaluation and implementation’). Actions like real estate development, refurbishment of public spaces or social and cultural integration often resort under different services in the municipality (as e.g. urban planning, public works, municipal properties, social questions, etc.). This also means that, in practice, projects are often divided over different services, administrations and aldermen, which can result in non-integrated, sectorial approaches.

The 2001 study of the first six neighbourhood contracts, executed by Deloitte & Touche and ARIES, gives an overview of actions for the different tracks: track 1: the realised number of housing units is bigger than the planned number in all contracts (the share in the total new housing stock raises from 35% to 78%), most housing units are small and medium-sized units, and only few large residences; track 2 and 3: the realised number of housing units (21,8% of the total new housing stock) is significantly smaller than the planned number in all contracts (about 65% of the total new housing stock); track 4: almost all projects in this track were realised as planned ( as e.g. renovation of plazas and streets Sint-Jan-Baptistevoorplein, Sint- Antoonplein, Anneessenplein, Graystraat; the refurbishment of facades and track 5: social solidarity as for instance help with moves, creation of consciousness about urban regeneration programmes, support for renovation, etc.

Social aspects Back to top

Within'Track 5' (see also 'Programmes'), there is the possibility to organise campaigns for a better awareness of urban regeneration programmes. Actions for these campaigns differ largely and can make use of newspapers, prints, exhibitions, consultation desks, etc.
Actions to enhance the quality of life and liveliness in neighbourhoods comprise for instance district parties and the official opening of new buildings and initiatives. Track 5 also embraces educational programmes for marginalised groups.

The first generation of neighbourhood contracts showed that additional actions were undertaken to enhance the liveability of the districts. Following actions of ‘positive discrimination’ of deprived disctricts were not actually part of track 5 in the neighbourhood contracts, but closely connected, as for instance the establishment of of a social real estate office, the financing of the ‘Avanti’ limited company in support of families with financial difficulties or the activities of the ‘promosanté’ limited company who organised permanent medical assistance in the social support centre of the Anderlechtsesteenweg (city of Brussels).

Stages of development Back to top
In general, neighbourhood contracts are planned to last four years. This is provided in the original ordinance of October 1993. The clear delimitation of a period of time for the realisation of a neighbourhood contract is induced to assure an effective and efficient execution of planned actions. Consequences of the interventions would therefore appear faster. If constructions are not finished after four years, another two years or up to 24 additional months can be admitted for the realisation (still using the original budget). This option was already presented in the ordinance from 1993 (art. 8 §3). The formal prolongation of a project is given with a ministerial circular, and can be defined separately for different tracks of the contract.
The study of the Auditor’s Office indicates the fact that the start of the contract is not defined in the ordinance as a fundamental problem in the temporal planning of neighbourhood contracts. This changed with a regional decision to define the start of the neighbourhood contract as the day when the project is approved from Brussels Capital Region.

- START: Selection of sites by the GOVERNMENT of Brussels Capital Region,
- Development of the program by the MUNICIPALITY or an external INVESTIGATION OFFICE,
- 9 Months of PREPARATION to develop the program ( In general, the period of preparation lasts from January until September),
- General Neighbourhood Assembly: The program for the Neighbourhood Contract is discussed with inhabitants. The municipality invites for this gathering. All inhabitants are invited to participate. Participation on this stage means that the inhabitants can express their expectations and choose representatives to follow-up the development of the neighbourhood project. At the first Assembly, the composition of the Local Commission of Integrated Development is discussed and decided. It takes at least 8 inhabitants and 2 persons with commercial functions, from schools and associations. At least two more gatherings of the General Neighbourhood Assembly are to be initiated by the municipality in the nine month of preparation for the Neighbourhood Contract. The results of the Basic study and Preliminary Program are to be discussed on these occasions.
- Local Commission for Integrated Development: The LCDI starts its task within two months after the first General Neighbourhood Assembly.
- OPENBAAR ONDERZOEK and OVERLEGCOMMISSIE (Public Hearings and Consultative Commissions): When the preliminary program was presented to a General Neighbourhood Assembly and approved by the Local Commission of Integrated Development, the proposal is presented in a public hearing by the municipality for at least 15 days. This is announces with red posters at different places throughout the community. For this period of time, everybody can consult the proposal at the Municipal Administration of Spatial Planning. All comments can be addressed (by letter) to the Consultative Commission, which is composed according to the regulations for urban planning in Brussels Capital Region It is also possible to ask by letter for consultation with the Consultative Commission. The Consultative Commission analyses all comments and listens to all those who wished to be heard, before formulating her its own advice. As the Commission functions as a urban planning actor, it advises only on projects for public spaces, as well as construction and renovation of buildings and their ‘physical’ impact on the neighbourhood.
- Development of the BASIC STUDY and the PRELIMINARY PROGRAM: (Considering remarks from the General Neighbourhood Assembly and from the Local Commission of Integrated Development)
The Basis Study consists of description about: the existing situation with an overview of the ‘physical’ state of the neighbourhood, juridical aspects as for instance the existence of ‘Bijzondere Plannen van Aanleg’ or Site-specific Land Use Plans, urban regulations and the delivery of building permits, several topics in the field of the social and economical ‘vitality’ of the neighbourhood, and Priorities for the development of a program.
The Preliminary program consists of: the program itself, a map with the delimitation of the perimeter and location of different projects, a list of subsidised real estate projects, with both private as well as public initiatives for the last ten years, a list of buildings and if necessary also their inhabitants or owners, who are involved in different projects, a description of the purchase and construction work for the different projects, a preliminary timetable for orientation, indicating steps in the realisation for each year, a description of accompanying measurements for the social issues, a financial plan with details for the different years, a report about the current situation and trends in the real estate market, with a proposal for measurements against speculation, a program for the conservation of cultural heritage in real estate.
- MUNICIPALITY and REGION: The last step in the nine months of preparation is the approval of the preliminary program by the municipality. The proposal is then analysed by the administration of Brussels Capital Region. When the Government of Brussels Capital Region also gives the approval for the project, the implementation of the neighbourhood contract can start.
- 4 years of EXECUTION of the program: The maximum term of four years for the implementation of the neighbourhood contract can be prolonged for projects of housing, infrastructure and facilities. The term of four years can not be prolonged for social initiatives. The term for projects about public spaces is limited to 2 years only , but can be prolonged for one year.
A preliminary evaluation of implementation Back to top
The evaluation of involvement of actors according to Royer-Vallat involves different aspects: “The experiences/ experiments conducted in Brussels may well interlink the two major trends: empowerment and participation.” (Royer-Vallat, in: urbanism 2002, p. 28).
Royer-Vallat refers to participation as being focussed on social cohesion, fair management of a town and the reduction of the gap between bottom and top. This is to her opinion the French and Dutch sense given to this concept. She presents ‘empowerment’ as being a concept of the United Kingdom, focussing on the people’s capacity to undertake and do (‘capacitation’), to investments in civil society, its mobilisation and independence.

So far, two large evaluations have been done about the neighbourhood contract. One is the evaluation of the ‘Auditor’s Office’, the other is from private consulting offices. An evaluation of the six first neighbourhood contracts is presented in the 2001 Study of Deloitte & Touche and ARIES Engineering & Environment. Main findings of an analysis of the implementation focus on the general co-ordination, the development over time and point out difficulties in reaching initial goals.

General co-ordination: The description of the general co-ordination takes the following into account: is the co-ordination executed within public or private institutions? Is it executed through existing structures or are new structures created and new co-ordinators selected? And last but not least, the description focuses on the connections between different tracks or parts within a program of a neighbourhood contract. Following differences between the participating municipalities were noticed: Brussels city: co-ordination was integrally lead by official municipal policy makers, different tracks were divided over different persons and services and the co-ordination between various parts was rather weak; Municipality of Sint-Jans Molenbeek: co-ordination was done by an external consultants office for the co-ordination between real estate development (from track 1 to 3) and track 4. Track 5 was lead by a social co-ordinator who was employed at the municipal offices for the neighbourhood contract only; Municipality of Sint-Gillis: the municipality itself was co-ordinating different tracks (mainly 1 to 4); Municipality of Vorst: a general co-ordinator assured the follow-up of the projects, a ‘general perspective’ for the project was enriching the implementation of tracks 1 to 4. The initiative of a ‘neighbourhood house’ was a visual statement of this co-ordation. Within track 5, the establishment of the ‘Union des Locataires’ as an integrative organisation, supported the co-ordinating efforts; Municipality of Elsene: as in Vorst, a general co-ordinator assured the follow-up of the projects. The municipality took the initiative to set up an information centre and a social/general co-ordinator. This centre was co-operating with the Consultants office AGORA who as well carried a part of the co-ordinating functions. In a practical way, it was often the general co-ordinator who supervised the integration of different tracks.
Essential for a successful implementation seem to be the connections between different tracks. As shown already in the analysis of budgets, not all initial plans are realised. Creative solutions are more likely to appear when a general overview of all aspects within a contract is assured. Common difficulties are analysed below.

Development over time: Tracks one to four in the neighbourhood contracts of the first generation needed 52 instead of the initially planned 48 months to be completed. The prolongation was granted in two steps in ministerial circulars. Track five needed 58 months to be completed. All of the contracts thus needed the initially proposed for years, whereas none of the contracts used the possible prolongation of 24 months to full extend.

Difficulties in reaching initial goals: In the study of 2001, Deloitte & Touche and ARIES distinguished three kinds of difficulties in reaching the goals for neighbourhood contracts. Some problems were classified as ‘staring difficulties’ which occurred at the beginning of the project but which did not essentially bother the realisation. They distinguished further few specific problems in only one or two contracts and some real difficulties, which appeared in almost all contracts.
‘Starting difficulties’ of neighbourhood contracts in Brussels Capital Region are for instance juridical questions, lethargy of administrative procedures to purchase real estate, bottlenecks at the realisation of projects, changes of political majorities, delays due to elections, interventions in real estate questions of different actors than the municipality and an increase of programs for urban development (as for instance parallel actions in projects for ‘Initiative districts’, the URBAN-framework, Objective II, initiatives of the federal service for Metropolitan Development, etc.).
‘General difficulties’ which appeared in several neighbourhood contracts were for instance the problematic co-ordination between different kinds of actions and the failure of track 2 and 3 due to lack of engagement from private investors or for instance general distrust between actors.

Some other factors were perceived as additional difficulties, yet the 2001 study presents these with some caution, as they have not been thoroughly investigated. Different actors mentioned for instance the short duration of the project (perceived as being too short for negotiations with private investors, too short for maturation of the project, too short when considering the lethargy of some administrative procedures, etc.). Another aspects which seemed to be perceived as a potential difficulty is speculation about real estate, a reasoning which is not accepted from the ‘Auditor’s Office’.
Background Information: neighbourhood data Back to top
Available data on a neighbourhood level
(based on SIF- VUB ‘Wijkfiches’ or Neighbourhood Files)

Brussels Capital Region is divided into roughly 700 statistical sectors. The sectors are the units for which data in censuses are calculated by the NIS or ‘Nationaal Instituut voor Statistiek’. Data about demography, social-economic aspects and questions about housing are available there. Sources for information are the national database, the censuses, the account of residences and fiscal statistics. Most recent data can be found in the national database.
Administrative boarders are defined on a municipal and a regional level, but not on a neighbourhood level. A part of the basic study for a neighbourhood contract therefore consists of defining the exact area in which interventions are to take place. A neighbourhood can be defined as a combination of different statistical sectors. Detailed maps with the delimitation of administrative and statistical boarders can be obtained from URBIS, the geographical information system of Brussels Capital Region.
Recently, there have been studies about 15 specific neighbourhoods, executed by the research group Cosmopolis from the VUB or Vrije Universiteit Brussels and the Centre for Social Town Development. All studied areas are within the so-called ‘action area’ of the SIF or Sociaal Impulsfonds for Brussels.
The data, which were gathered and analysed for these neighbourhoods are based on the data from the NIS. A ‘Neighbourhood file’ (‘Wijkfiche’) comprises information on following topics: inhabitants, households and population density, cohorts of age, family composition, foreign population, social-economical characteristics, level of education and housing.
The study was commissioned from the Flemish Community in order to have detailed and comparable data about the neighbourhood in which the SIF is active. The inhabitants of a neighbourhood might have a somewhat different perception of what belong to a neighbourhood than what is proposed in the study. The neighbourhoods in this study comprise between 3 and 16 statistical sectors. The delimitation of neighbourhoods is described as follows:
« Het begrip wijk wordt hier gebruikt om een stadsdeel aan te duiden dat een geheel vormt (hoeft daarom niet homogeen te zijn) en dat zich rond één of meerdere centra uitstrekt. Bewoners zijn hierbij even belangrijk als de gebruikers van een wijk.(…) Deze wijken werden afgebakend door statistische buurten van het NIS samen te voegen. Daar de grenzen van een buurt niet altijd overeenstemmen met de grenzen van een wijk strekken sommige afbakeningen zich wat verder uit dan we eigenlijk zouden willen. » (Cosmopolis, 2001, p. 4)
« The notion of ‘neighbourhood’ is used here to indicate a part of the city which can be seen as a unity (not necessarily homogeneous though) and that extends over one or more centres. The inhabitants are as important as the users of a neighbourhood (…). Neighbourhoods are delimited through combining statistical sectors from the NIS. As the boarders of a statistical sector do no always corresponds> with the boarder of a neighbourhood, some delimitations are a little more extended than we wanted. » (own translation of Cosmopolis, 2001, p. 4)

The neighbourhoods for which a detailed analysis and description is developed are: Brabantwijk (SchBK), Dansaertwijk (BXL), Havenwijk (MLB), Jacht (EtBk), Kuregem (AND), Matonge (ELS), Noordwijk (BXL-SchBK-SJTN), Oud-Laken (BXL), Oud-Molenbeek (MLB), Sint Joost (SJTN), Laag Sint-Gillis (SG), Marollen (BXL), Anneessens (BXL), Laag Vorst (VST) and Jourdan (ELS). Neighbourhoods can be defined more easily when they are for instance delimited from a railway or large infrastructure and roads.
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