Which morphologies for “inclusion in urbanity”? Exploring practices along the Steenweg

Fenton, Gabrielle [UCL] De Visscher, Jean-Philippe [UCL] Hubert, Michel [USL-B]

The Steenweg, an east-west axis crossing through Brussels Metropolitan Centre, has been earmarked to play a key role in the implementation of the city’s future mobility vision. Moreover, recent research [De Visscher et al., 2020] suggests that this axis presents high stakes in terms of social inclusion for Brussels. In anticipation of future refurbishments, this article delves deeper into this latter proposition, opening lines of thought regarding the potential for “inclusion in urbanity” along the Steenweg. Working from Remy’s suggestion for communication in distance [Remy, 2020 [1990]] and using a socio-spatial approach, the article focuses on morphologies that participate in enabling an inclusive access to the social and spatial fabric of urbanity to diverse groups. To do so, the results of an exploratory research within one type of morphology found along the Steenweg – commercial galleries - are presented. The article then suggests possibilities for thinking further about morphologies that enable communication in distance along the axis by mapping out all publicly accessible spaces beyond the usual limits of the Steenweg’s open air public spaces.