Abstract
Industrial heritage reflects the development track of human production activities and witnessed the rise and fall of industrial civilization. As one of the earliest countries in the world to start the Industrial Revolution, Belgium has a rich industrial history. Over the past years, a set of industrial heritage renewal projects have emerged in Belgium in the process of urban regeneration. In this paper, we introduce the basic contents of the related terms of industrial heritage, examine the overall situation of protection and renewal in Belgium. The industrial heritage in Belgium shows its regional characteristics, each region has its representative industrial heritage types. In the Walloon region, it is the heavy industry. In Flanders, it is the textile industry. In Brussels, it is the service industry. The kinds of industrial heritages in Belgium are coordinate with each other. Industrial heritage tourism is developed, especially on eco-tourism, experience tourism. The industrial heritage in transportation and mining are the representative industrial heritages in Belgium. There are a set of numbers industrial heritages are still in running based on a successful reconstruction into industrial tourism projects. Due to the advanced experience in dealing with industrial heritage, the industrial heritage and the city live together harmoniously.
Highlights
The genesis of the notion of the cultural landscape is more likely laid on the multilayered dynamic interrelations—both spatially and historically—of human intervention and natural processes to adjust its function to the changing community demands
We propose a classification of the Belgian Industrial heritage, while at the end, we raise our conclusion for current conservation and renewal progress in Belgium
Compared with the traditional industrial tourism powers surrounding, Belgium has the highest density of industrial heritage tourism projects (Table 5)
Summary
The genesis of the notion of the cultural landscape is more likely laid on the multilayered dynamic interrelations—both spatially and historically—of human intervention and natural processes to adjust its function to the changing community demands. That broader interpretation of the industrial heritage “focusses on the remains of the industry—sites, structures and infrastructure, machinery and equipment, housing, settlements, landscapes, products, processes, embedded knowledge and skills, documents and records, as well as the use and treatment of this heritage in the present”. It should comprise “ the remains of the Industrial Revolution, and the traditional precursors from earlier centuries that reflect increased technical specialization, intensified productive capacity, and distribution and consumption beyond local markets, hallmarks of the rise of industrialization” [5]. The paper is structured to the motivation and significance of industrial heritage; firstly, an overview and the understanding of the main terms and concepts of the work are provided, in the second section, an exhaustive focus of the research of the Belgian case is discussed; the third part of the paper presents historical landmarks and highlights important points related to the protection of the Belgian industrial heritage, from the perspective of classification and region distribution, while the last ones highlight the main findings and discusses the perspectives for future work
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