Case Of Antwerp Research Articles

Automation Processes in the Port Industry and Union Strategies: The Case of Antwerp

Abstract Automation represents a sensitive issue in the debate between social actors of the port-maritime industry. Automation produced a contraction of the number of dockworkers since the 1960s. However, the idea that technological innovation will produce the disappearance of work is not sustained by empirical evidence. For this reason, trade unions have been particularly watchful. Despite the discourses about robotization carried out by supply chain operators, the paradigm of the post-COVID logistics chain is still based upon the human labor cost. During the pandemic there has been a transformation in working conditions not in terms of replacing people with robots, but rather of the robotization of workers to obtain the maximum productive exploitation at the minimum wage allowed. The purpose of this article is to provide an analysis of labor relations and workers organizing in light of the automation processes in the European port of Antwerp. The article focuses on how working conditions and jobs are potentially impacted by automation in ports, and on how workers disruptive strategies are resisting to these dynamics. The following questions have been answered: How do trade unions and dockworkers respond to automation? What are the strategies implemented in the bargaining processes?

Land financialisation, planning informalisation and gentrification as statecraft in Antwerp

This article offers insight into the role of the state in land financialisation through a reading of urban hegemony. This offers the basis for a conjunctural analysis of the politics of planning within a context in which authoritarian neoliberalism is ascendant across Europe. I explore this through the case of Antwerp as it underwent a hegemonic shift in which the nationalist neoliberal party the New Flemish Alliance (Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie; N-VA) ended 70 years of Socialist Party rule and deregulated the city’s technocratic planning system. However, this unbridling of the free market has led to the creation of high-margin investment products rather than suitable housing for the middle classes, raising concerns about the city’s gentrification strategy. The consequent, politicisation of the city’s planning system led to controversy over clientelism which threatened to undermine the N-VA’s wider hegemonic project. In response, the city has sought to roll out a more formalised system of negotiated developer obligations, so embedding transactional, market-oriented informal governance networks at the centre of the planning system. This article highlights how the literature on land financialisation may incorporate conjunctural analysis, in the process situating recent trends towards the use of land value capture mechanisms within the contradictions and statecraft of contemporary neoliberal urbanism.

Living Together in the “Yidishe Gas”: The Case of Antwerp

ABSTRACTInterwar Antwerp was home not only to a rapidly expanding Jewish community composed predominantly of first- and second-generation newcomers, but also to growing antisemitic and right-wing tendencies amongst the general population. These tendencies contributed significantly to the fact that the racial persecution during the Second World War struck Antwerp’s Jewish population severely. This history would hardly lead one to envision that, before or after the war, there had been harmonious neighbourhood life where Jews and non-Jews shared public space and in some cases established friendships. However, we do read accounts of pleasant neighbourly relations. This study seeks to explore this seemingly contradictory image and to offer suggestions for bridging the gap between micro- and macro-history via the sociological concept of social identifications and proximity. By examining the lives of two particular Jewish families from a bustling, diverse neighbourhood where Jews and non-Jews lived alongside each other, we can draw a picture of these families – one a religious Orthodox family, the other Dutch and fairly assimilated – and their respective relationships with the larger community around them before, during and after the Second World War. The dynamics at such a micro-level allow us to process information that at a macro-level is difficult to grasp or explain. It offers examples – such as where “disappointed friendships” were nevertheless able to remain intact after the war, where Orthodox Jews refused help from non-Jews, and where collaborators saved Jews – that can be explained by social identification or its lack thereof. “Proximity” played a key role in social identifications and this concept helps to fill in the missing interpretational link between, on one hand, the macro-image of victims, bystanders and perpetrators and, on the other hand, the micro-level, which presents a far more tangled and unclear (sometimes even contradictory) division of these categories.

The (In)Stability of Residential Burglary Patterns on Street Segments: The Case of Antwerp, Belgium 2005–2016

To examine the spatial concentration and spatial stability of residential burglary at micro places in the context of a substantial city-level burglary drop in Antwerp, Belgium. 51,337 police recorded home burglary incidents for the period 2005–2016 are geo-referenced to 26,875 street segments. Longitudinal trends in spatial concentrations of burglary are considered using descriptive statistics, generalized Gini coefficients, and local Getis–Ord statistics. Andresen’s (Appl Geogr 29(3):333–345, 2009) non-parametric spatial point pattern test (SPPT) is used to identify spatial stability in burglary point patterns and evaluate the ubiquity of a city-level burglary drop across street segments. A longitudinal extension of the SPPT is implemented. Residential burglary is substantially concentrated in street segments. Burglary point patterns exhibit a moderate to high degree of spatial stability over time. Local analyses show that 91% of street segments with burglary experienced a net decrease in crime and under 1% of street segments with burglary experienced a net increase. Absolute spatial stability over time is found for just 1.43% of street segments with burglary and minor increases are consistently observed for as few as 11 street segments with burglary. The citywide home burglary drop manifested itself uniformly across street segments with burglary and the majority of street segments that experienced burglary contributed relatively equally to the crime drop. In other words, we find no strong evidence that the city-level crime drop can be tied to substantial decreases in a few specific places, nor do we find that the reductions in burglary are spatially concentrated.

Health Impact Assessment of a Predicted Air Quality Change by Moving Traffic from an Urban Ring Road into a Tunnel. The Case of Antwerp, Belgium.

BackgroundThe Antwerp ring road has a traffic density of 300,000 vehicles per day and borders the city center. The ‘Ringland project’ aims to change the current ‘open air ring road’ into a ‘filtered tunneled ring road’, putting the entire urban ring road into a tunnel and thus filtering air pollution. We conducted a health impact assessment (HIA) to quantify the possible benefit of a ‘filtered tunneled ring road’, as compared to the ‘open air ring road’ scenario, on air quality and its long-term health effects.Materials and MethodsWe modeled the change in annual ambient PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations by covering 15 kilometers of the Antwerp ring road in high resolution grids using the RIO-IFDM street canyon model. The exposure-response coefficients used were derived from a literature review: all-cause mortality, life expectancy, cardiopulmonary diseases and childhood Forced Vital Capacity development (FVC).ResultsOur model predicts changes between -1.5 and +2 μg/m³ in PM2.5 within a 1,500 meter radius around the ring road, for the ‘filtered tunneled ring road’ scenario as compared to an ‘open air ring road’. These estimated annual changes were plotted against the population exposed to these differences. The calculated change of PM2.5 is associated with an expected annual decrease of 21 deaths (95% CI 7 to 41). This corresponds with 11.5 deaths avoided per 100,000 inhabitants (95% CI 3.9–23) in the first 500 meters around the ring road every year. Of 356 schools in a 1,500 meter perimeter around the ring road changes between -10 NO2 and + 0.17 μg/m³ were found, corresponding to FVC improvement of between 3 and 64ml among school-age children. The predicted decline in lung cancer mortality and incidence of acute myocardial infarction were both only 0.1 per 100,000 inhabitants or less.ConclusionThe expected change in PM2,5 and NO2 by covering the entire urban ring road in Antwerp is associated with considerable health gains for the approximate 352,000 inhabitants living in a 1,500 meter perimeter around the current open air ring road.

An econometric approach to crowding in touristic city centres

Using a common property resource conceptualization, this article introduces a new methodology for crowding valuation in touristic city centres. Crowding issues are defined in terms of utility gains or losses through a stated-preference choice experiment, making it possible to quantify crowding disturbances in monetary terms. The proposed method is applied to the case of Antwerp, Belgium, specifically focusing on the effect of use density on local inhabitants. The case study serves to reveal quantitatively the theorized quadratic effects of crowding on the space utility of residents. Potential utility effects of different crowding levels are discussed and compared to actual use levels. The methodology provides new opportunities for threshold optimization in crowding-sensitive urban areas, taking into account a community-based norm development.

Redefining Empowerment Interventions of Migrants Experiencing Poverty: The Case of Antwerp, Belgium

This qualitative research examines the strategies migrants experiencing poverty develop to access social rights and services. We conducted thirty-five in-depth interviews with Moroccan and Turkish migrants experiencing poverty in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. These interviews resulted in a typology of migrants in poverty based on the methods they use to empower themselves and influence their environment. The determining factors that influence these different strategies are directly linked to the accessibility of social work practices. Therefore, we evaluated local public and social work policies based on what motivates the different typologies of migrants experiencing poverty. Our findings confirm the importance of collaboration between organisations involved in empowerment interventions for migrants experiencing poverty on the local level and the need for reshaping local coalitions in social work practice. We consider the long-term success of integration courses for newcomers, especially the impact they have on the accessibility of social work practices. We also note serious weaknesses concerning language policies in social services, as well as the shame and denial of poverty by clients due to their migration background or the social pressure of their community. Finally, the role of civil society organisations in poverty eradication is questioned.

Port gateways in globalization: the case of Antwerp

AbstractThis paper analyses the globalization trends affecting Antwerp as a port city. Mainly, we analyse the public policies implemented at different levels of governance in the new context of globalization (from EU to local level). However, in contrast to other authors, we argue that globalization is both shaped by political decisions and in return imposes new constraints to public policies, notably at the local level. Using the Antwerp case, we show first how EU and regional policies have supported globalization trends by favouring liberalization policies in port matters or by reinforcing local autonomies in urban matters. Second, we show in return how local authorities with growing competences have, in a more competitive and global context, been constrained to answer to this new environment by shifting toward entrepreneurial policies. By reshaping their image or opening the port to investors, the attraction of new investors has been a major objective of urban or port policies in the city of Antwerp.Resumen. Este artículo analiza las tendencias de globalización que afectan Amberes como ciudad portuaria. Principalmente, analizamos las políticas públicas implementadas a diferentes niveles de gobernanza dentro del nuevo contexto de globalización (desde la escala de la UE a la local). Sin embargo, en contraste con otros autores, argumentamos que la globalización viene moldeada por decisiones políticas y que a cambio impone nuevas restricciones en cuanto a políticas públicas, especialmente a escala local. Utilizando el caso de Amberes, primero mostramos como las políticas de la UE y las regionales han apoyado tendencias de globalización, al favorecer políticas de liberalización en materia portuaria, o reforzando autonomías locales en temas urbanos. Segundo, mostramos en cambio como las autoridades locales, al ver aumentadas sus competencias en un contexto más competitivo y global, se han visto obligadas a responder a este nuevo ambiente con un cambio hacia políticas con espíritu emprendedor. Por medio de la reforma de su imagen o la apertura del puerto a inversores, la atracción de nueva inversión por parte de las políticas urbanas o portuarias ha sido un objetivo principal en la ciudad de Amberes.

Economic Impact of Port Activity: A Disaggregate Analysis - The Case of Antwerp

The economic impact of the port sector is usually measured at an aggregate level by indicators such as value added, employment and investment. This paper tries to define the economic relevance for the regional as well as for the national economy at a disaggregate level. It attempts to identify, quantify and locate the mutual relationships between the various port players themselves and between them and other Belgian industries. Due to a lack of information foreign trade is only tackled very briefly but the method outlined in this paper can be used to measure the national effects of changes in port activity at a detailed level. A sector analysis is made by compiling a regional (regional as geographically opposed to national, not to be mistaken for the Belgian Regions Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia) input-output table, resorting to microeconomic data: a bottom-up approach. The main customers and suppliers of the port's key players or stakeholders are identified. A geographical analysis can also be carried out by using data at a disaggregate level. Each customer or supplier can be located by means of their postcode. In so doing, the economic impact of the port is quantified, both functionally and geographically. In the case of the port of Antwerp, the results show important links between freight forwarders and agents. The geographical analysis suggests the existence of major agglomerating effects in and around the port of Antwerp, referred to as a major transhipment location point. Key words: port economics, regional input-output table, sector analysis, geographical analysis.

How to Incorporate the Spatial Dimension in Destination Choice Models: The Case of Antwerp

This paper presents and estimates destination choice models based on a large sample of intra-urban trips. Particular attention is paid to incorporating the effects of the spatial dimension. The data used relate to non-work trips in the agglomeration of Antwerp (Belgium). A geographical analysis is performed in order to represent the city and its suburbs by a limited set of zones of destinations and to characterize these zones in terms of land use. Different types of discrete choice model are compared in terms of utility function, global formulation and performance. The mixed nested logit formulation with random coefficients appears to be the most attractive. The results confirm the difficulty of grasping spatial realities by simple quantitative measurements but also illustrate the importance of ‘space’ when choosing a destination. The empirical results also show that land use and urban development policies clearly have their effect on urban mobility.

School leadership and equity: the case of Antwerp – a report on good practices in three primary schools

This article focuses on the good practices in three primary schools in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. First we start with a walk through the Flemish educational system and sum up the legislation concerned. After that we give a detailed overview of the pupil population of the three schools selected. Finally, the data from the interviews are analysed on three levels: the public, the school and the classroom-level. We study the impact of the Equal Educational Opportunities decree on the Schools and the initiatives taken by the school personnel to meet the needs of a multicultural pupil population.

Using financial statement data as economic indicators for urban governance: the case of Antwerp

In this paper, the focus is on the interaction between high-quality urban policy-making on the one hand and the issue of data needs to construct useful indicators on the other hand. Such an approach implies that first an evaluation is to be made of the trends and developments that influence the urban development process structurally in order to distinguish some of the important keystones for a justified urban policy. Having a notion of what the urban cornerstones are and how they relate to one another, attention is then paid to the data that are required to monitor the dynamics of these cornerstones. Given that our focus is mainly on monitoring the urban economic dimension, the use of company-related data at district level (i.e. financial statement data obtained by the National Bank of Belgium) seems an interesting starting point. The data are first described and analysed statistically. Next, the methodological framework to construct a number of economic urban indicators is explained and tested. The city of Antwerp is taken as case study.