Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-07T12:37:09.640Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Versatile green: an alternative perspective on urban green space in late nineteenth-century Antwerp

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2014

BART TRITSMANS*
Affiliation:
University of Antwerp – Centre for Urban History, Prinsstraat 13 room D-318, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium

Abstract

This article argues that a one-sided focus on official sources has dominated historical research on urban green space. The absence of the users’ perspective obscures a substantial part of its significance. This article, which aims at complementing rather than contradicting existing research, will show that the different perspectives and practices of city dwellers widen our understanding of the history of urban green spaces. The article will also consider the value of often marginalized, unofficial green spaces like ramparts and wastelands at the urban fringe.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Clark, P. and Jauhiainen, J., ‘Introduction’, in Clark, P. (ed.), The European City and Green Space. London, Stockholm, Helsinki and St Petersburg, 1850–2000 (Aldershot and Burlington, 2006), 6Google Scholar.

2 Meller, H., ‘Review of books: The European city and green space’, Urban History, 34 (2007), 160CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 Humboldt, A. von, Kosmos: Entwurf einer physischen Weltbeschreibung (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1845)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 Ermischer, G., ‘Mental landscape: landscape as idea and concept’, Landscape Research, 29 (2004), 371CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Hough, M., Out of Place. Restoring Identity to the Regional Landscape (New Haven and London 1990), 5Google Scholar.

6 Dreher, N.H., ‘The virtuous and the verminous: turn-of-the-century moral panics in London's public parks’, Albion, 29 (1997), 246CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Ibid., 251.

8 Ongoing but so far unpublished research by Matti Hannikainen, Suvi Talja and Valentina Gulin Zrnic.

9 For example, see Rérat, P., Söderström, O., Piguet, E. and Besson, R., ‘From urban wastelands to new-build gentrification: the case of Swiss cities’, Population, Space and Place, 16 (2010), 429–42Google Scholar; Franz, M., Güles, O. and Prey, G., ‘Place-making and “green” reuses of brownfields in the Ruhr’, Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 99 (2008), 316–28CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Busck, A. Gravsholt, Kristensen, S. Pilgaard, Praestholm, S. and Primdahl, J., ‘Porous landscapes – the case of Greater Copenhagen’, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 7 (2008), 145–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Thuo, A.D.M., ‘Exploring land development dynamics in rural–urban fringes: a reflection of why agriculture is being squeezed out by urban land uses in the Nairobi rural–urban fringe’, International Journal of Rural Management, 9 (2013), 105–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Poudyal, N.C., Hodges, D.G., Tonn, B. and Cho, S.-H., ‘Valuing diversity and spatial pattern of open space plots in urban neighborhoods’, Forest Policy and Economics, 11 (2009), 194201CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Mauer, U., Peschel, T. and Smitz, S., ‘The flora of selected urban land-use types in Berlin and Potsdam with regard to nature conservation in cities’, Landscape and Urban Planning, 46 (2000), 209–15CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Herbst, H. and Herbst, V., ‘The development of an evaluation method using a geographic information system to determine the importance of wasteland sites as urban wildlife areas’, Landscape and Urban Planning, 77 (2006), 178–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Clark and Jauhiainen, ‘Introduction’, 2.

11 Deprez, P. and Vandenbroeke, C., ‘Population growth and distribution, and urbanization in Belgium during the demographic transition’, in Lawton, R. and Lee, R. (eds.), Urban Population Development in Western Europe from the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Century (Liverpool, 1989), 226Google Scholar.

12 Bertels, I. and Goethem, H. Van, ‘Vergankelijke stedelijke ruimte. De afbraak van de Spaanse omwalling in de negentiende eeuw’, in Lombaerde, P. (ed.), Antwerpen Versterkt. De Soaanse omwalling vanaf haar bouw in 1542 tot haar afbraak in 1870 (Antwerp, 2009), 118–45, at 128Google Scholar.

13 Choay, F., ‘Haussmann et le système des espaces verts parisien’, Revue de l’Art, 29 (1975), 83Google Scholar.

14 D. Reeder, ‘The social construction of green space in London prior to the Second World War’, in Clark (ed.), The European City, 41–67.

15 Bever, T. Van, ‘Mémoire à l’appui du projet de transformation des terrains militaires de la vieille enceinte et des quartiers incorporés dans la nouvelle enceinte. Considérations générales’, in Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad (Antwerp, 1864), 97110Google Scholar.

16 Ibid., 98 (‘the creation of good roads, the erection of monuments, promenades and plazas, will contribute to the immense splendour to which the city of Antwerp may be called in the future’).

17 Ibid., 104 (‘the need to create large arterial roads is undeniable for the circulation of traffic and for public hygiene’).

18 Ibid., 106–8 (‘one of the most beautiful cities in Europe’).

19 Antwerpen, Stad, Gemeenteblad (Antwerp, 1864), 319–20Google Scholar.

20 Ibid., 1208, 1118.

21 Antwerpen, Stad, Gemeenteblad (Antwerp, 1865), 24Google Scholar.

22 Stynen, A., Proeftuinen van burgerlijkheid. Stadsnatuur in negentiende-eeuws België (Leuven, 2010), 215–16Google Scholar.

23 C. Nolin, ‘Stockholm's urban parks: meeting places and social contexts from 1860–1930’, in Clark (ed.), The European City, 111–26.

24 Antwerpen, Stad, Gemeenteblad (Antwerp, 1867), 927Google Scholar.

25 Ibid., 944 (‘I am of the opinion that the city of Antwerp must also do something for its beautification itself. . .The beauty of a city always contributes to the constitution of its productive assets’).

26 Antwerpen, Stad, Gemeenteblad (Antwerp, 1861), 370Google Scholar.

27 ‘La forêt de Bondy’ is a park, 15 kilometres west of Paris, situated in an area which consists of very few public green spaces. In the Middle Ages, it had a very bad reputation, as bands of thieves frequented the forest. Because of its dubious history, ‘la forêt de Bondy’ was used as an expression to characterize a coupe-gorge, an unsafe location with a bad reputation.

28 Antwerpen, Stad, Gemeenteblad (Antwerp, 1871), 644–6Google Scholar.

29 Stynen, Proeftuinen van burgerlijkheid, 223.

30 Ibid., 310.

31 ‘Het hofje der Van Ryswykplaats’, Maandelijksch Bulletijn van de Vereeniging tot Behoud van Natuur en Stedenschoon, 14 (1935), 62.

32 Stynen, Proeftuinen van burgerlijkheid, 311–14.

33 D. Reeder, ‘London and green space, 1850–2000: an introduction’, in Clark (ed.), The European City, 31. In London, the concept of the people's park was brought into play from 1845 onwards, when Victoria Park was opened to the public.

34 Reeder, ‘The social construction of green space in London prior to the Second World War’, 43.

35 Nolin, ‘Stockholm's urban parks’, 115.

36 Antwerpen, Stad, Gemeenteblad (Antwerp, 1869), 62Google Scholar.

37 Ibid., 53–73.

38 Antwerpen, Stad, Gemeenteblad (Antwerp, 1870), 315–18Google Scholar.

39 Childhood memories are prominent in this article, as the most important source used is the collected volume Weerspiegeld Antwerpen (A reflection of Antwerp), which collects the memories and reflections of youth and childhood from 43 authors, who all lived in Antwerp and experienced the transition of the urban environment at the turn of the century. Franck, Louis (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen (Antwerp, 1927)Google Scholar.

40 Reeder, ‘The social construction of green space in London prior to the Second World War’, 51–2.

41 Ibid., 53.

42 Ibid., 53.

43 Simkins, I. and Thwaites, K., ‘Revealing the hidden spatial dimensions of place experience in primary school-age children’, Landscape Research, 33 (2008), 531–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

44 Cele, S., Communicating Place. Methods for Understanding Children's Experience of Place (Stockholm, 2006)Google Scholar.

45 Broberg, A., Kyttä, M. and Fagerholm, N., ‘Child-friendly urban structures: Bullerby revisited’, Journal of Environmental Psychology, 35 (2013), 110–20CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

46 Schildt, A. and Siegfried, D. (eds.), European Cities, Youth and the Public Sphere in the Twentieth Century (Aldershot and Burlington, 2005)Google Scholar. The authors in this volume all focused mainly on young people between 14 and 25.

47 Maver, I., ‘Children and the quest for purity in the nineteenth-century Scottish city’, Paedagogica Historica, 33 (2009), 801–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

48 Laakkonen, S., ‘Asphalt kids and the matrix city: reminiscences of children's urban environmental history’, Urban History, 38 (2011), 301–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

49 Ibid., 301.

50 L. Duykers, ‘Het park’, in Franck (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen, 283.

51 Ibid., 285.

52 Ibid., 285.

53 Laakkonen, ‘Asphalt kids’, 309–10.

54 Lattin, A. De, Sinjorenstad 1880–1900 (Antwerp, 1935), 38Google Scholar.

55 Cleykens, A., Tableaux Anversois: scenes de moeurs, types et paysages (Antwerp, 1905)Google Scholar, 33 (‘an aristocratic tidiness’).

56 Ibid., 43.

57 Ibid., 41.

58 Ibid., 43.

59 Ibid., 44.

60 City Archive Antwerp (SAA), MA 571#23, Verordening op de openbare wandelingen, reglement van 26 juli 1894.

61 F. Smits, ‘Een stille burgerwijk’, in Franck (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen, 131.

62 Ibid., 131.

63 A. Longerstaey, ‘Het Sint-Jansplein’, in Franck (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen, 115.

64 Ibid., 116.

65 John Broeders, ‘Het faboert’, in Franck (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen, 155.

66 Ibid., 154.

67 Renaat Korten, ‘Straatje-rond’, in Franck (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen, 162.

68 K. Lento, ‘Urban green space in Helsinki 1900–1950: roles, implications and functions’ (paper presented at the Sixth International Conference of EAUH, Athens, Greece, 2004).

69 Antwerpen, Stad, Gemeenteblad (Antwerp, 1895), 184–5Google Scholar.

70 Ibid., 185.

71 A. Delbeke, ‘Ouverture solennelle de l’exposition du concours’, in Commission d’études pour l’aménagement de l’Agglomération Anversoise (ed.), Concours pour l’aménagement des terrains devenant disponibles par suite du démantèlement de l’enceinte fortifiée d’Anvers (Antwerp, 1911), 93.

72 Schendelen, M. Van, ‘De strijd om Arcadië: natuur en landschap als domeinen van ruimtelijke ordening’, in Kolen, J. and Lemaire, T. (eds.), Landschap in meervoud. Perspectieven op het Nederlandse landschap in de 20ste/21ste eeuw (Utrecht, 1999), 218Google Scholar.

73 Rooijen, M. Van, De wortels van het stedelijk groen: een studie naar ontstaan en voortbestaan van de Nederlandse groene stad (Rotterdam, 1990), 226Google Scholar.

74 Ibid., 226.

75 Campenhout, L. Van, ‘Woord vooraf’, in Bruyn, J. De and Acker, M. Van (eds.), Groene Singel. Geschiedenis van de Antwerpse ringruimte. Plannen/verhalen/dromen. 1906–2009 (Antwerp, 2009), 67Google Scholar.

76 Delbeke, ‘Ouverture solennelle de l’exposition du concours’, 93.

77 Ibid., 93 (‘On the one hand, it is argued that the military structure should be removed as soon and thoroughly as possible, on the other hand it appears for many as a coronet of greenery which lacks only a few interventions to make it beautiful and loved’).

78 Roosbroeck, R. Van, ‘Het Zwemdokkwartier’, in Franck, (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen (Antwerp, 1927), 332Google Scholar.

79 Cleykens, Tableaux Anversois, 1.

80 Hough, Out of Place, 5.

81 Qviström, M., ‘Landscapes out of order: studying the inner urban fringe beyond the rural–urban divide’, Human Geography, 89 (2007), 268Google Scholar.

82 Qviström, M., ‘Shadows of planning: on landscape/planning history and inherited landscape ambiguities at the urban fringe’, Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 92 (2010), 219CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

83 Qviström, ‘Landscapes out of order’, 271.

84 Qviström, M. and Saltzman, K., ‘Ephemeral landscapes at the rural–urban fringe’, in Roca, Z., Spek, T., Terkenli, T., Plieninger, T. and Höchtl, F. (eds.), European Landscapes and Lifestyles: The Mediterranean and Beyond (Lisbon, 2007), 6Google Scholar; Qviström, M. and Saltzman, K., ‘Exploring landscape dynamics at the edge of the city: spatial plans and everyday places at the inner urban fringe of Malmö, Sweden’, Landscape Research, 31 (2006), 2141CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

85 Louis Franck, ‘Tot inleiding’, in Franck (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen, X.

86 Ibid., X.

87 Ibid., X.

88 Laakkonen, ‘Asphalt kids’, 312.

89 Cleykens, Tableaux Anversois, 4 (‘ his face was pale, furrowed, sickly and faint, as he exhaled his misery’).

90 Ibid., 13–14 (‘the indigent was grinding on and on. . .From time to time, the old man secretly looked up at the numerous passersby who the summer sun or other matters attracted to the area around him’).

91 Ibid., 14.

92 M. Mertens, ‘Van pederasten, minderjarige adolescenten en onschuldige jongetjes tot het onkuise leven van “Zwarte Fien” en “Zwarte Jef”. De gelijkslachtelijke seksuele handelingen door de ogen van de gerechtelijke instanties, 1890–1914’, MA thesis, Antwerp, 2008. Further research into ramparts as crime scenes would undoubtedly generate much material.

93 Broeders, ‘Het faboert’, 158.

94 Van Roosbroeck, ‘Het Zwemdokkwartier’, 332.

95 Jorgensen, A. and Tylecote, M., ‘Ambivalent landscapes – wilderness in the urban interstices’, Landscape Research, 32 (2007), 444CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

96 Ward-Thompson, C., ‘Urban open space in the twenty-first century’, Landscape and Urban Planning, 60 (2002), 66Google Scholar.

97 Gilbert, O.L., The Ecology of Urban Habitats (London, 1991)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

98 Broeders, ‘Het faboert’, 153.

99 F. Francken, ‘Aan den voet van de hooge brug’, in Franck (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen, 92.

100 Ibid., 93.

101 Ibid., 94.

102 F. Van Hoof, ‘De Dam of de parochie van St-Job’, in Franck (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen, 82.

103 G. Schmook, ‘Zurenborg’, in Franck (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen, 181.

104 J. Horemans, ‘Het Zuidkwartier’, in Franck (ed.), Weerspiegeld Antwerpen, 315.