Simon De Nys-Ketels

Pedestrian Itineraries in Kinshasa: On Shortcuts, Permeable Walls, and Welded Shut Gates in a Former Colonial Hospital

This article deals with the way urban planning during colonial times affects the mobility of pedestrians today. In Kinshasa, a green belt cuts the oldest part of the city right in two, and this hinders a smooth traffic flow. The belt is what remains of the neutral zone the colonial authorities implemented to separate the European from the African neighborhoods; it consisted of several large walled-off facilities, such as a zoo, a park, and a hospital. In this article, we explore how pedestrians in Kinshasa deal with these obstructions to their mobility. We show that they forge their pedestrian itineraries through walls designed to be impermeable, in particular by shortcutting through a hospital. These alternative itineraries have solidified through time, revealing the effectiveness of their persistent daily walks. As we argue, the pedestrians actively redefine the mobility patterns of their city.

An innovative concept on inclusive economic participation : the governance of inclusive economic participation sites in Flemish cities

Presently, the numerous initiatives within Flanders (Belgium) that focus on an (more) inclusive economic participation are often poorly coordinated and physically dispersed in nature. As such, there exist considerable thresholds for socially deprived urban citizens to actually find, use and benefit from these initiatives. Together with some Flemish cities and social enterprises, a multidisciplinary research team of the University of Antwerp has therefore launched the innovative concept of “inclusive economic participation sites”. In view of the actual use of these inclusive economic participation sites by Flemish policy makers, the research team has started to specify relevant governance items and requirements for the creation, development and exploitation of these inclusive economic participation sites. Inductive inspiration is found within two explorative research projects consisting of 25 inclusive economic participation sites “related” practices and six focus group debates with social and economic policy experts (i.e. inclusive economic participation-Reference-Platforms). As such, the researchers inductively uncover seven strategic and four spatial governance requirements as well as one strategic–spatial interaction governance requirement. All requirements are defined, explained and illustrated within the article.