Field research in Antwerp

After walking around Antwerp in a rainy day, we experienced a lot of practical confrontations with the workings of gentrification within a city. As Maarten Loopmans (2008) described in his paper on a new hegemony in Antwerp, the Schipperskwartier went through the process of gentrification, and still is going through it as we speak. This is clearly visible in looking at the number of buildings being renovated, rebuild and redeveloped. The pictures that follow will give you a good overview of these processes

But there was more. Once we visited the stadsarchief, we saw how the gentrification in Antwerp was actually planned in Antwerp, and how the government worked as an actor in this process. An employee of this archive helped us in understanding the dynamics in which the city operated, and regenerated this run down prostitute area. The following pictures clarify these statements

After visiting the stadsarchief, we went to the Stadsmagazijn, a community center in the middle of the neighborhood where different cultures come and meet up, over language classes and community workshops. This to promote multiculturalism, and to let everyone feel at home in the new Schipperskwartier.
After a long day of interviewing, walking through the neighborhood and making pictures, we returned to Middelburg and started analyzing the material collected. Eventually, this resulted in a part of the research paper.