type
Masterplan
Context
Starting in 2018, driven notably by collectives such as 24hBrussels, Brussels authorities began to recognize how far behind they were in managing the city at night, facing a lack of data, stakeholders, projects, and budgets. The 24hBrussels collective organized several major "Mind the Night" forums, bringing together nightlife stakeholders, residents' associations, experts, and public officials (in 2018 and 2019). This led to the issue gaining greater prominence in public policy and the creation of a Brussels Night Council.
One of the conclusions highlighted a lack of knowledge regarding Brussels at night. Yet, one cannot properly manage what one does not understand. 24hBrussels and CityTools were given the opportunity to collaborate with Urban to map nightlife activities across Brussels. The first step was creating a map of nightlife activities throughout the region.
Mission
The mission involves mapping nightlife and festive activities across the region. The initial objective is to produce a series of maps locating these activities by category, enabling a spatial analysis: where are the nightlife venues located? What are their characteristics? Subsequently, the resulting maps are compared against major regional plans, such as the PRDD and PRAS, as well as data on density, mobility, and so on. The aim here is to identify discrepancies, consistencies, and inconsistencies between the planning framework and the actual landscape of Brussels' nightlife and festive scene.
Approach
The work was carried out in several stages, following a collaborative approach. First, efforts focused on refining the definition of the locations to be mapped and compiling the necessary databases. Next, map production enabled a spatial analysis, outlining an initial understanding of this function within the city. Finally, a comparative analysis with major urban plans highlighted weaknesses in the current urban planning framework. Two group workshops were organized involving nightlife stakeholders, neighborhood associations, and institutions—first to inform the discussion on definitions (types of venues), and then to debate the interpretation of the resulting maps. The complete set of maps was subsequently published on the Urbis website, making it accessible to the general public.