After having accomplished a Master in Geography at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Simon Debersaques started a PhD at Institute for Environmental Management and Land-use Planning (IGEAT), in 2016. His interests and research questions focus on urban, social and cultural geography (or geography of art/culture), and in particular on the logics of change of urban spaces related to cultural and artistic actors, activities, places and institutions.
Research abstract
Social and spatial logics associated with the development of the cultural and creative sphere (CCS) in the Brussels Canal area. Waterfront areas contain a certain amount of brownfield and residual spaces which interest a variety of urban actors today. Because of the potential of these portions of the city in terms of available space and symbolic re-definition, neighbourhoods along these waterways witness the deployment of various cultural and festive events. Brussels is no exception. This research aims to identify the social and spatial logics associated with the development of the cultural and creative sphere (CCS) in the canal area in Brussels. The objective is primarily to observe the link(s) existing between the CCS (actors, activities and places) and its urban environment, that is to say the inhabitants of these neighbourhoods (a priori outside the CCS). More broadly, the research will attempt to put into perspective the socio-spatial logics associated with the development of the CCS with the socio-spatial polarisation processes at work in the Brussels-Capital Region: what kind of creativity for what kind of socio-spatial transformation?
To know more about Simon's contribution in the framework of Metrolab:
- Simon's doctoral thesis public defense
- Cellule interdisciplinaire Abbaye de Forest
- Ateliers cartographiques autour du projet Abbaye
- « Equipement culturel et développement urbain : le centre d’art contemporain WIELS, héraut des logiques de transformation d’un quartier populaire ? »
- Cycle of Lectures "Ville critique | Critique urbaine"