Louvain-la-Neuve, an example
of the "automobile under" type of New
Pedestrianism, is a planned city in
the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve
, Belgium
. To a
great extent, it still lives following the rhythms of the
university that is its
raison
d'être. However, with the recent construction of
L'Esplanade shopping complex, the
Aula Magna
exhibition centre and auditorium, as well as a large cinema
complex, it is beginning to grow beyond its academic roots.
Louvain-la-Neuve is a product of the
linguistic quarrels that took place in Belgium during the
sixties. After Flemish claims of discrimination at the
Catholic University of
Leuven, the decision was made to split the institution into the
Dutch language Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
which remained in Leuven, and the Université
Catholique de Louvain
. The administration decided to create a new
town to host the French-speaking university.
The chosen site was
situated 30 km southeast of Brussels
, in the
French-speaking part of Belgium.
History
Main Square
After much
deliberation, the University administration agreed on a building
site near the town of Ottignies
, in the French-speaking part of the province of
Brabant
. They bought a 9 square kilometre plot of
beetroot farmland, which became the canvas from which the new city
would arise. Construction started on 20 January 1969.
The first inhabitants arrived in 1972. At this time, there were
only around 600 permanent residents of the city, who were joined
during the day by some students of Applied Sciences, the first
faculty to open. With the completion of university buildings and
the ongoing residential development, the city experienced rapid
growth, with 10,477 inhabitants recorded in 1981. The final goal is
to reach 30 000 inhabitants, in addition to the 15 000 thousand
students living in town during the academic year.
The town was created with the sole purpose of hosting the
Université de Louvain. As such
all the grounds are property of the University.
UCL Natural sciences library
Place Montesquieu
Consequently, the University was able to play an important role in
the conception and planning of the town. They decided that city
should not be only inhabited by students, but rather draw a diverse
community as is found in any classic city. Moreover, one of the
main points of the urban design of Louvain-la-Neuve was to make it
people rather than automobile centred. As a consequence, the city
center is built on a gigantic concrete slab, with all motorized
traffic travelling underground. This allows most of the ground
level of the city center to be car free. Most buildings are built
on the slab (
la dalle), and the pedestrian area is
expanding even far from the city centre.
The city is clustered around this center in four districts:
Biéreau, Lauzelle, Hocaille and
Bruyères. A fifth
district,
Baraque, that was not planned by the University
has expanded on the north side of the city. It is distinct from the
rest of the city in the willingness of its inhabitants to live
outside of the common architectural framework (small cobblestoned
and pedestrian streets) used in the other parts of the city.
Louvain-la-Neuve's location 30 km (20
miles) south of Brussels at the
crosspoint of several important roads makes it easily reachable by
car. Moreover, a train extension has been built
from the nearby station of Ottignies, which allows passengers to travel to or from
Brussels in under an
hour.
Louvain-la-Neuve is now a thriving, growing city. Construction work
is constant as many more of the characteristic small two to five
floor buildings made of red bricks are erected.
Due to the large student population that leaves the city during
week-ends and holidays, Louvain-la-Neuve can be quite empty during
those periods. Nevertheless, the student life both day and night is
well developed, centered around Student Unions, "project flats",
regional pubs...
Language Crisis
Louvain-la-Neuve was born as a result of the
Leuven Crisis.
Following the elections prompted by this affair, the expansion of
the Walloon/French-speaking part of the University was voted upon
and approved on 18 June 1968. A few weeks later, the separation of
the Catholic University of Leuven was made official.
It resulted in the
creation of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), the Flemish/Dutch-speaking one, that would
stay in Leuven
, and the
Université Catholique de
Louvain, which had to move to the future site of
Louvain-la-Neuve, and for the specific case of the Medical School,
in Woluwe
, in the
Brussels suburbs.
The first blueprints of Louvain-la-Neuve were made in a hurry and
under dramatic times. Put under the direction of Raymond Lemaire,
Jean-Pierre Blondel and
Pierre
Laconte, this urbanistic project saw the first students flock
in in 1972.
The 24 heures vélo
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2006, the
24 heures vélo (24 hour bike ride) is
the biggest student party in Belgium. The event, which regularly
draws upwards of 40 000 students to the city, is organized by a
student group called the CSE (Centre Sportif Etudiant) and runs
annually from 1:00pm Wednesday to 1:00pm Thursday usually during
the fourth week of October.
The starting concept was simple, to race for 24 hours on a bike.
Nowadays, competitors are separated in three categories: Racers,
that race seriously; folk bikes, including decorated bikes and home
built contraptions; and charity racers raising money for
humanitarian causes.
The festival is an occasion for the numerous student associations
in the city to compete in building silly bikes, set up some related
activity, or simply provide beer and music to the tens of thousands
of students coming from all over Belgium.
In the morning, the activities end with a concert by some famous
singer in the main square.
This event gives a hint at how student life and traditions have
developed on the newly born campus, reviving some long lost customs
as the traditional Catholic Belgian students hat, the
calotte.
The 24 hours have also been at the center of some more political
issues. In 1999 it was cancelled due to the death of a drunken
student who had fallen from the
dalle in 1998. This
happened again at the 2006 edition when a student was found dead in
the early morning in the streets of "the dalle". The event was also
threatened in 2005 and 2006 because of a student associations
strike and other organisation problems.
Trivia
During the very first days of the city, students and teachers had
to attend classes wearing boots, due to the lack of roads.
Louvain-la-Neuve serves as an example for several cities
worldwide (as far as
Shanghai), interested
in modern urbanistic development.
Hazing to some extent being condoned in Belgium, it leads
the passersby to witness some funny activities involving students
during the months of September and October.
In 1996 as a new inhabitant in Louvain-la-Neuve, singer Edouard
Priem was so impressed by the city's student nightlife that he
wrote a song, called
Louvain-la-Neuve, describing it. The
song is well known by every single student and it is played at
every party as the closing anthem of it.
Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park
Created
in 1971, Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park is the first of its kind in
Belgium and is the biggest one in Wallonia
(the French-speaking part of Belgium).
It covers
2.31 square kilometres spread over the area of the town of
Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve and the municipality of
Mont-Saint-Guibert (30 km away from Brussels).
Louvain-la-Neuve Science
Park, aerial view
From the
outset, the objectives pursued by the development of
Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park were to develop cooperation between
industry and the Université catholique de
Louvain
and to contribute to regional economic
development. Particular emphasis is placed on
environmental-friendliness, as well as the quality of the premises
and their surroundings.
The main area of activity are:
- Life sciences
- Fine chemistry
- Information technologies
- Engineering
Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park is now home to more than 130
innovative companies and their 4500 employees, 1
business incubator and 3 business
centres.
See also
References
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