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Louvain-la-Neuve
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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.
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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
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.
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-la-Neuve, 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 cycle) is the biggest student party in Belgium. The event, which regularly draws upwards of 100 000 students to the city, runs annually from 13 pm Wednesday to 13 pm Thursday some time in 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.
As a French student 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.
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).
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
External links
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