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2010
44

True political representation of disadvantaged neighbourhoods?
Where Brussels parliamentary members live, 1989-2009

Press release

Notes de la rédaction

This is the press release related to the article from Filip De Maesschalck, published on November the 22nd 2010. Read the article.

In the 27th issue of Brussels Studies, Filip de Maesschalck examined the neighbourhoods of residence of municipal representatives in Brussels. This time he focuses on the Brussels Parliament after the 2009 elections.

In a city where socio-spatial polarisation is especially pronounced, the geographic origins of elected representatives are not innocent. Where do the Brussels members of parliament live? Are any differences observed between parties? How has the situation evolved since the creation of the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR)? These are some of the questions answered in this article.

The study reveals that, generally speaking, the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods are becoming better represented in parliament, to the extent that, compared with most people in Brussels, there are proportionally more members of parliament who live in a disadvantaged neighbourhood. However, the movement is not widespread. During the twenty years of existence of the BCR, the Green Parties and the Social Democrats (PS and SP-a) have experienced a spectacular rise in the number of representatives who live in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, followed very closely by the Christian Democrats. On the other hand, although the FDF and the far right followed the same movement in the beginning, they have evolved in the opposite direction since 1999. They are the parties which represent the disadvantaged neighbourhoods least today.

But the author does not stop there and seeks to understand the spatial logic which underlies these results. What type of neighbourhood is represented most by each party and how has their socio-spatial positioning evolved?

The study gives us the image of a city where each party has its favourite geographic anchorages and its areas of recruitment (in particular of candidates from an immigrant background), and where members of parliament move, leave disadvantaged neighbourhoods, settle in newly gentrified neighbourhoods, etc.

The author also draws attention to the potentialities of this type of situation: disadvantaged neighbourhoods could receive more attention than in the past and the central neighbourhoods of Brussels could thus reassert their value. But dangers do exist, such as those related to the arrival of elected representatives in these areas, as the forerunners of a middle class likely to move to areas undergoing gentrification, with all the consequences this entails for the initial inhabitants.

This article bears some relation to the one by C. Kesteloot and M. Loopmans (CFB 15) on social inequalities in Brussels and the possibility to better represent the disadvantaged populations of central neighbourhoods by making constituency boundary changes in the municipalities of Brussels.

References
De Maesschalck, Filip “True political representation of disadvantaged neighbourhoods?
Where Brussels parliamentary members live, 1989-2009”,
Brussels Studies [Online], General collection, No 44, November the 22nd 2010. URL: https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/822
Contact
Benjamin Wayens, Senior Editor: bwayens[at]brusselsstudies.be

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