Landscape: an evolving category of public action in Brussels

ontwikkeling, gewest, stadsplanning Mots-clés: action publique, région, développement territorial, planification urbaine

. In Western culture, the term can refer to a pictorial representation or a view of an expanse of land -this is the initial and relatively common meaning of the term in English -or even the aesthetic experience of observing and casting an eye over it [Genard, 2006]. By extension, the term can also refer to the land itself and its more material dimensions, its physical and ecological characteristics, as well as the political and social organisation which gave rise to these characteristics [Besse, 2009]. In a more metaphorical way, the word also expresses the idea of a "whole" or a setting, as well as the notion of environment (political landscape, media landscape, etc.). However, each of these meanings of landscape does not, in itself, shed light on its use in public action in Brussels. It therefore seems relevant to question its meaning in this context. 3 Does landscape still mean the same thing since Brussels became a Region? What has it been associated with over time? This article aims to show that landscape may be considered as a category of public action in Brussels which has been constructed socially and politically over time [Berger and Luckmann, 1996;Candau and Le Floch, 2002], and that it is therefore a good indicator of its evolution. The underlying hypothesis is that the study of the evolution of landscape reveals the evolution of the main issues of public action and its predominant frameworks [Muller, 2015], i.e. the representations of the world which structure public action. 4 In order to grasp this, the article is based on an analysis of the Brussels Regional Development Plans (PRD) drawn up during the first regional legislature and renewed or modified with each new government between 1995 and 2018 1 [Périlleux, 2009;Levy, 2013]. In accordance with the Code Bruxellois de l'Aménagement du Territoire (CoBAT), the PRDs define the strategic orientations of regional policy and oversee the hierarchy of plans. They propose a vision of regional development in the short, medium and long term, and thus establish the framework for regional public action [Levy, 2015]. Therefore, although their critical analysis cannot foresee their concrete implementation and effective translation into lower instruments 2 , the PRDs testify to government commitments and the dominant discourse regarding regional planning.

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The analysis of these plans was carried out through a qualitative analysis of their content -consisting of texts and maps -and a quantitative analysis of their discourse 3 . The results of both analyses were similar and allowed us to identify the main themes associated with landscape, the different forms of landscape which are highlighted and the elements of discourse which support them. Thanks to the distribution of the plans over a period of almost 25 years, their analysis has made it possible to identify both significant changes in the landscape during this period as well as more stable elements.

A constant over time: landscape as a vector of urban attractiveness 6
In the PRDs, landscape is always associated with demographic arguments: it must allow the Brussels population to be retained or draw people to the city. Based on a previous socio-demographic inventory and the explanations drawn from it, each PRD aims to improve the attractiveness of the region in order to stabilise the population of Brussels, increase it or promote its mix, and thus ensure the financial survival of the Region 4 . Landscape is not exempt from this perspective: in each plan, it is proposed as a vector of urban attractiveness, either as an image of the city or as a living environment, a notion which encompasses both a formal aesthetic sense and a more social and environmental meaning [Luginbühl, 2001].

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The PRD adopted in 1995 by the first Brussels government reflects the context of an urban exodus which has been going on since the 1970s [Vandermotten, 2014] (Figure 1). It aims to stem the outflow towards the outskirts through a "major policy to protect the heritage, living environment, landscape and embellishment of the city" [PRD, 1995a: 79]. The argument is that the quality of the urban landscape, i.e. the elements which "contribute to the beauty of the city" [PRD, 1995b: 11] and in particular its heritage, play an essential role in the quality of the living environment and, consequently, in the residential attractiveness of the city. Sources: Population movements, 1970-89: Statbel;1989-2018 In the early 2000s, while the population curve had stabilised and was beginning to rise, the socio-economic profile of the inhabitants was deteriorating, with the effect of increasing public expenditure and reducing tax revenue, according to the second PRD (2002) [PRD, 2002a]. This is why the new plan pursues the objectives of the previous one in terms of attractiveness and aims at a return to the city of the wealthier population. Noting that this target group is drawn to the nature and serenity found in the outskirts, it sets as challenges the sustainable development of the Region and the improvement of its living environment [PRD, 2002b]. In terms of landscape, these challenges are reflected in two sectoral policies, namely the renovation, development and embellishment of public space through an "ambitious public space policy" [PRD, 2002c: 13], as well as the reinforcement of the green character of the Region through the Maillage vert et bleu, i.e. the connection of green spaces via walks, streets lined with trees, etc., and the reconnecting and opening up of waterways in order to improve their recreational, ecological, hydrological and landscape functions. The demographic trend changed following the adoption of the second PRD. In 2009, when the new regional government announced its intention to amend the PRD, the Federal Planning Bureau projected that by 2020, the number of inhabitants would increase by 170 000: the Region was going to experience a true "population boom" [GRBC, 2009] 5 . One of the Region's main challenges was therefore to absorb this sudden population increase within its borders. To do this, it aimed to densify the city, i.e. to build more housing and facilities without encroaching on undeveloped areas in order to preserve a quality living environment and an attractive image. In the following plan, the PRDD, landscape is associated with two facets of the urban densification issue: On the one hand, it is seen as a counterpart to urban densification. The plan notes the negative impact of densification on the surface area and use of green spaces, urban biodiversity, environmental resources, the quality of the living environment and thus the resulting residential attractiveness and social mix. In view of these effects, which are considered problematic, the PRDD proposes to develop "an active landscape policy which aims to preserve and enhance large open spaces" which are undeveloped and predominantly green, in Brussels and the outskirts [PRDD, 2016: 69;PRDD, 2018: 91-92]; On the other hand, landscape is seen as a means to design the dense city. The building of towers -an architectural form ensuing from the urban densification supported by the PRDD -must follow a landscape logic, i.e. follow the ridge lines and valley bottoms in order to respect and accentuate the topography of Brussels, be along the edges of open space in order to reinforce the urban structure, and act as visual landmarks in the city and, conversely, as observation points with panoramic views of the region. According to the PRDD, these principles must make it possible to move towards "a new perception of the urban landscape" [PRDD, 2013: 34;PRDD, 2016: 39], in reference to the skylines of international metropolises, whose towers and the image they project are considered to be vectors of urban attractiveness.
2. The evolution of landscape over the course of the predominant frameworks of public action in Brussels 10 Over the past thirty years, landscape has therefore been linked above all to the concept of attractiveness. However, it has been linked to other frameworks as well, which have added different shades of meaning to landscape. The analysis of the discourse shows the initial importance given to built heritage, followed by the interest in the green and blue components of the city (figure 2). It also shows the change in the level at which landscape has been dealt with over time. This evolution is linked to a shift in the predominant frameworks of public action in Brussels which are most often associated with landscape: the heritage framework which prevailed in 1995 was gradually replaced by sustainable development from 2002 onwards, and by the process of metropolisation as of 2013. 2.1. Built heritage and its public spaces in the first PRD 11 In 1995, landscape was mainly classed as the built or inorganic environment. It was composed of buildings and architectural ensembles (Figure 2), as well as major public spaces and the perspectives created by them: the main historic roads in the city centre, the major routes made by Victor Besme, the entrances to the city and the banks of the canal.
As suggested by the adjectives used (major, central, large, important, etc.), these are components of a remarkable nature.
12 This content reveals the predominant attention to heritage in urban public action at the time, as a reaction to the dilapidation and destruction of the old fabric of Brussels before regionalisation, commonly referred to as "bruxellisation". This attention echoes the demands made by the movement for the reconstruction of the European city, spread by a generation of young activists opposed to "bruxellisation" in the 1970s, who have since become public officials [Levy, 2015;Doucet, 2017]. On the other hand, the emphasis on heritage, public spaces and city entrances was also a way for the Region and for Charles Picqué, its minister-president, to assert the legitimacy, identity and image of the young city-region [Demeter, 2009]. Thus, the PRD defended a policy of embellishing the living environment based on the respect for architectural typology, the visibility of public spaces and built-up areas and the reconstitution of the urban fabric.
Landscape: an evolving category of public action in Brussels Brussels Studies , Collection générale Furthermore, the nature associated with landscape had less and less of a man-made aspect, with architecturally designed parks and green spaces giving way to open spaces, ecological networks and corridors and nature reserves. At the same time, the emergence of the notions of network, framework and infrastructure in the plans suggests the transition from a city segmented into areas -such as heritage protection areas or green space areas -to a city structured by networks: landscape networks, mobility networks, economic networks, etc.
a marker of urban identity. In order to avoid problems related to flooding, water pollution and loss of biodiversity, the PRDD also insists on the importance of "reviewing the relationship with the natural morphology of the city" [PRDD, 2018: 4], i.e. taking into account the physical characteristics of the region: the topography, valleys, watersheds and water runoff when planning the city, as opposed to zoning, which does not take these natural characteristics into account.
17 Secondly, and more generally, the PRDD associates the landscape with an underlying natural structure which existed before urban development, formed by the networks, open spaces and linear axes of the valleys in Brussels. The PRDD proposes that this natural and landscape framework should serve as a guide for urban development. In order to ensure its structuring role, it reverses the narrative [Cogato Lanza, 2005;Lestrange, 2016]: it is no longer a question of considering undeveloped spaces as residual or awaiting urbanisation in the manner of "traditional planning" [PRDD, 2013: 104;2016: 71;2018: 92], but as spaces which participate fully in the city and its development by providing a series of social, sanitary, ecological, nutritional, etc. services. Finally, the analysis of the PRDs shows a gradual change of scale regarding the view of the city and its landscape over the course of the plans, from the urban to the metropolitan scale. The analysis shows that at first, landscape referred mainly to the neighbourhood, the city and the urban area (in 1995 and 2002), then to the Region (in 2013 and 2016), and finally to the metropolis 6 (in 2018) (Figure 3), reflecting a broadening of the regional scale at which Brussels-Capital develops its ambitions, while remaining limited by its borders and therefore its regional competences.
Landscape: an evolving category of public action in Brussels Brussels Studies , Collection générale In the first two PRDs, landscape is generally described and perceived at eye level from the public space. These plans recommend the development of aesthetically pleasing built-up areas, views and public spaces with special attention to detail: street furniture, signage, planting, lighting, paving or even the integration of works of art, in keeping with the recommendations of the Manuel des espaces publics [Demanet and Majot, 1995].
The PRDD, on the other hand, describes landscapes on a completely different scale, viewed from above and from a distance. It recognises the capacity of tall buildings to provide a new perception of the landscape: from their heights, views become vast panoramas, while the towers create a skyline with "metropolitan perspectives" [PRDD, 2013: 35]. Media images of skylines as well as aerial views, a landscape analysis tool inherited from geography and landscape ecology [Antrop, 2013] and popularised by satellite imagery, feed the metropolitan landscape aesthetic which overrides the sensory experience of the urban landscape and the detailed scale [Genard, 2006;Vanhaelen and Le Maire, 2017]. This change in perspective is also reflected on the covers of the PRD summaries from 1995 entire region of Brussels. In the PRDD, the largest of these, such as Bois de la Cambre or the Heysel plateau, are included in Metropolitan Landscapes [Loeckx et al., 2016], which go beyond the regional boundaries. In the same way, the structuring spaces, i.e. the public spaces which structure the city and its landscape, have become increasingly important over time ( figure 8). At first, they concerned a few historical roads, concentrated in the heart of the city in 1995, and then extended beyond the regional boundaries in the form of structuring open spaces in the 2013 draft PRDD. The canal surroundings -which are also considered to be structuring -are the focus of urban and landscape regeneration policies in each PRD. However, the area targeted by these operations has expanded over time: it initially concerned a section of the banks of the canal bordering the Pentagon, and then gradually covered a larger area -the Territoire du Canal (Figure 9) -corresponding to the operational borders of the Plan Canal [Chemetoff, 2014]. Based on the Beeldkwaliteitsplan or Landscape and Urban Quality Plan [BBS and ORG, 2019], the PRDD advocates the redevelopment of this area according to a "metropolitan" approach [PRDD, 2018: 29], i.e. by developing an overall identity and coherence over the entire area despite the specificities of the local urban fabric.   [Sassen, 2009;Ghorra-Gobin, 2010]. According to the PRDD, this context implies taking into account the "metropolitan area of a city" which, in the case of Brussels, extends beyond its regional boundaries. It therefore requires a dialogue to be initiated with Flanders on issues such as housing, mobility and landscape. In 2013, the PRDD proposed to establish transregional corridors of landscape cooperation to this end, making way for Metropolitan Landscapes in the last two versions of the PRDD, in reference to the study by the same name [Loeckx et al., 2016] which brought together the two regional administrations with a view to defining the metropolitan landscapes.
3. Pacifying, connecting, linking and reaching a consensus: an imaginary of slow mobility 22 In addition to highlighting the links between landscape and the sometimes stable, sometimes fluctuating contours of public action in Brussels, the analysis of the PRDs also reveals a close and permanent association between landscape and the imaginary of slow mobility on the one hand, and landscape and the imaginary of connection. 23 The imaginary of slow mobility associates landscape with pedestrian and cyclist activities. The main landscape projects proposed in the PRDs are circuits: the Promenade verte on the outskirts of the Region, the Chemins de la ville in the city centre (figure 10), the cycling and pedestrian paths of the Maillage vert and the metropolitan landscaped parks. Other landscape projects also aim to pacify or "civilise" major roads, i.e. reduce the speed of traffic. This is the case of Parkway E40 at Reyers, which consists in transforming the entrance to the E40 motorway into an urban boulevard ( figure 11). These projects refer to a "grammar of slow mobility" [Pelgrims, 2018] intended to improve the experience and comfort of slow travellers and to reduce the impact of car traffic: aesthetic and material qualities and the continuity of cycling and pedestrian paths, as well as signage at the entrance to the city, the planting of trees and the narrowing of roads in order to reduce car speeds.
Landscape: an evolving category of public action in Brussels Brussels Studies , Collection générale The imaginary of connection attributes capacities of connection and coherence to the landscape, as well as a capacity to reach a consensus and to pacify relations. It is therefore a capacity to create links at both the physical and the symbolic level. Landscape projects are supposed to reconnect green spaces and the Brussels ecological network, as well as fragmented urban fabric, neighbourhoods and areas which are isolated from one another. They would thus be able to provide clarity and coherence to small public spaces as well as to much larger areas such as the canal or the Region. In the PRDD in particular, the imaginary of connection is also clearly present: as Landscape: an evolving category of public action in Brussels Brussels Studies , Collection générale landscapes do not stop at administrative borders, they could prompt dialogue and be a source of consensus between the Flemish and Brussels Regions on land use planning issues. In this sense, landscape is also a mediation tool [Davodeau and Toublanc, 2010;Paradis and Lelli, 2010], which is consensual and does not lead to conflict.

Conclusion 25
Landscape is perceived as a positive and consensual object, whose appropriation is probably facilitated by the ambiguous character of the term. Its semantic diversity is well represented in public action in Brussels, where it refers to the attractive image of the city, its living environment, its physical characteristics and the area it covers, or even to the sensory experience of walking through it. With time, some of these acceptances prevail over others and contribute to a shift in the meaning of landscape. Thus, apart from the fact that landscape is considered as a factor of urban attractiveness in a relatively stable way over time, the analysis of the PRDs has shown that this notion is associated increasingly with nature, as the interest in sustainability replaces the interest in heritage and changes scale alongside the development of a metropolitan vision. 26 The analysis of the references to landscape in the PRDs thus allows a general understanding of the evolution of public action in Brussels. It also allows us to sketch out the dynamics at play behind this evolution, arising from the complex interaction of local and global contexts [Sassen, 2009;Ghorra-Gobin, 2015]. Thus, the content given to landscape reflects local concerns, such as the fight against the destruction of the urban fabric, the enhancement of Brussels as a new and young Region, the constraints related to the institutional limits weighing on the development of the Region as a metropolis, or the context of demographic evolution specific to it. They also reflect the construction of more global public policy frameworks [Muller, 2015] such as the frameworks of attractiveness, sustainable development and metropolisation, which cities are integrating into their policies in a context of exchange and increasing competition between them [Brenner, 2004;Emelianoff, 2007;Lieberherr-Gardiol, 2007;Genard and Neuwels, 2016]. These frameworks -and environmental concerns in particular -are also part of recommendations, international agreements and European directives which apply to cities and regions on issues such as heritage, climate, water management and the protection of biodiversity. In this respect, it should be noted that the European Landscape Convention [Florence, 2000], adopted by Belgium and its regions in 2004, is not (yet) a common reference framework for public action regarding landscape in Brussels. 27 The reinforcement or appearance of stakeholders in public action generally accompanies the evolution of frameworks or their replacement [Muller and Surel, 1998;Muller, 2005;Bilande et al., 2016], which has probably been the case with regard to landscape evolution in Brussels. Thus, in the PRDs, heritage associations and administrations and, to a lesser extent, the public works administration initially played the main role in landscape definition, management and planning, through actions such as the protection of heritage or the planting of trees along roads. This main role was then entrusted to Bruxelles Environnement -which is in charge of the Maillage vert et bleu -whose competences and role have become more important over time. More recently, the Bureau bruxellois de la planification (perspective.brussels), which is Landscape: an evolving category of public action in Brussels Brussels Studies , Collection générale responsible for the strategic regional development of Brussels, has also become an important stakeholder with regard to metropolitan aspects. In particular, it is responsible for the Beeldkwaliteitsplan and, together with Bruxelles Environnement and the Flemish nature and environment administrations, is overseeing the current Open Brussels study [BUUR et al., 2020], which is intended to develop a landscape and ecological vision shared by both Regions regarding structuring open spaces. An analysis of the power relationships and adjustments made by these administrations in order to adapt would be worthwhile.
28 In addition to questioning the concrete effects of changes in landscape discourse, it would therefore be interesting to examine the dynamics behind the scenes. How do the changes observed by the analysis of the PRDs emerge? Who contributes to this categorisation? In this respect, the elaboration of the first draft of the Plan Régional de Développement Durable [2013] appears to be a key stage which is particularly interesting in terms of exploring the construction of public action in Brussels and of landscape. The most important changes discussed in this article appear in this plan, both in terms of the content of landscape and in terms of the new framework for public action in Brussels.

2.
In the second part of the research, this leads to questioning how the landscape category is coordinated with the field, i.e. through concrete projects and operational instruments, in order to verify its actual effects.
3. More precisely, it is a lexicometric analysis of co-occurrences, which consists in identifying the terms which have a high probability of appearing in proximity to another. The postulate of such an analysis is that a term has meaning with respect to other words within the same context unit [Née, 2017;Bardin, 2013]. In concrete terms, the analysis was carried out using the Antconc analysis software [Anthony, 2014], for terms with the root paysag* (i.e. 6 variants: paysage, paysages, paysager, paysagers, paysagère, paysagères). The context unit used was made up of 10 words before and 10 words after the term.

4.
Income tax is a source of regional income, which therefore depends on the fluctuations in the number of inhabitants and their financial means.

5.
According to IBSA figures, the actual number of additional inhabitants between 2009 and 2020 is 150 000.

6.
Depending on the source, this metropolitan region refers to the area served by the RER, a geographical area corresponding to the catchment basin of the three valleys of the Dyle, the Senne and the Dendre [Dejemeppe and Périlleux, 2012], or, according to the definition used in the PRDD, the region of the "Metropolitan Community of Brussels" as defined during the 6th state reform, which includes Brussels and the two Brabants.

7.
The discourse analysis does not take into account the English term metropolitan landscapes which appears in the last two versions of the PRDD, but it should be noted that the term confirms the analysis according to which the metropolitan scale is becoming more significant over time.

ABSTRACTS
As the number of references to landscape increases in the Brussels-Capital Region, the article analyses its place and meaning within the Regional Development Plans . The article intends to show that landscape may be considered as a category of Brussels public action and that in this sense it constitutes a good indicator of its evolution. The analysis allows us to identify significant changes, such as the progressive association of landscape with nature as the sustainability framework replaced the interest in heritage, and its change of scale in connection with the process of metropolisation. It also highlights certain contents which are more stable over time, such as the association of landscape with the imaginary of slow mobility or the view of it as a relatively positive and consensual subject.