Abstract :
[en] Environmental justice/inequality (EJ/I) movements, first in the US, then in many other countries have sought to shed light on the unequal environmental situations burdened by poor populations and ethnic minorities, and to challenge public policies and their unfair impact on those groups. In continental Europe and more specifically in Belgium, EJ activism has not emerged as a specific frame for environmental and urban contention.
Locating this research at the interface of environmental inequality and urban environmental planning, we present findings from qualitative analysis gathered through interviews with local stakeholders be they elected officials, local officers, non-profit, or residents (n=30); our purpose is to ask how social movements as well as public authorities and ordinary citizens manage to reverse urban decline in old industrial cities in Belgium through environmental channels. These cities are characterized by environmental degradation and inequalities: atmospheric and soil pollution, brownfields, and high rates of unemployment, poverty, and social exclusion.
We are interested in urban environmental processes, and explore the following question: what are the factors of success in restoring quality of life and wellbeing in two Belgian cities, with different mobilization profiles – one is successful, the other not – putting into perspective the determinants of successful renewal processes? We are particularly interested in understanding how environmental (inequality) issues are framed and handled politically at the local scale within those cities?
The underlying goal consists of defining and formalizing new spaces and configurations of multilevel regulation between stakeholders, acting scale to revitalize their environment and their city or neighborhood, and to improve current urban policies in order to reduce environmental inequalities. Key findings are divided into five main explanatory categories: political opportunity structure; non-profit sector organization; citizens’ characteristics and collective action framework; bureaucratic reform; and symbolic action.
