With the strategic vision policy plan 'Ruimte Vlaanderen', Flanders has been resolutely focusing on strong and livable cores as an alternative to the traditional allotment model since 2018. Strong cores combine quality of life with proximity and offer high-quality places to live. These ambitions require a shift in spatial policy and a clear and integrated vision on built and unbuilt space within our cores. Investing in interweaving, strengthening open spaces, qualitatively developing new forms of living and working, and promoting a sustainable and climate-adaptive environment are crucial themes in enhancing the livability of our cores.
In a new and growing municipality like Pelt, developing a clear vision and an ambitious growth plan for the center is an important first step. For the core, this vision therefore outlines a number of clear guidelines for an integrated development at different scales. The expected growth in households is translated in a targeted manner into a contemporary spatial model. The arrival of new homes is not a threat but rather a lever for increasing livability with added value for the entire municipality and the core in particular.
The development of the center will therefore occur step by step, iteratively, and in accordance with the needs of the people of Pelt. Aligned with the creation of 'Peltorama,' the comprehensive municipal spatial policy plan, the center vision forms a strategic policy framework that guides the organic growth of the number of households, the improvement of spatial quality, the development of leverage projects, and the establishment of new urban and spatial and the development of the right legal instruments over an extended period.
This center vision primarily outlines an ambition, a possible future image for the center of Pelt as a dynamic, livable, and resilient core. From an integrated urban and landscape perspective, this future image explores possibilities for densification and de-densification, the development of high-quality and climate-adaptive public spaces, and new networks of mobility. This research consciously focuses on strategic emphases and principles.
Working on the core means working on spatial quality, livability, mobility, identity, and experiential value. It, therefore, requires a strategy that connects concrete spatial principles with contextual and cultural values, residential and work patterns, and lifestyles. With both strategic interventions in the short term and a clear framework for longer-term interventions, the center vision bridges the gap between the abstraction of the policy plan and the concrete and specific spatial questions in the field.
