Circular construction and urban transformation in Brussels: Reconfiguring urban spaces and labour relations? | Jasmin Baumgartner (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
We provide dessert for the break after the seminar. Please register if you want to join and/or enjoy the dessert! Online participation will be arranged upon request, you can indicate this in the registration form as well.
Brussels, like many European cities, has adopted “circular city” strategies, targeting the construction sector due to its significant waste production and role as a major local employer of low-skilled workers. Circular objectives include housing renovation, material recirculation, and employment creation. However, these goals remain voluntary and are largely driven by isolated interventions or technological innovations. My research investigates the geographical realities underpinning this sectoral transition.
This presentation responds to the need highlighted by urban geographers and spatial planners for assessing the spatial and social infrastructure required for circular development at the urban scale. In Brussels, this is particularly relevant as construction enterprises have historically been located in urban centres and are affected by top-down redevelopment plans for the Canal Zone. My interest thus lies in interrogating the dynamics and tensions between existing industries, redevelopment visions, and projections of a circular manufacturing city.
In this Lunch Seminar, I will cover two aspects of my research. First, I will discuss the land value dynamics shaping emerging circular economy hubs and maker spaces, and their often-precarious materialization. Second, I will explore how collaborative spaces like Circularium, situated in areas of high unemployment, inform my ongoing research on labour market inclusion in circular construction. Through case studies of wood-working enterprises in Anderlecht and Molenbeek, I will assess emerging job profiles, the responsiveness of training programs, and the spatial distribution of employment opportunities in its potential in addressing spatial mismatches in Brussels.
Bio
Jasmin Baumgartner is a PhD researcher in urban geography at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), with a background in cultural and urban studies. She is affiliated with both the Cosmopolis Centre for Urban Research and the Department of Architectural Engineering (VUB). Her FWO project, “Circularity, Construction, and the City: Embedding the Circular Construction Economy in Urban Transitions,” is part of the interdisciplinary research program “Re-building Brussels (1695-2025).” Jasmin’s research interrogates how the shift to circularity in the construction sector reconfigures urban space, labour relations, and social inclusion. Through case study-oriented research, she critically examines how these changes intersect with broader questions of spatial justice and urban inequality.