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Unscripted Spaces. Urban Green Space and Terrains Vagues in Historical Perspective. Antwerp (Belgium) c. 1900

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Urban Wastelands

Part of the book series: Cities and Nature ((CITIES))

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Abstract

This article studies urban green spaces and terrains vagues in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Antwerp. The research compares the perspective of citizens with the official policy on urban public green spaces. The article reveals the importance of these “unscripted spaces” for the urban population as opposed to the negative connotation that is generally assigned to them and in contrast with the official policy about open spaces at the turn of the century.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad, 1870:2, 315.

  2. 2.

    Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad, 1870:1, 316–317.

  3. 3.

    City Archive Antwerp (SAA), 571#32, Archives of the head engineer, 1886.

  4. 4.

    City Archive Antwerp (SAA), 571#32, Archives of the head engineer, Plans for courts designed by engineer Lemeunier, 1904–1905.

  5. 5.

    Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad, 1869:2, 54–65.

  6. 6.

    Ibid., 54–65.

  7. 7.

    SAA, 571#7, Letters between the city architect and the city council about security in the city park, June 1869.

  8. 8.

    Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad, 1872:2, 350–359.

  9. 9.

    Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad, 1895:1, 186.

  10. 10.

    Ibid.

  11. 11.

    SAA, 571#32, Archives of the Head Engineer, Letter from Willems to the college of aldermen, 11 January 1895.

  12. 12.

    Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad, 1895:1, 185.

  13. 13.

    Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad, 1894:2, 308–309.

  14. 14.

    Ibid.

  15. 15.

    Ibid.

  16. 16.

    SAA, MA#46092B, Archive of the Parks and Public Garden Service, Letter from the head of plantations to the city engineer, 23 January 1888.

  17. 17.

    SAA, MA#46092B, Archive of the Parks and Public Garden Service, Letter from the head of plantations to the college of aldermen, 5 April 1893.

  18. 18.

    SAA, MA#46092B, Archive of the Parks and Public Garden Service, Letters about the wall around the Stuivenbergplein, 1893–1899.

  19. 19.

    SAA, MA#46092B, Archive of the Parks and Public Garden Service, Letter from the aldermen’s college to the police, 5 April 1895.

  20. 20.

    “La fête municipale des Arbres à Anvers,” Le Samedi, 17 maart 1906, 1.

  21. 21.

    SAA, MA#46092B, Archive of the Parks and Public Garden Service, Report about the tree festival by Henri De Bosschere, head of Parks and Public Garden Service, March 1906.

  22. 22.

    “Discours de M. V. Desguin, échevin, f.f. de bourgemestre,” Le Samedi, 17 March 1906, 2.

  23. 23.

    Ibidem.

  24. 24.

    SAA, MA#46092B, Archive of the Parks and Public Garden Service, Report about the prosecution of an unknown perpetrator by Augustinus De Smet, 21 July 1906.

  25. 25.

    Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad, 1904:2, 425.

  26. 26.

    Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad, 1904:2, 423–424.

  27. 27.

    SAA, MA#46092B, Archive of the Parks and Public Garden Service, Letter from the college of aldermen to the Parks and Public Garden Service, 26 November 1901.

  28. 28.

    Stad Antwerpen, Gemeenteblad, 1908:2, 703.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. History Department, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Bart Tritsmans

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  1. Bart Tritsmans
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Correspondence to Bart Tritsmans .

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  1. University of Tours, Tours, France

    Francesca Di Pietro

  2. University of Tours, Tours, France

    Amélie Robert

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Tritsmans, B. (2021). Unscripted Spaces. Urban Green Space and Terrains Vagues in Historical Perspective. Antwerp (Belgium) c. 1900. In: Di Pietro, F., Robert, A. (eds) Urban Wastelands. Cities and Nature. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74882-1_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74882-1_16

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