By 2050 a demographic growth of between 15 and 25 percent is expected in and around Ghent. In order to build housing for between 100.000 and 160.000 new residents in a sustainable, climate-proof manner, the Province of East Flanders and 23 municipalities decided to collaborate and set up Atelier Oost-Vlaams Kerngebied as part of the 2018 International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR). Today the Atelier has already supervised three projects, each of which explored a specific transition theme: renewable energy (Eeklo), biodiversity and water (Lievegem), and shared mobility (Merelbeke). They demonstrate what could be feasible for the entire region.

Demographic growth is seldom seen as an opportunity to carry out sustainable area development. A strong population increase usually results in the very opposite. In these parts, housing more people is still synonymous with heightened development pressure in valuable open space – from cutting up residential expansion areas to building on the last undeveloped plots in residential areas. This not only leads to more paved areas at the expense of greenery, but also to less space for leisure, agriculture, energy production, water buffering, and so forth. In short: to less future.