Background Report
CHAPTER 3. Environmental Conflicts in Coastal Urban Areas: The Belgian Case-Studies of Ostend Airport, Schipdonk Canal and Zeebrugge Harbour Ahmed Z. KHAN, Xuan-Quynh LE, Torsten WIEDEMANN, Eric CORIJN, Frank CANTERS Department of Geography, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium SECOA, Vol. 4. Environmental Conflicts in Coastal Urban Areas 1. Introduction Being among one of the most densely populated countries in the world, the value of open and green space in Belgium has become paramount. With the intensifying urbanization trends, there is a societal awareness manifest at different fronts in the society of seeing open space as a fast disappearing and depleting resource that is consumed by different uses based on competing interests. Since the 1980's, this so-called 'green awareness' is growing in Flanders region. A range of measures and responses - legal, regulatory, institutional, policy and civil society related - have progressively emerged concerning the protection and preservation of habitats, landscapes, environmentally unique areas, distinctive historical heritage and the like. However, growth based economic development guided by insufficiently coordinated policies from different sectors continues and conflicts between local residents, environmental NGO's, green parties, economic developers, enterprises and the different government agencies rise when open spaces are claimed for economic purposes and projects. The three conflict cases presented in this chapter characterize such environmental conflicts. The first conflict case analyzed in this chapter concerns the privatization of the Ostend airport, which is located on the south-western edge of the coastal city of Ostend, Belgium. The coastal infrastructure [port, beaches and related recreational areas] of Ostend city attracts people from all over Belgium, and its airport plays an important role in the local employment related to commercial and industrial activities.
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