Claudia Niessen

How do we want to live together in the future? How important is public space in urban planning? Claudia Niessen studied architecture at FH Aachen, specialising in urban planning. As mayor of the East Belgian city of Eupen, she deals with issues such as these. We paid her a visit.

Mrs Niessen, what made you decide to study architecture and urban planning at FH Aachen?

I already wanted to study architecture when I was at school. However, I wasn't interested in traditional building construction, but in urban planning. I've lived in Kettenis, a village near Eupen in East Belgium, since I was a child. However, I couldn't study urban planning in Belgium because the degree programme doesn't exist there. During my research, I noticed the programme offered by FH Aachen. It appealed to me and I decided to study there.

What do you remember most about your time at university?

The study environment was very informal, which I liked. The team of students was rather small, we knew each other. The contact with the professors was very personal; there was a good dialogue.

Lignite was an important topic during the degree programme. That surprised me at first because lignite is not a relevant topic in Belgium. During our studies, we regularly went on excursions to the nearby lignite mining areas of Inden and Gartzweiler, looked at these gigantic holes in the ground and studied resettlement plans. It all made a big impression on me, especially the resettlement of the villages. Established structures are being flattened and rebuilt a few kilometres away. For me, towns and villages always live from their shared history. But that doesn't exist in these villages; instead, they are planned on the drawing board and there is a kind of zero point.

How are towns and villages planned in Belgium?

When I started working in local politics in Belgium during my studies, there was basically no spatial planning there. If you look at the development of Belgian municipalities, you can see that there was no sense of spatial organisation, no concepts for public green spaces, for shared places. Everything developed more or less by chance. First, a road was built from A to B. The land to the right and left of it was parcelled out and built on. What was left was then public space. Some meadow, a few trees and a park bench - that was it. It is only in the last few years that there has been a gradual increase in sensitivity towards the consideration of residential neighbourhoods in their entirety, including public space.

In 2002, immediately after graduating, you became a member of the building committee in Eupen. What was the beginning like?

The first few years were really exciting. Both local politics and construction were purely male domains back then. I was the first woman on the Eupen building committee in 2002. I still remember well how, in my first year, a decision was to be made on a building application that had been submitted. Everyone nodded in favour of the project, but I looked at the plan and was taken aback. The desired height didn't match the neighbouring buildings at all, the building was far too high. I said as much. The gentlemen looked at me dumbfounded and said: "Yes, but if we lower the height, the investor will lose a flat." I replied: "That's true, but we have to make sure that the building fits into the cityscape."

You have been Mayor of Eupen since 2018. What has changed in terms of urban planning since then?

I'll just say this: the fact that I learnt about urban development and spatial planning during my studies means that I have completely different expectations as mayor than I did before. Initially, investors were very surprised that I can read plans and don't just take things told to me.

What specifically are you doing differently to your predecessor?

Since I've been in office, for example, we have no longer planned any new roads "into greenfield sites" because we want to reduce land consumption and leave as much land unsealed as possible. At the same time, of course, we have to meet the demand for more living space. New concepts are needed here, because traditional detached houses are simply no longer in keeping with the times. We no longer want to build so much in width; our current and future construction measures are aimed more at height and density.
We also don't want streets that consist solely of car parks where you can't see the facades of the houses because of all the cars. We would like the car parks to be grouped together, for example at the entrance to a residential area.
We would also like to get away from the many small green spaces. They don't have a high amenity value and are expensive to maintain. Instead, we would prefer fewer but larger, high-quality green spaces. We need places where we can plant trees that can grow tall and live to be 100 years old.
We make these and other points to the planners when new building areas are developed and planned.

How do you deal with the history of the city in urban development, how do you take the neighbourhood into account in construction projects?

We are very cautious and careful - you could say conservative - with all measures in the historic centre. It is important that we orientate ourselves on the construction style of the old houses. But it must never look like a cheap copy. We can be freer when it comes to new buildings. In principle, I attach great importance to the quality of the public space in all construction projects. That's where the life of the community takes place. We now have a very clear focus here.

When you look out of the town hall, you see a large construction site. What is happening there?

More than 120 residential units and a large underground car park are currently being built there. The concept envisages that you will no longer be able to park your car in front of the door. You can unload your shopping for a short time and then put your car in the underground car park. There is simply no space for cars in this neighbourhood.
The investor had to work for over six years before we were granted planning permission - mainly because we weren't happy with how the public space was designed. I am often told that we are so strict and demanding. But I'm proud of that. What is being built here will stand for 150 years, people will live here. I want to plan carefully and sustainably.

Is this an unusual concept for Belgium?

Yes, by Belgian standards it is still very unusual to plan entire residential neighbourhoods. Such concepts have already been successfully realised in major international cities such as Hamburg, Oslo and Zurich. But we are a small city with 20,000 inhabitants. We have to break such concepts down to this scale, which is difficult.

What is your idea of how we will live in the future?

We are currently in the process of developing and working on the major, important future topic of "alternative, high-quality living". It's very exciting, but also very difficult. Many people still have traditional ideas of owning their own property and a four-facade house. They can't imagine how you can live well in a flat - especially with children. This is where politics comes in. We have to explain and show people that it is possible to live very well in other ways.
Sure, it's true: You can't live so well with children in the kind of flats we've known up to now. But there are certainly forms of housing where you can live very well as a family in a multi-party house. For example, there are communal rooms that you share with other families. And there are beautifully designed green spaces. The quality of public space is crucial to how people live together. Where people meet and hang out, where children play together, that's where community is created, a sense of togetherness.