The city of Ghenk is home to over 62.000 people and spans an area of 88km2. In contrast to most Flemish cities, Ghenk’s main urban growth happened relatively late and was geared around coal mines sites which were established in het late 20the century. This resulted in a polycentric city, strongly embedded in the landscape. This structure is still present today although we see a reduction in the green space over the years due to new developments. In response to this the city is actively implementing climate adaptation projects, of which most notably the redevelopment of the main city square from a paved space to a dominantly green urban space and the re-naturalisation of the Stiemer brook which runs diagonally though the city. The ongoing research of Genk verruimt is focussing on how there should be dealt with the predicted urban growth, changing demography and mobility on the one hand and improving the quality and size of the open spaces on the other hand. The two are not treated as two separate questions but as complementary building blocks of a climate resilient urban fabric. In order to achieve a city-wide impact, part of the research is about finding strategies on ways to integrate climate adaptive measures within private developments.
City of Ghenk represents the Belgium planner case study.