Activity 9: Conclusion
Brussels, capital of what?
Activity 9: Conclusion
What should you take away from this section?
In this section, you have seen that Brussels' specific location - at the crossroads of major water and land routes - has been a key factor in its development. To protect the political, religious and commercial heart of the city and its traffic nodes, the first city wall was built at the beginning of the 13th century. At the end of the 14th century, it was replaced by a second city wall, which formed the famous Pentagon that is still visible today.
From the 12th to the beginning of the 19th century, Brussels was the seat of power for those who exercised sovereignty over the Duchy of Brabant and either all or part of the Netherlands. In 1830, Brussels became the capital of the new Belgian state and later - in the second half of the 20th century - also the main headquarters of European Union institutions, as well as the capital of several entities comprising the new Belgian federal state.
In this section, you have also explored the different definitions of "Brussels". You have seen that they are sometimes used interchangeably, which is not surprising given the complexity of the Brussels "territory" and its governance. When someone talks to you about "Brussels", they can therefore be referring to at least four different territories:
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The City of Brussels, i.e. the municipality, which is both the capital of Belgium and one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region. |
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The Brussels-Capital Region, which stems from the rapid development, since the 19th century, of the municipalities neighbouring the historic centre of "Brussels". Eighteen of them, together with the City of Brussels, form the Brussels-Capital Region (approximately 1.2 million inhabitants in 2020), which since 1989 has been one of the three Regions of federal Belgium. |
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The morphological agglomeration, a built continuum resulting from centuries of urban growth, which extends beyond the administrative boundaries of the Brussels-Capital Region. |
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Lastly, there is the employment catchment area, a large metropolitan area that has no administrative entity. This realm covers a large part of central Belgium (3.5 million inhabitants) and is strongly interconnected with Brussels in terms of the economy, employment, housing and mobility. |
You then examined the organisational structure of federal Belgium, with its distinct Regions and Communities. You discovered their geographical locations and different spheres of responsibility.
Finally, you will have noted that "Brussels" also hosts the headquarters of numerous European Union institutions, which is why it is often labelled as the "capital of the European Union" (although the latter does not have a formal "capital"). As a result, "Brussels has decided..." is an expression you will find in many foreign newspapers today.
As you will have realised, there are different ways of looking at Brussels, all of which have their own specific viewpoint. You can therefore now see that this urban region possesses many "faces".
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