To argue that Flemish space is fragmented, is simply stating the obvious. The diffuse and fragmentedcondition of this space has been frequently and extensively described. It has also been explained howthis condition came about as a result of the emergence of the welfare state and how it heralded theend of the old contrast between city and countryside, and gave the green light for the advent ofvarious concepts aimed at describing a similar ‘intermediate condition’. In this paper I therefore do notso much want to enter into discussing this new or, better, this different condition (not city, norcountryside, but ánd city ánd countryside), but rather ask how we do deal with this middle landscapetoday from an urban development perspective. I argue that this different context of fragmentation,diversification and advancing urbanisation (in Flanders and elsewhere) has logical consequences forthe planning and (policy) management of these areas. We can formulate three complementaryfindings from the current way of dealing with the middle landscape in urbanism. In particular we noticefirst a project-based approach, secondly in which landscape increasingly comes to the fore and thirdlythe ‘integration’ concept is introduced. In the framework of these findings, an important role seems tohave been reserved for design, for instance as a possible medium of integration. The Fresh Kills case,a former landfill site surrounded by valuable marsh ecologies in suburban Staten Island, New York, isused to draw a picture of this changed role of design in the different condition of the middle landscape.
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