This paper develops an integrated assessment framework for costs and benefits related to the presence of international institutions in Brussels, Belgium. The assessment of the impact of international institutions in Brussels has until now been carried out in terms of macroeconometric cost-benefit analysis, mostly in monetary terms. We propose an alternative multi-criteria analysis with a spatial scope. The activities generating the impacts will be described through a multi-tiered analysis centred on the operations of the institutions (resident officers, meetings). The scope is then expanded to encompass directly dependent sectors (e.g. media and diplomatic representations), strongly influenced organisations (e.g. NGOs and transnational corporations), and all entities involved in the reproduction of institutions as such and the individuals who people them (e.g. housing, education and leisure). The role of international institutions as urban attractors which influence the evolution of tourism, education and cultural flows is also taken into account. It is an alterative to the mainstream, which in our view is unable to measure the impacts on the urban system and does not sufficiently inform urban planning such as the International Development Plan. The chosen methodology is a Multi-criteria Analysis Approach, more suited to integrating non-monetisable impacts and the views of stakeholders. Possible distributive effects will be tracked across existing patterns of spatial diversity. The proposed model embeds identification, measurement and assessment in a fine-grained understanding of Belgian urban systems, thus allowing the disaggregation and localisation of impacts. Through the iterative generation of scenarios, our methodology will support decision-makers in evaluating alternative federal policies for their ability to reduce negative impacts whilst enhancing the positive ones.

Brussels Studies is published with support of the ISRIB (Institute for the encouragement of Scientific Research and Innovation of Brussels - Brussels-Capital Region).

Eric Corijn is cultural philosopher, researcher in social sciences and professor of cultural geography at the Flemish University of Brussels (Vrije universiteit Brussel or VUB). He is also director of the research group COSMOPOLIS, City, Culture & Society. Moreover, he is coordinator of the UAB Brussels City Platform (university association of Brussels - Brussels urban platform) and co-director of the international masters programs POLIS and " 4Cities". He is deputy-director of the Brussels Regional Development Commission and member of Flanders' urban renovation jury.

Cathy Macharis (VUB) holds a PhD in logistics and transportation management, sustainable mobility and operational management. She participated to several Belgian and European research projects regarding location analysis, intermodal transportation, public transport, the promotion of traffic safety through telematic applications etc. She is president of the Regional Mobility Commission. Recent publications : www.vub.ac.be/MOSI-T

Michel Huysseune, Ph.D., is professor of Political Science at Vesalius College (Brussels) and senior researcher at the Centre for Political Science at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium). His fields of interest include the construction of political ideologies and nationalism in particular, and the interconnections between regionalism, nationalism, and the construction of the European Union. He is the author of Modernity and Secession. The Social Sciences and the Political Discourse of the Lega Nord in Italy, Oxford, Berghahn, 2006.

Theo Jans is professor of political science at VUB and senior fellow at the Institute of European Studies (Brussels). He is (together with Kris Deschouwer) the editor of Politics Beyond the State. Actors and Policies in Complex Institutional Settings. Brussels, VUBPress, 2007.

This article was published in Brussels Studies, the e-journal for academic research on Brussels.

The methodology we propose resumes the economic cost-benefit analysis as conducted previously, extends the analysis to include the social and environmental impact, and integrates the qualitative dimensions of an urban environment in the evaluation through the multi-criteria analysis. These dimensions include culture, impact on the urban space and on social cohesion and the city as an urban attractor. This multi-criteria analysis should provide insight into the positive and negative aspects of the different scenarios whereby the extent of internationalisation of Brussels will be varied. Such a model of analysis has a number of important advantages compared with a traditional economic cost-benefit analysis. It is based on a more refined and more correct conceptualisation of the urban space. By integrating the qualitative variables, it provides a broader picture of the impact of international institutions. These qualitative and global dimensions of the research allow the model to be better suited to city projects which integrate the different facets of urban development. The results of such a study can also be translated more effectively into policy options.

The international vocation of Brussels is a central element in its urban dynamics. The assessment of the impacts of the presence of international agents should be an ongoing process. It would be a good idea to design an observatory based on interuniversity and interdisciplinary collaboration with a longitudinal approach.

Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pleinlaan 2
1050 Elsene Brussels
Belgium
Phone: +32 (0)2/629.21.11
info@vub.ac.be
http://www.vub.ac.be/english
Eric Corijn (Professor), tel. +32-2-6293379

08/12/2008

Eric Corijn, Cathy Macharis, Theo Jans and Michel Huysseune

research

Urban Policy