Page 63 - DS2.black team booklet

Conclusion

This booklet explored three types of
ownership scenarios of an existing
building in Brussels, which is currently
occupied by a group of undocumented
migrants. Assuming federal legislation
doesn’t allow for renting rooms to people
without the necessary documents, the first
two scenarios don’t provide housing for
undocumented migrants. Nor do they offer
activities specifically aimed at undocu-
mented newcomers. Their focus is thus on
documented newcomers. Depending on the
programme the site offers, the openness of
the backyard and the building itself, people’s
flows and potential spaces for interaction
shift. Assuming that undocumented
migrants don’t go where there is no
programme for them, the imagined
borderlands - spaces for interaction - are
rather limited in the first two scenarios. The
third scenario, where a housing cooperative
owns the building and the plot, and a group
of citizens manages the building, more and
more creative options become available
for housing and programme. Mainly the
ground floor of the building functions as a
community centre, and provides a variety
of spaces and activities for people from
all ages and social groups to participate
in and use. The park in the backyard is
accessible at all times. Social control is
high due to the constant coming and going
of people for activities that happen at
different times of the day. At night people
who live in the building have a view of the
backyard. Because of the open atmosphere
of the building’s inhabitants and users,
as well as the space itself, it is welcoming
to both undocumented and documented
newcomers. Therefore there is no longer
a distinction between the borderlands for
both groups. The street, the building, and
the garden have become welcoming spaces,
allowing for (positive) interaction between
newcomers and locals.

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