In response to the lack of in-depth reflection on the social and humanitarian situation unfolding in Brussels Northern Quarter, a district currently at the heart of studies and strategies defined mostly in terms of urban planning, a new research collective took shape in Brussels in February 2019, under the impulse of some Metrolab members : ARCH (Action Research Collective for Hospitality).

In an attempt to reconcile two important challenges — on the one hand, the regional intention to improve the built and environmental qualities of this district, on the other, the possibility to offer more hospitable urban spaces and facilities to newcomers in precarious situations — various studies have been carried out to better define the current situation and the complex needs of the Northern Quarter.

ARCH has hosted collaborations between people with very diverse profiles including, sociologists, anthropologists, architects, urban planners, artists, activists... all committed to this situation and willing to call out to the citizens and Brussels governmental and administrative protagonists on the subject, recalling above all a common duty of hospitality and humanity.

ARCH’s researches were conducted in collaboration with the Citizen's Platform #BXLRefugees, one of the main — more precisely, one of the few — actors currently supporting migrant persons and families in Brussels. Every day, they welcome hundreds of people among the 800 migrants and refugees present in this part of the city. Their presence and experience in the field has been essential in defining lines of study and intervention that take into consideration some of the needs and problems they encounter on a daily basis. For example, workshops and focus groups were organized with the refugees and the people who make up the different services of BXLRefugees to reflect on how to set up day and night reception areas in the most relevant and hospitable way possible.

The result of all this research (carried out over a very short period of time) was put together in a book: "WHOSE FUTURE IS HERE? Searching for Hospitality in Brussels Northern Quarter", through which the members of ARCH aim to contribute to the reflection on the conditions of an urban hospitality policy and to the improvement of reception conditions in Brussels, a metropolis crossed and marked by migrations.

WHOSE FUTURE IS HERE ? Searching for Hospitality in Brussels Northern Quarter