Shifting from the Occupation of Space to the Mastery of Time
1. Business Route 2018 for metropolitan Brussels
Crowdsourcing Week Europe, Brussels - November 23, 2016
Shifting from the occupation of space
to the mastery of time
Alain Deneef, Intendant of Brussels Metropolitan
3. Identity
Brussels Metropolitan, also called «Business Route 2018 for
Metropolitan Brussels», is a common initiative of inter-branch
employers organisations, at regional and federal levels, namely
BECI, Voka, UWE and the FEB.
The association has been created in 2008, as a dialog platform
for the 3 regions surrounding Brussels, in order to promote the
social and economic development of the metropolitan region,
thanks to a better co-operation.
The association calls for a mobility shift, an ambitious strategy
to revitalize mobility and to re-enforce socio-economic
development of the Brussels’ metropolis.
• it puts stakeholders around the table, above the linguistic
barriers, to create an interregional dialogue,
• it proposes solutions, runs 12 projects with a road map,
• it raises awareness and informs through lobbying, events and
communication.
2008 - 2018
7. Introduction
However the perception
of space is more direct
However the perception
of space is more direct
In our daily life, we
focus on the passage of
time rather than on the
measure of distance
8. 1. Mobility is the capacity of crossing the
distance between two points
• In mobility, we sometimes
consider space in terms of
time instead of distance
• But time is both an objective
and a subjective reality
Still, in mobility we tend to
privilege space over time
Still, in mobility we tend to
privilege space over time
9. 2. Shifting from the occupation of space
to the mastery of time
• In mobility, we privilege
infrastructure over processes
• Results : more demand and
more competition for space
An effective control of our
journey time requires that we
interrogate our true needs
An effective control of our
journey time requires that we
interrogate our true needs
10. 3. The need for mobility
• ‘Need’: it is the necessity to cross a
distance between A and B
• A need can be absolute or relative
• Is a need sometimes a wish ?
An effective control of our journey
time requires that we reformulate
our demand
An effective control of our journey
time requires that we reformulate
our demand
11. 4. The demand for mobility
• ‘Demand’: it is the expression of the
need of going from A to B from
different points of view: time, space
and transportation modalities
• If the need is real, the demand can
be modulated
A newly formulated demand requires
a mental shift
A newly formulated demand requires
a mental shift
12. Conclusion:
a more intelligent demand
facing a more diversified offer
‘The way we run our road system is the last remnant of the
Stalinist state: We ration demand by queueing’
Feargus O’Sullivan, London-based journalist, CityLab – 28
October 2016
13. Conclusion:
from the competition in space
to the collaboration in time
‘One of the faults which we occasionally observe in socio-
political activity is that spaces and power are preferred to
time and processes.
Giving priority to space means madly attempting to keep
everything together in the present, trying to possess all the
spaces of power and of self-assertion’.
Giving priority to time means being concerned about
initiating processes rather than possessing spaces.
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, #223 – November 2013
Age : 82 years, not 2.650.328 kms
Holiday length: 15 days, not 2527 kms
Limits : 24 hours in a day, not 37 kms
Space in terms of time instead of distance:
Sign post, indicating destination in minutes, not in kilometers
Objective :
journey length can be more or less long, depending on when you travel (work schedule)
Subjective :
time can be gained or wasted, depending of the use of it that can be done ( i. e. better if you are not the driver as in public transports, or vehicles without driver)
More infrastructure:
Always more roads, bigger, broader. Ex in Brussels: the ring, the North-South junction, next metro lines, new bike paths.
Results :
As for the road, more availability generates more user demand
Struggle between the road and other urban fonctions (play grounds, slow traffic paths, and even houses, shops)
Competition exists as well between all soft mobility means : tram only lanes, bus and taxi only lanes, bike paths vs pavement (rue de la loi)
Absolute need : is when the arrival time is not negotiable (sometimes the departure time too)
> absolute need can totally or partially disappear : if you work from home, or in shared satellite offices
Relative need : no time constraint.
> relative need can find an alternative answer, if you modify your time
Need or wish ?
Justified or not : go to the bakery, to school …
If the need is non-negotiable, then the demand can still be modulated
- In its time frame: flexible work schedule
- In the itinerary: apps, GPS, etc., that tricks the space and allows the use of another route to reduce the journey time
- using a different mean of transportation : ride your bike, walk
- opting out as a driver, i.e. : car sharing, public transportation
Examples :
Road user charge affects the need, or, failing, on the demand - Parking : traffic flow management to optimise parking stock
‘The way we run our road system is the last remnant of the stalinist state : we ration demand by queing’
Feargus O’Sullivan London-based journalist, writer and copywriter, contributing writer to CityLab
Time governs spaces, illumines them and makes them links in a constantly expanding chain, with no possibility of return.
What we need, then, is to give priority to actions which generate new processes in society and engage other persons and groups who can develop them to the point where they bear fruit in significant historical events. Without anxiety, but with clear convictions and tenacity.’