Book Publication and Public Launch

On Thursday evening, February 12, 2026, Tom Broes will present his book The Art of Urbanization. Urban Questions that Made the Antwerp Agglomeration, 1907–1939 at the FelixArchief in Antwerp. The lecture is organized with the support of the Flanders Architecture Institute, FelixArchief, Atelier Stadsbouwmeester, and Leuven University Press.

The Art of Urbanization explores a forgotten tradition in Belgian and European planning history through the work of the Study Commission for the Development of the Antwerp Agglomeration (SCAA, 1907–1939). Rather than starting from a single, all-encompassing master plan, the SCAA sought collective and pragmatic answers to a series of urban questions that together shaped an urbanization program. The book shows how this program guided a wide range of subplans, laying the foundation for the gradual urbanization of the agglomeration. By approaching urbanization as a project proactively shaped by society at large, the book offers a renewed perspective on urban planning—one that strongly resonates with today’s era of generalized urbanization.