Reinterpreting the historical town square in post-industrial urban space: A case study of square in Belval

1. Introduction

From the very beginning of human settlements, people defined a central place for gathering, trading, and commuting. Greeks built their polis around an agora – a main square, shaped by significant buildings of public and religious functions. Romans based their urban planning on military camps called castrum romanum. Castrum was created on the orthogonal grid with two main axes crossing in forum located in the middle of the plan [1,2]. In the medieval period, German town laws formed many cities in the Middle East Europe. Legislation acts provided legal autonomy for merchants and dictated spatial coordinates. Cities based on the Magdeburg Law were focused around the market square located in the centre [3]. The alleys were based on the orthogonal grid. Usually, four of them started at the four corners of the market square. Cities based on the Lübeck Law were built along the main street that served as a marketplace [4]. The street was a core, whereas the alleys went perpendicularly to it. Usually, the street went parallelly to a river [5]. Medieval squares were often equipped with a well and a city scale. They were also a centre for social and public life which included not only fetes but also judicial punishments. Apart from trading opportunities, medieval cities were founded due to the military reasons. Bastides were fortified cities located on the rectangular grid. The main square was placed in the centre of the structure. It was often surrounded by arcades and had a covered section [6]. The urban planning theories were significantly developed in the Renaissance and Baroque. Averulino planned the city as an eight-point star shape. The main square and two smaller squares were located in the middle of the form. The biggest one was rectangular and had a cathedral and a ducal palace. The other two were square and functioned as merchants’ places with public and commercial buildings. In Cataneo’s vision, the main street crossed the city square through its centre. There were streets going from each corner of the square to the city gates. However, the grid remained orthogonal, unlike the star shape towns [1]. The nineteenth-century and Industrial Revolution caused significant changes. Along with developing new industrial areas, labour class moved into cities to dwell. Workers had little time to enjoy public spaces and the importance of urban squares was reduced. Instead, semi-public spaces became more critical. Increasing population, changing economy and cities’ deterioration led to urban theories concerning community well-being [7,8]. The Garden City was introduced by Ebenezer Howard. The role of a main city square was played by a centrally located garden of 2 hectares. It was surrounded by public buildings like city hall, theatre, library, hospital, museum, and concert hall [9,10]. From the early 1930s until the 1980s, in many eastern European countries, spatial order was deeply influenced by Socialist realism. Central squares were surrounded by monumental buildings like headquarters of the trade unions or the communist party [11]. Public spaces aimed to convey political and social ideals of the socialist thought. Splendid squares constituted a background for grand state occasions such as parades and political rallies [12]. Fast and constant technology development generated a new meaning of a public square. Although it is not directly connected to the architectural dimension, the new semantic should not be omitted. In 2010, Bill Gates said that ‘The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow’. Following Franks, this concept meant to picture a digital public square as a democratic place to gather and share ideas. However, Franks writes that apart from gathering, this analogy was exaggerated. Social-media platforms have their private owners and control posted contents. By taking advantage of users’ attention and data, these platforms generate profits and contradict the very essence of democracy and free speech [13].

This brief presentation of a town square evolution covers only the aspect of physicality. In fact, there is much more to its history. A square is also defined by its intangible layer which contains recreational, political, or commercial activity of people [14]. With the growing number of closed mines, ironworks, and factories, it would be beneficial to name the structural possibilities of space creation that are delivered by these places. Post-industrial sites are vast spaces with numbers of problems and specific conditions. Their renewal processes require diverse means of expression adjusted to the local context. Regeneration through implementing a city square is one of them and may be worth considering as it is deeply rooted in the European urbanism tradition. This article covers specifically an examination of a city square located in revitalized industrial facility of Belval site. As presented, the evolution of a city square is a complex issue as it includes both social and physical dimensions. This research is focused exclusively on the physical attributes and their assigned functions. The goal was to find and analyse analogous spatial elements and their roles between public square in Belval site and 15 reference squares selected from various periods of urbanism history. The following research questions were raised: 1) may the square in Belval site perform analogous spatial roles to those found in historical town squares selected because of their comparable size and proportions; 2) which analogous spatial roles were applied; and 3) which urban elements were adapted to these roles?

2. Belval site as a case study

City of Esch-sur-Alzette, located in the south Luxembourg, is the second largest city in the country. Along with being home to public and private facilities, it constitutes a steel industry centre, which makes it important on both local and national levels. The Belval site itself is a district of Esch-sur-Alzette where brownfield zone of former steel works is located. The plant dates back to 1909 when it was founded as Adolf-Emil Hutte by Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks A.G. It covered an area of approximately 100 hectares and was equipped with six blast furnaces. It was the largest Luxembourg’s steel works and, at the time, was considered to be one of the most modern ones in Europe. The last blast furnace of Belval plant was shut down in 1997. It meant that an area of 120 hectares of the site became a wasteland and in need of redevelopment. The rest part of Belval site remained in operation.

In 2000, two blast furnaces A and B were listed on the “Inventaire Supplémentaire des Sites et Monuments Nationaux” (Additional list of National Sites and Monuments). Nowadays, the site is being redeveloped by the Luxembourg government. The new district was planned by Jo Coenen & Co (urban planning) and Buro Lubbers (landscape design), the winners of the urban design competition carried out in 2001. The masterplan provided services, business, educational and cultural institutions, sports, and recreation zones and residential buildings [15]. This transformation project divided the area into five zones. The Blast Furnace Terrace included science, research, and university facilities. The Square Mile delivered housing estates and retail. The Belval Park was a vast green space with diverse ecosystem. Both the Belval-Sud and the Belval-Nord were residential areas with cascade-shaped and U-shaped buildings accordingly. Altogether, 25,000 jobs and 8,000 houses were provided [16–18].

The major project, called City of Science, covers less than 15 hectares and is located within the Blast Furnace Terrace zone. It is a home to Belval Campus which is the main site of the Luxembourg University (with around 8,000 students). Students can use learning centre, accommodation facilities, and restaurants [19]. Another major attractor is a concert hall called Rockhal with a capacity of 6,500 visitors [20]. There are also shopping malls and office buildings that ensure constant inflow of users. According to the idea delivered by the architect, two remaining blast furnaces constitute a core for the urban development design. The new structure is based on urban quarters and public spaces that tightly fill the spaces between industrial monuments [16,21]. There are two public squares in the City of Science: larger one called Place de l’académie and smaller one located between two blast furnaces. For this particular research, the smaller square was selected. Choice was based on the observation that this square may resemble a traditional city square in both scale and spatial characteristics (Figure 1).

Figure 1

Source: author’s contribution based on a map delivered by https://earth.google.com.

Selected square in Belval measures approximately 40 × 40 m. It is surrounded by four prominent structures: the Blast Furnace B on the south, the House of Innovation on the east, the Blast Furnace A on the north, and the University Library with the Möllerei on the west. There are cafes and restaurants located on the ground floors on three sides of the square. The Möllerei is located at the foot of the Blast Furnace A and was originally used to store ore and coke. The conservation and renovation were completed according to Beiler & François Architectes’ design. New structure added at the bottom of the blast furnace serves as an entrance zone and visitor centre. It is characterized by a massive basalt facade and monolithic geometry. Together with the Blast Furnace A, it functions as a museum with a viewing platform located in the top [22,23]. The University Library was designed by Valentiny HVP architects. It is an open to public space that is mainly devoted to the academic community. The new structure was partially integrated into the old Möllerei building. Library’s façade is composed of partly spatial, triangular, and spotted glass elements. Elements are bright, in white-greyish colour, and reflect the sunlight which makes the façade more dynamic [24,25]. The new structure of the House of Innovation, designed by Bourguignon Siebenaler, functions as a research hub with high-performance software. The structure of the building is massive but minimalistic. Façades, perforated rhythmically with large windows, do not compete with industrial remains. The inner courtyard is accessible from the square [15,26].

3. Methodology

The research was divided into two phases, one considering ‘square’ as a notion and other treating it as a structure. Phase A was devoted to the term ‘square’ (in its urbanistic meaning) and its equivalents in European languages. Arnheim, in his book ‘The Dynamics of Architectural Form’, observes that English word ‘square’ defines shape of an urban area [27]. Having this in mind, this phase aimed to examine linguistic similarities and differences between other languages of Indo-European Family. English word ‘square’ was used as a reference term due to the international status of this language in the worldwide communication (it is the most spoken foreign language in the EU) [28]. This review was based on the assumption that English bilingual dictionaries would be the most accessible ones. Eleven online dictionaries were used, and all official languages of European countries were included. Languages were divided according to classification delivered in ‘Języki Indoeuropejskie’ edited by Badnarczuk [29]. Thirty-two languages and 34 words were taken into consideration. This is due to the fact that sometimes dictionaries delivered more than one term. If translation of the word ‘square’ resulted in two words listed as two equivalent translations, they were both considered.

First, the English word ‘square’ was translated into other languages. Second, the new word received in this translation (‘n’) was examined in terms of its meanings in English. If one of its meanings was a geometric shape or a surface area, the n word was marked with notions ‘geometric figure’ or ‘area (math)’. If there was no such meaning, the English word ‘trade’ was translated. If the dictionary showed the n word or similar, the notion ‘marketplace’ was marked. If the n word derived from the ‘trading’ or similar, the n word was marked with ‘marketplace’ as well. This additional check point was due to the fact that sometimes n word was connected with trading but the word ‘trading’ itself was not. If the n word was not connected with a geometric shape or a trade, the examination was continued in the fourth step. The n word was examined in terms of its origin. If it came from a Greek word plateia or Latin platĕa, the n word was marked with ‘Greek, Latin’ in the summary table.

Phase B aimed to analyse and examine if there is any link between a historical urban square and the Belval square. Fifteen historical squares were selected as reference points. The eras were defined according to the division delivered by Pevsner in his book ‘An Outline of European Architecture’ [30]. To be taken into account, all squares had to meet two requirements: a) the longest side dimension of a maximum 50 m, b) sides proportions between 1:1 and 1:1.5. These criteria were dictated by the parameters of selected square in Belval site. This square is based on the orthogonal grid and has approximately 40 m long sides and square shape. Taking this into account, the longest side criteria was set to exclude large-scale public squares and the side proportions criteria was set to eliminate public squares based on geometrical figures other than square like e.g. rectangle, oval, circle, triangle, trapezium. The intention was to find similar reference squares, in both size and proportions, to justify the comparison and obtain reliable results. The measurements of each side (a and b) were taken first in the Google Earth program on the 2D aerial view and second in the AutoCAD program on the 2D schwarzplan layout. Then, the sum of both results was dived by two. All selected reference squares were compared in a table and shared physical elements were marked. Second, a case study of a Belval square was conducted. The analytical part was based on in situ visit conducted in September 2024 and presented on 2D analysis of the plan. The comparative part was based on the check list of structural elements prepared according to the results received from reference squares.

4. Results

Phase A proves that most examined words (15) are connected with a Greek word plateĩa. Second common link is a geometric figure or an area in their mathematical meanings (9). The third group includes words associated with trading (9) (Table 1). Terms like place, piazza, and plaza come from a Greek plateĩa or Latin platĕa meaning a broad road, street, or a free, open space in a town or a village. This connotation usually occurs in Romance languages but it can also be observed in German or Polish. Plateĩa was surrounded by tiny shops, public services, or cafés. It was a place of public events and celebrations. Often there was a large tree to protect from the Sun. Plateĩa was a place occupied mainly by men. They spent their time on exchanging information, entertainment or making deals. Women rarely visited the place and avoided crossing the square. They entered via side streets or send their kids to do some errands [31]. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the word ‘square’, in its urban meaning, is being used since the mid-1700s. The OED registered the earliest evidence for ‘town square’ in St. James’s Chronicle – the London newspaper – from 1769. However, the same source claims that the earliest known use of the noun ‘market square’ comes from the mid-1500s. The OED proves it with the translation which dates back to 1567 and was delivered by a poet George Turberville [32]. Term trg, present in Slavic languages, is related to a custom of selling different products on the town square. Wealthier or more extensive cities had a separate square where people traded. In towns which developed near the castles or churches, another division was visible. One market square was located within the castle or church grounds. The second one was located not far away but among the citizens’ houses [33]. In this context, the notion of ‘market square’ can also be used. Croatian word trgovina means a ‘trade’. Matasović proves the semantic relation between Balto-Slavic words like trg or torg with the verb that in English means ‘to tear’. Matasović explains that if ‘to tear’ developed from ‘cut into pieces’, then it could be linked with nouns ‘merchandise’ and ‘market’ (root noun meaning ‘division, sharing’) [34]. However, the Polish word targ of similar origins, nowadays means a place where people sell goods but does not refer to the town square.

The reference study of Phase B (Table 2) included 15 squares from nine European countries. Cities change their appearances through years, which makes it difficult to define only one architectural style. Due to this fact, squares were divided into categories based on their most dominant features observed by the author. Selected reference squares shared eight elements and fundamental functions:

• a) Tower – Height or/and composition dominant, belonging to a town hall or a church, functioning as an observation spot/representative element/reference point for orientation/sound signals generator like alarms or hour striking;

• b) Covered passageway – Semi-open public corridor, often on the whole circuit and including arcades, functioning as clients attractor/shade generator/gathering place/trading place/decorative and representative element of a building;

• c) Opening – Break between square’s walls, neutral/wide/narrow/chink depending on its proportions, functioning as entrance and walking passage/window unblocking a view axis toward a significant building or landscaping composition;

• d) Monument – Focal point of a square, often located in the middle, functioning as a memorial/power representation/religious representation/science or cultural achievements glorification/decorative and aesthetic feature/reference point for orientation and gathering;

• e) Fountain – Focal point of a square, often located in the middle, functioning as a decorative and aesthetic feature/reference point for orientation and gathering/power representation/religious representation/water supplier (when there was a town well);

• f) Prominent building – A church, palace, town hall, or other public institution, functioning as a representative element/power representation/decorative and aesthetic feature;

• g) Gate – Entrance with a vault (not a main guarded entrance to the city), functioning as a doorway and walking passage/boundary between here and there/shade generator;

• h) Greenery – (sometimes sacred) trees planted in the ground, functioning as a shade generator/decorative and aesthetic feature/faith symbol or shorter greenery like flowers/grasses planted in flower pots/planters or directly into the ground functioning as a decorative and aesthetic feature.

Table 2

Reference study: 15 selected historical squares

Site	Plan	Tower	Covered passageway	Opening	Monument	Fountain	Prominent building	Gate	Greenery
	Romanesque style [1,000–1,200] Early and High Gothic [half XII – half XIII] Late Gothic [1,250–1,500]
Piața Cetății Sighișoara/Romania		No	No	Yes (6)	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Largo da Oliveira Guimarães/Portugal		Yes	Yes	Yes (5)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Nardoni Trg Zadar/Croatia		Yes	No	Yes (6)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Place des Cornières Monpazier/France		No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Place Des Arcades Monflanquin/France		No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Renaissance and mannerism [1,420–1,600]
Campo di San Silvestro Venice/Italy		Yes	No	Yes (4)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Piazza della Repubblica Urbino/Italy		No	Yes	Yes (5)	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
	Baroque [1,600–1,760]
Märetplatz Solothurn/Switzerland		Yes	No	Yes (4)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Stortorget Stockholm/Sweden		No	No	Yes (4)	No	No	Yes	No	No
Piazza del Municipio Caltagirone/Italy		Yes	No	Yes (7)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	England and France [XVI–XVIII]
Abbey Green/Bath/ England		No	No	Yes (4)	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Kingston Parade Bath/England		Yes	No	Yes (6)	No	No	Yes	No	No
	Romanticism [1760–1914]
Pl. du Marché Sainte-Catherine Paris/France		No	No	Yes (4)	No	No	No	No	Yes
Plaça de la Concòrdia Barcelona/Spain		Yes	No	Yes (8)	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Place du Tertre Paris/France		No	No	Yes (3)	No	No	No	No	Yes
	Selected post-industrial revitalised square
Square in Belval Esch-sur-Alzette/Luxembourg		Yes	Yes	Yes (4)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Relations between results of Phases A and B cover the aspect of present names of selected reference squares. Eight squares from Phase B derive their present names from the word plateia (e.g. Piața Cetății, Place des Cornières). Two square’ names revolve around the word targ (Nardoni Trg, Stortorget). Selected reference squares deliver new words like largo (Portuguese), abbey, and parade (both English). The first one – largo – indicates physical parameters, something broad. The second one – abbey – derives from the presence of buildings inhabited by monks or nuns. The third one – parade – refers to the activity taken by a large number of people moving in the same direction and celebrating or manifesting something. Connections between Phases A and Belval site can be reported as follows. The square in Beval site does not have a name. In the city of Luxembourg, French is the main communication language [35]. According to the findings from Table 1, the square in Belval could be named with a French word place. Considering its geometrical shape, it could be named with a word square. Trade, the third meaning from Phase A is not related in this case. Relations between Phase B and Belval site are presented in Figure 2. Following analogous elements were found :

• a) Towers – Two Blast Furnaces A and B;

• b) Covered passageways – Walkway between pillars under the structures of Blast Furnaces A and B, walkway between pillars supporting the cantilevered structure near the University Library, and a walkway under the colonnade linking the House of Innovation and the Blast Furnace A;

• c) Openings – Two leading openings under the structures of blast furnaces in north-south direction, one neutral opening between the House of Innovation and Blast Furnace A in east direction and one chink opening through the University Library near the Möllerei in west direction;

• d) Monuments – Artistic elements of white plates on three black pillars, located freely on the square;

• e) Fountain – Colourfully highlighted water falling from the cantilevered structure near the University Library;

• f) Prominent buildings – Möllerei, two Blast Furnaces and the University Library;

• g) Gates – One narrow gate through the University Library and two wide gates beneath the blast furnaces structures;

• h) Greenery – Islands of grass located in ponds (Table 3).

Figure 2

Table 3

Belval square: eight analogous elements– selected examples

a) Tower	b) Covered passageway	c) Opening	d) Monument
e) Fountain	f) Prominent building	g) Gate	h) Greenery

5. Discussion

Findings of Phase A suggest that the concept of the square in Indo-European languages revolve around three meanings: open space (plateĩa), geometry (square), and trade (targ). However, the urbanistic definition standing behind the word ‘square’ is more complex. According to the online Great Polish Language Dictionary, a town square is a free space in a city usually located at the junction and surrounded by buildings [36]. Doroszewski adds that this is a place to gather and trade goods [37]. In the lexicon for urbanists and spatial planners edited by Saternus, the author pays attention to a square as a part of spatial composition. The square often plays a representative and aesthetic role to highlight the significant event or a person pictured in a monument located in the centre [38]. Lévy defines five functional requirements for an ideal town square: 1) good accessibility for pedestrians, 2) well-preserved and maintained ancient buildings, 3) variety of landscape elements, 4) connection with retail zones to provide pedestrians’ movement, 5) variety of events like music festivals or theatre performances [39]. In this perspective, findings of Phase A are in line with the presented definitions. However, current names of selected fifteen squares should be considered as an additional extension. Names of streets or squares are prone to changes, often due to political reasons. Reference squares were selected according to their physical parameters. They do not prove a linguistic review accuracy e.g. there is no word ‘square’ in the selection. Semantic evolution of a city square deserves separate research. It would be beneficial to broaden the scope and include linguistics and social sciences.

Findings of Phase B suggest that there are eight shared elements in 15 selected reference squares. Some of the observed common elements are included by Alexander’s in his Pattern Language. ‘High places’ (a – tower) are linked with a human need to climb in order to observe. They are reference points to make orientation easier as they usually indicate important places for local communities. Arcades (b – covered passageway) function as a linking space between an open spatial square and massive buildings. They deliver shade and invite pedestrians to shops or restaurants. A monument (d – monument) can be linked with Alexander’s ‘Something Roughly in the Middle’. He notices that public space without a centre is likely to be empty. He suggests placing a fountain, monument, or a tree freely between walking paths. This aims to create a pulsing point that will attract people. ‘Main Gateways’ (g – gate) function as entrances and doorsteps. They help to introduce a spatial order and a clear division on here and there [40]. Following C. Site’s City Planning According to Artistic Principles (published in 1889), Lévy names guidelines for an ideal town square. Among them, there is an ability to create sight lines with no obstacles and a feeling of surprise created by contrast of narrow streets (c – opening) [1]. According to Winston, the urban fountains (e – fountain) represent both the importance of water and the power of the authorities who controlled and delivered it to the citizens. People settled closed to water sources and often placed wells on a main square as its availability was essential [41]. As Norberg-Schulz writes, a public square enables admiring key buildings in a town (f – prominent building). They dominate the square both physically and psychologically as they often stand for luxury and social status [42]. Cullen introduces a notion of ‘trees incorporated’ (h – greenery) as they are the most common representatives of nature in cities. He observes that trees are usually treated according to architecture constraints often not aligned with the natural order [43]. Findings prove that it is possible to implement these spatial values into industrial structure. It is also demonstrated that industrial structure can be prone to skilful adaptation. At the same time, it should be emphasised that demonstrated findings are based on a singular example. They present a successful revitalisation of deliberately maintained, preserved, replenished, and filled in industrial structure. Further research should cover post-industrial spaces with different characteristics. It would be beneficial to look for city square examples located in renewed mines or factories because of their dissimilar spatial order.

6. Conclusion

The research presents eight common elements which were identified within the 15 analysed and deliberately selected case studies. All of eight common elements (tower, covered passageway, openings, monument, fountain, prominent building, gate, greenery) were found in the examined Belval square. Therefore, the answer for the first research question is positive: the square in Belval site may perform analogous spatial roles to those found in historical town squares selected because of their comparable size and proportions. Applied analogous spatial roles of eight elements were adjusted or added to fulfil needs like: conquering height, taking a shelter from the sun and open public spaces, experiencing a feeling of surprise, admiring human achievements, feeling spatial order (division to here and there, centre of events), and connecting with nature (water and greenery). This covers the second research question. As for the third research question – Which urban elements were adapted to these roles? – The answer includes two aspects. One is the renewal of industrial remains like blast furnaces or ore and coke magazine. Second, one is the addition of new structures: buildings which determine layout of the square with its passageways and gates (House of Innovation, University Library), and street furniture or greenery which decorate the space (modern sculptures, water and light installation, islands of grass located in ponds).

Taking all into account, it should be emphasised that gaining a new analogous role does not mean being transformed into something identical. Former industrial facilities are large spaces in need of complex and well-thought-out redevelopment strategy. Therefore, the presented findings are not to be generalised or treated as a universal solution applicable in all post-industrial spaces. At the same time, this research demonstrates how historically based elements of a city square can be adapted and rethought. Each of eight elements possesses multiple possible forms and should be examined as a separate case study. More detailed examination would reinforce the awareness of opportunities delivered by implementing and remodelling physical features present in historical examples.

Author contributions

The author confirms the sole responsibility for the conception of the study, presented results and manuscript preparation.

Conflict of interest statement

The author states no conflict of interest.