Urban scenes in Brussels: Spatial dynamics of cultural repertoires

Source abstract

The concept of scenes offers a lens for understanding how urbanites interact with and assign meaning to neighborhoods in culturally diverse cities. Building on scenes theory, this paper examines how scenes—defined as combinations of people, place, shared values, and amenities—emerge, coexist, and operate at different scales. Drawing on 56 walking interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, I identify four scenes in Lower-Molenbeek (“Feels like Morocco,” “Flemish Diversity-seekers,” “Artist-activist,” and “Old-school Bruxellois.e.s”) and four in Matonge (“Feels like Africa/Congo,” “Diversity-seekers,” “Postcolonial,” and “Expat”). Findings show that aesthetic repertoires, the interplay of sensory cues and values, are central to understanding coexistence. Scenes are interdependent, often drawing on each other’s presence and aesthetic cues. Overall, neighborhoods display convivial coexistence, yet interactions remain rare and occur only under specific conditions. These findings suggest that vivre ensemble in superdiverse neighborhoods is fragile: symbolic appreciation rarely translates into interaction. Cohesion depends on organizations and activities that actively bridge scenes, rather than spatial proximity alone. While some scenes shape local atmospheres, others operate citywide and influence development agendas. Analyzing aesthetic repertoires alongside spatial practices provides a conceptual and methodological toolkit for understanding coexistence in diverse cities.