Manual for District Centre Managers - the ATCM

30
City of Antwerp,
District of Merksem
3.3.6 City of Antwerp
Area
Antwerp, the largest city in Flanders, consists
of nine districts. One of these districts is Merksem.
The district of Merksem takes up 4% of
the total area of the city of Antwerp. The territory
of Merksem occupies approximately 828
hectares, and it is located north of Antwerp
city.
The history of Merksem goes back to the
Gallo-Roman times. Then there was already
talk of “Merk” (border) and “Heim” (settlement)
belonging to the diocese of Cambrai.
Merksem has for centuries formed a whole
with the municipalities Schoten and Sint-Jobin-’t-Goor.
Already in the sixth or seventh century,
the Frankish colonists first settled here.
In the 16th century, Merksem separated from
Schoten.
Merksem in the early 1800s had about 750 inhabitants
and it was, up to half of the 19th century,
a rural town. From Merksem, straw was
delivered to the city of Antwerp, so the inhabitants
of Merksem are still known as the “straw
farmers”. This rural character disappeared
when industrialization began in 1874. In that
year, the land of the “Court of Merxem” was
bought by S.A. Etablissements Industriels et
commerciaux de Merxem. This company requested
and was granted permission to dig
two shipping docks. In 1891, there were close
to 16 companies located in these docks. Today,
there is still a lot of activity. Many firms find the
location at the Albert Canal a big plus.
Industrialization and the central location influenced
the growth of the district population. Today,
Merksem has nearly 41,000 inhabitants
composed of a mixed population with 78% native
inhabitants and 22% from elsewhere,
mostly from Morocco. The main shopping area
is called Bredabaan.
Initial Situation
Town Centre Management Antwerp was established
in 2000. It aims at creating a positive retail
environment and to support the development
of sound shopping areas. It is based on
the policies of an inventory of the Antwerp
shopping areas and a “Retail Urban Development
Plan”. It gives advice to decision-makers
from politics and administration, to retailers,
to urban development projects etc. and it implements
projects.
Within the MANDIE project, the neighbourhood
of “Bredabaan” is in focus. The Bredabaancentrum,
the shopping centre of Merksem,
has, since the Middle Ages, been the port of
Antwerp to the North. Bredabaan is the major
shopping area and centre for the district.
The street, together with some side streets,
stretches out for more than 2 km, and it contains
some 420 business premises. This shopping
area presents itself as a district shopping
centre and offers mostly shopping goods.
However, there is a threat of further deterioration
of the area, since a vicious circle has commenced:
Since 2007, the vacancy of business premises
has increased by 5% and counts
20% today, while shop density has decreased
by 4%. The share of “image-lower-