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Zooming in on disparities of quality of life in urban areas. A fine spatial scale perspective on Brussels by Madeleine GUYOT -
Mardi 24 juin 2025 à 16h00 - Auditoire CYCL01 - Bâtiment Marc de Hemptinne - Chemin du Cyclotron, 2 - 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve -
By 2050, 68% of the global population is projected to live in urban areas. These areas offer numerous advantages, such as proximity to services, employment opportunities, and more efficient transportation. However, urban environments also expose individuals to harmful factors, including air pollution, noise, a lack of green spaces, and predominantly sedentary lifestyles.
This thesis investigates how urban environments shape quality of life, focusing on the Brussels-Capital Region. It places particular emphasis on leveraging existing data sources to address research questions, drawing on large geospatial datasets—including institutional, modelled, and citizen-generated data. The study adopts a fine-scale, multi-scalar perspective, analysing spatial disparities in exposure to environmental amenities and nuisances at the level of individuals, households, street segments, and neighbourhoods. This exploration is grounded in a conceptual framework that links the urban environment to quality of life through the mechanisms of exposure and behaviour.
The thesis highlights both the opportunities and the methodological challenges of working with fine-resolution geospatial data. It shows that environmental inequalities are a significant obstacle to fully understanding the complex relationship between urban physical environment and quality of life. The findings underline also the need to prioritize the improvement of urban environments for vulnerable populations, not only for public health but also for social justice. However, such efforts must be carefully designed to avoid gentrification, which risks reproducing the very inequalities they aim to reduce.
Jury members :
Prof. Isabelle Thomas (UCLouvain) (Promotrice)
Prof. Sophie O. Vanwambeke (UCLouvain) (Promotrice)
Prof. Kristof Van Oost (UCLouvain) (Président)
Prof. Patrick Meyfroidt (UCLouvain) (Secrétaire)
Prof. Brendan Coolsaet (UCLouvain)
Prof. Catherine Bouland (ULB, Belg.)
Prof. Julie Vallée (LISST, Toulouse, Fr.)
Pay attention, the public defense of Madeleine GUYOT will also take place in the form of a videoconference
