Pascal De Decker
Biographic Data
| ID | 312668 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Pascal De Decker |
| GIVEN NAMES | Pascal |
| FAMILY NAME | De Decker |
| SIGNATURE | DE DECKER P |
| AFFILIATIONS | KU Leuven |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0166-3319 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 161 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Does Increasing Ethnic Diversity Challenge the Rural Idyll? An Analysis of Frames on Ethnic Diversity in Relation to Rurality in the Flemish Written Press (Belgium)
The social construction of rurality remains a collective fantasy of a safe, green, ethnically homogeneous environment. This fantasy, called “the rural idyll,” still dominates the way in which people give meaning to their lives, the lives of others, and the places where they live. This idyll is based on an interrelated urban/ethnic diverse versus rural/white dichotomy, even as rural areas are in fact becoming more ethnically diverse. The question …
Living and working in the (post-pandemic) city
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Work from home (WFH) received much public attention. Imposing such a measure was feasible in the context of labour markets’ flexibilisation, which has reshaped urban live-work relationships. However, the pandemic’s effects on those relationships have rarely been explored in housing and planning studies. This paper draws a research agenda based on a literature review of the changes in urban live-work relationships, wh…
Ontologies of live-work mix in Amsterdam, Brussels and Stockholm
This paper examines the impact of institutional frameworks on ontologies of ‘live-work mix’, i.e. the renewed intertwining of residential and economic uses in urban developments. We aim to understand how local housing and planning regimes influence the nature of live-work mix by comparing three contrasting institutional frameworks (Amsterdam, Brussels, Stockholm), using an institutionalist approach to governance drawing on the concept of path dep…
Regionalised sprawl
Being recognised as the predominant urban pattern of the twenty-first century, suburbanisation is a global phenomenon that is characteristically regionalised: time- and site-specific factors and conditions differently shape its emergence in different locations. Post-suburbia and suburban governance are two analytical perspectives that are used to account for the global and regionalised character of suburbanisation. However, conceptualising suburb…
Remote sociophonetic data collection
When the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person data collection, many linguists adopted modern technologies to replace traditional methods, including speaker-led options in which participants record themselves using their own personal computers or smartphones and then email or upload the sound files to online storage sites for researchers to retrieve later. This study evaluated the suitability of such 'home-made' recordings for phonetic analysis of v…
Beyond nostalgia
Leaving an Institution in Flanders (Belgium)
People living in an institution will leave this residential context one day and have to proceed to a stable independent way of living. This transition is not without difficulties as it turns out this socially vulnerable group runs an increased risk of becoming homeless. Research in Flanders (Belgium) has shown that a considerable share of the homeless population has previously stayed in an institutional setting, mostly in youth care (48.7%), psyc…
An evaluation of noise on LPC-based vowel formant estimates
Current trends in sociophonetic data analysis indicate a shift to entirely automatic measurements of spectral properties using programs like Praat. While such practices are useful for the rapid collection of acoustic data from large corpora, they, by default do not permit human analysts to provide quality control or make hand corrected measurements when needed. Under ideal signal-to-noise conditions, such as in a sound-proof room, this may not be…
Changing Inequalities in Housing Outcomes across Western Europe
We evaluate to what extent the financialization of housing is associated with changing inequalities in housing outcomes for low-income owners and private renters, using data for two time points (1995 and 2012) for 11–13 western European countries. We find that in countries with a more commodified housing regime, low-income respondents experience more affordability problems (resulting in a wider gap with middle-income respondents), but better hous…
Staying Put! A Housing Pathway Analysis of Residential Stability in Belgium
Governments all over the world try to influence in one way or another the residential mobility of their citizens. This article takes the vantage point of why Belgians do not want to change residence a lot and how they actually succeed in doing this. We claim that the framework of a housing pathways approach helps to get to grips with the historically built-up archive of normalizing discourses and practices related to housing and diverse other dom…
Geographies of Whiteness and Wealth
While policy makers in different parts of the world are worried about the supposedly negative consequences of spatial concentrations of ethnic minorities and/or disadvantaged people, researchers continue the debate about the desirability and feasibility of social mix. In this article, we add to this literature by focusing on the often neglected, but crucial practices and discourses of the privileged in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Drawing on…
Chaotic, fluid and unstable
K. Arthurson
Are tense [æ]s really tense? The mapping between articulation and acoustics
Understanding Housing Sprawl
Between 1995 and 1999 the Flemish government succeeded in approving pieces of legislation intended to counter the spatial developments that had characterised the preceding periods, namely suburbanisation and urban decay. It passed a law to combat vacancy and slum housing (1995), a law to invest in social urban renewal (1996), a housing law (1997), a new law on spatial planning (1999), and the first comprehensive spatial plan (1997). Unfortunately…
Home-ownership and asset-based welfare
In this article, using policy documents and both qualitative and quantitative data sources, we evaluate the extent to which the Belgian welfare system conforms to trends towards asset-based welfare involving the promotion of home-ownership as an alternative to social security provision. We conclude that, following the explicit and ongoing sponsorship of home-ownership since the end of the 19th century, in Belgium, an asset-based approach to welfa…
Social Mix and Passive Revolution. A Neo-Gramscian Analysis of the Social Mix Rhetoric in Flanders, Belgium
Belgium's housing policy has always been instrumental in the pillarisation process. As a consequence, two competing historical models have existed: first, a model promoted by the socialist pillar based on social rental housing in urban settings; second, the model put forward by the hegemonic Catholic party, emphasising the promotion of homeownership of single-family dwellings in rural settings. When this second, anti-urban model, became the main …
Ob padcu utopije
At the fall of Utopia
Facets of housing and housing policies in Belgium
It seems that many Belgian cities are doing well. Their population is increasing, numerous urban projects are under way, and masses of construction sites testify to effective realisations. And the inner cities are swamped with tourists and visitors attracted by the historical monuments and leisure activities. Is the 21st century indeed becoming the era of the city, as a White Book on urban policies predicts? Or is some modification of that predic…
Revitalizing the City in an Anti-Urban Context
After the 1995 elections, Flanders' first Minister of Urban Policy was appointed. The development of an urban policy during the second half of the 1990s in this region is incontestably linked to the election victories of the extreme right party, Vlaams Blok, in the bigger cities (particularly Antwerp and Gent). After a brief presentation of the geography of local elections, we try to explain this. This involves making the links between long-term …
The creation of the incapable social tenant in Flanders, Belgium. An appraisal
The Challenge of Planned Urbanisation. Urbanism and National Urbanisation Policy in the Netherlands in a Northwest European Perspective, Marco Bontje
On the Genesis of Social Rental Agencies in Belgium
A combination of historical housing policy options together with the housing consequences of the economic crisis and the changes in household structure led to a major housing crisis in Belgium during the 1980s. Since the Belgian government, hampered by severe budget constraints and the paralysing consequences of restructuring, was not able to deal with these new problems, grassroots organisations took the lead in formulating solutions—hence the s…
Changing Inequalities in Housing Outcomes across Western Europe
We evaluate to what extent the financialization of housing is associated with changing inequalities in housing outcomes for low-income owners and private renters, using data for two time points (1995 and 2012) for 11–13 western European countries. We find that in countries with a more commodified housing regime, low-income respondents experience more affordability problems (resulting in a wider gap with middle-income respondents), but better hous…
Geographies of Whiteness and Wealth
While policy makers in different parts of the world are worried about the supposedly negative consequences of spatial concentrations of ethnic minorities and/or disadvantaged people, researchers continue the debate about the desirability and feasibility of social mix. In this article, we add to this literature by focusing on the often neglected, but crucial practices and discourses of the privileged in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Drawing on…
Revitalizing the City in an Anti-Urban Context
After the 1995 elections, Flanders' first Minister of Urban Policy was appointed. The development of an urban policy during the second half of the 1990s in this region is incontestably linked to the election victories of the extreme right party, Vlaams Blok, in the bigger cities (particularly Antwerp and Gent). After a brief presentation of the geography of local elections, we try to explain this. This involves making the links between long-term …
Understanding Housing Sprawl
Between 1995 and 1999 the Flemish government succeeded in approving pieces of legislation intended to counter the spatial developments that had characterised the preceding periods, namely suburbanisation and urban decay. It passed a law to combat vacancy and slum housing (1995), a law to invest in social urban renewal (1996), a housing law (1997), a new law on spatial planning (1999), and the first comprehensive spatial plan (1997). Unfortunately…
Home-ownership and asset-based welfare
In this article, using policy documents and both qualitative and quantitative data sources, we evaluate the extent to which the Belgian welfare system conforms to trends towards asset-based welfare involving the promotion of home-ownership as an alternative to social security provision. We conclude that, following the explicit and ongoing sponsorship of home-ownership since the end of the 19th century, in Belgium, an asset-based approach to welfa…
Facets of housing and housing policies in Belgium
It seems that many Belgian cities are doing well. Their population is increasing, numerous urban projects are under way, and masses of construction sites testify to effective realisations. And the inner cities are swamped with tourists and visitors attracted by the historical monuments and leisure activities. Is the 21st century indeed becoming the era of the city, as a White Book on urban policies predicts? Or is some modification of that predic…
Staying Put! A Housing Pathway Analysis of Residential Stability in Belgium
Governments all over the world try to influence in one way or another the residential mobility of their citizens. This article takes the vantage point of why Belgians do not want to change residence a lot and how they actually succeed in doing this. We claim that the framework of a housing pathways approach helps to get to grips with the historically built-up archive of normalizing discourses and practices related to housing and diverse other dom…
Social Mix and Passive Revolution. A Neo-Gramscian Analysis of the Social Mix Rhetoric in Flanders, Belgium
Belgium's housing policy has always been instrumental in the pillarisation process. As a consequence, two competing historical models have existed: first, a model promoted by the socialist pillar based on social rental housing in urban settings; second, the model put forward by the hegemonic Catholic party, emphasising the promotion of homeownership of single-family dwellings in rural settings. When this second, anti-urban model, became the main …
The creation of the incapable social tenant in Flanders, Belgium. An appraisal
Are tense [æ]s really tense? The mapping between articulation and acoustics
On the Genesis of Social Rental Agencies in Belgium
A combination of historical housing policy options together with the housing consequences of the economic crisis and the changes in household structure led to a major housing crisis in Belgium during the 1980s. Since the Belgian government, hampered by severe budget constraints and the paralysing consequences of restructuring, was not able to deal with these new problems, grassroots organisations took the lead in formulating solutions—hence the s…
Living and working in the (post-pandemic) city
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Work from home (WFH) received much public attention. Imposing such a measure was feasible in the context of labour markets’ flexibilisation, which has reshaped urban live-work relationships. However, the pandemic’s effects on those relationships have rarely been explored in housing and planning studies. This paper draws a research agenda based on a literature review of the changes in urban live-work relationships, wh…
Chaotic, fluid and unstable
Beyond nostalgia
Leaving an Institution in Flanders (Belgium)
People living in an institution will leave this residential context one day and have to proceed to a stable independent way of living. This transition is not without difficulties as it turns out this socially vulnerable group runs an increased risk of becoming homeless. Research in Flanders (Belgium) has shown that a considerable share of the homeless population has previously stayed in an institutional setting, mostly in youth care (48.7%), psyc…
On the Genesis of Social Rental Agencies in Belgium
A combination of historical housing policy options together with the housing consequences of the economic crisis and the changes in household structure led to a major housing crisis in Belgium during the 1980s. Since the Belgian government, hampered by severe budget constraints and the paralysing consequences of restructuring, was not able to deal with these new problems, grassroots organisations took the lead in formulating solutions—hence the s…
The Challenge of Planned Urbanisation. Urbanism and National Urbanisation Policy in the Netherlands in a Northwest European Perspective, Marco Bontje
The creation of the incapable social tenant in Flanders, Belgium. An appraisal
Revitalizing the City in an Anti-Urban Context
After the 1995 elections, Flanders' first Minister of Urban Policy was appointed. The development of an urban policy during the second half of the 1990s in this region is incontestably linked to the election victories of the extreme right party, Vlaams Blok, in the bigger cities (particularly Antwerp and Gent). After a brief presentation of the geography of local elections, we try to explain this. This involves making the links between long-term …
Facets of housing and housing policies in Belgium
It seems that many Belgian cities are doing well. Their population is increasing, numerous urban projects are under way, and masses of construction sites testify to effective realisations. And the inner cities are swamped with tourists and visitors attracted by the historical monuments and leisure activities. Is the 21st century indeed becoming the era of the city, as a White Book on urban policies predicts? Or is some modification of that predic…
Ob padcu utopije
At the fall of Utopia
Home-ownership and asset-based welfare
In this article, using policy documents and both qualitative and quantitative data sources, we evaluate the extent to which the Belgian welfare system conforms to trends towards asset-based welfare involving the promotion of home-ownership as an alternative to social security provision. We conclude that, following the explicit and ongoing sponsorship of home-ownership since the end of the 19th century, in Belgium, an asset-based approach to welfa…
Social Mix and Passive Revolution. A Neo-Gramscian Analysis of the Social Mix Rhetoric in Flanders, Belgium
Belgium's housing policy has always been instrumental in the pillarisation process. As a consequence, two competing historical models have existed: first, a model promoted by the socialist pillar based on social rental housing in urban settings; second, the model put forward by the hegemonic Catholic party, emphasising the promotion of homeownership of single-family dwellings in rural settings. When this second, anti-urban model, became the main …
Understanding Housing Sprawl
Between 1995 and 1999 the Flemish government succeeded in approving pieces of legislation intended to counter the spatial developments that had characterised the preceding periods, namely suburbanisation and urban decay. It passed a law to combat vacancy and slum housing (1995), a law to invest in social urban renewal (1996), a housing law (1997), a new law on spatial planning (1999), and the first comprehensive spatial plan (1997). Unfortunately…
Are tense [æ]s really tense? The mapping between articulation and acoustics
Chaotic, fluid and unstable
K. Arthurson
Geographies of Whiteness and Wealth
While policy makers in different parts of the world are worried about the supposedly negative consequences of spatial concentrations of ethnic minorities and/or disadvantaged people, researchers continue the debate about the desirability and feasibility of social mix. In this article, we add to this literature by focusing on the often neglected, but crucial practices and discourses of the privileged in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Drawing on…
Changing Inequalities in Housing Outcomes across Western Europe
We evaluate to what extent the financialization of housing is associated with changing inequalities in housing outcomes for low-income owners and private renters, using data for two time points (1995 and 2012) for 11–13 western European countries. We find that in countries with a more commodified housing regime, low-income respondents experience more affordability problems (resulting in a wider gap with middle-income respondents), but better hous…
Staying Put! A Housing Pathway Analysis of Residential Stability in Belgium
Governments all over the world try to influence in one way or another the residential mobility of their citizens. This article takes the vantage point of why Belgians do not want to change residence a lot and how they actually succeed in doing this. We claim that the framework of a housing pathways approach helps to get to grips with the historically built-up archive of normalizing discourses and practices related to housing and diverse other dom…
An evaluation of noise on LPC-based vowel formant estimates
Current trends in sociophonetic data analysis indicate a shift to entirely automatic measurements of spectral properties using programs like Praat. While such practices are useful for the rapid collection of acoustic data from large corpora, they, by default do not permit human analysts to provide quality control or make hand corrected measurements when needed. Under ideal signal-to-noise conditions, such as in a sound-proof room, this may not be…
Leaving an Institution in Flanders (Belgium)
People living in an institution will leave this residential context one day and have to proceed to a stable independent way of living. This transition is not without difficulties as it turns out this socially vulnerable group runs an increased risk of becoming homeless. Research in Flanders (Belgium) has shown that a considerable share of the homeless population has previously stayed in an institutional setting, mostly in youth care (48.7%), psyc…
Beyond nostalgia
Regionalised sprawl
Being recognised as the predominant urban pattern of the twenty-first century, suburbanisation is a global phenomenon that is characteristically regionalised: time- and site-specific factors and conditions differently shape its emergence in different locations. Post-suburbia and suburban governance are two analytical perspectives that are used to account for the global and regionalised character of suburbanisation. However, conceptualising suburb…
Remote sociophonetic data collection
When the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person data collection, many linguists adopted modern technologies to replace traditional methods, including speaker-led options in which participants record themselves using their own personal computers or smartphones and then email or upload the sound files to online storage sites for researchers to retrieve later. This study evaluated the suitability of such 'home-made' recordings for phonetic analysis of v…
Ontologies of live-work mix in Amsterdam, Brussels and Stockholm
This paper examines the impact of institutional frameworks on ontologies of ‘live-work mix’, i.e. the renewed intertwining of residential and economic uses in urban developments. We aim to understand how local housing and planning regimes influence the nature of live-work mix by comparing three contrasting institutional frameworks (Amsterdam, Brussels, Stockholm), using an institutionalist approach to governance drawing on the concept of path dep…
Living and working in the (post-pandemic) city
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Work from home (WFH) received much public attention. Imposing such a measure was feasible in the context of labour markets’ flexibilisation, which has reshaped urban live-work relationships. However, the pandemic’s effects on those relationships have rarely been explored in housing and planning studies. This paper draws a research agenda based on a literature review of the changes in urban live-work relationships, wh…
Does Increasing Ethnic Diversity Challenge the Rural Idyll? An Analysis of Frames on Ethnic Diversity in Relation to Rurality in the Flemish Written Press (Belgium)
The social construction of rurality remains a collective fantasy of a safe, green, ethnically homogeneous environment. This fantasy, called “the rural idyll,” still dominates the way in which people give meaning to their lives, the lives of others, and the places where they live. This idyll is based on an interrelated urban/ethnic diverse versus rural/white dichotomy, even as rural areas are in fact becoming more ethnically diverse. The question …
Political science (18 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Economics (13 works) · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism (12 works) · Economic growth (11 works) · Law (9 works) · Urban Planning and Governance (8 works) · Geography (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Urbanization and City Planning (7 works)