Nevertheless, the main aim is still theoretical: to link the realisation of infrastructure projects to processes of urbanization using a historical perspective. With From Flux to Frame Van Acker presents a popularized version of his dissertation. The pedestrian spine has been the backbone for the development of compact neighbourhoods on each sides and of a shopping mall directly linked to the railway station.This contribution endeavours to show how these initial aims have been pursued over almost half a century and what are the present perspectives.

Uncertainty about future growth led to a linear form of development along a pedestrian spine and a string of small squares, to priority being given to access by public transport - thanks to the national railways’ investment in a new sub-surface station - and to the collection of storm water into a reservoir, treated as a lake. Its urban model was directly inspired by the town of Louvain with its mix of land uses, in contrast to the functionalist approach in which different land uses are kept separate. The new university town of Louvain-la-Neuve originated from the 1968 decision of the French-speaking university to leave the old town of Louvain (Leuven in Dutch) and to acquire farmland south of Brussels in order to create a new town.

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