Revitalizing a post-industrial region, across borders

In 2011, the Alzette Belval Operation of National Interest, an international initiative spanning borders, was launched. The French project is both dependent on and designed in tandem with the Luxembourgian project at Esch-Belval. The Master Plan and accompanying action plan are developed through close study of all existing landscape structures and environmental systems in the area, in order to better highlight and enhance them for the benefit of the entire region. This context-driven approach aims to celebrate the natural and cultural heritage of abandoned industrial sites, shifting perceptions by remaking these spaces. Together, the natural landscape formations and the reclaimed “artificial” environments, left behind by industrial structures, become the building blocks for a new, region-wide landscape system. These decommissioned sites have been repopulated with pioneer species, creating vast, brand new environments. Four new landscapes play a central role in unveiling once-hidden spaces and forging connections: the cross-border agricultural park in the Plaine de Beler, the basin park, the Micheville brownfield site reimagined as a naturalistic park, and abandoned train tracks are transformed into a network of greenways.