2.1. Overview of the Industrial Development in Belgium

Belgium has a rich industrial past. An important landmark for Belgian heritage to mark out has been the first steal engine, inspired by T. Newcomen, which was succeeded by another one around the regions of Mons and Charleroi. During the period of the French domination (1795 to 1814), coal was mainly mined in the Borinage surroundings (province of Hainaut). From 1795 to 1814, coal was mined in the Borinage (southwest of Mons) to feed Paris via the river network, under the French administration. Based on the foundation of the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution of Belgium was the engine^[8]. Around the 1800s, William Koclear set up the first factory in Seraing, near Liege, from which the Belgian Industrial Revolution began (Figure 2).

The regional distribution of the Industrial Revolution center in Belgium is presented in Table 1.

But Belgian heavy industry took off during the Dutch rule of the country from 1815 to 1830. Notwithstanding, Belgian heavy industry took off during the Dutch rule of the country of the period 1815 to 1830. At the same period, William I, supported by J. Cockerill, exploited the activities around the textile machinery. At the end of the 18th century. Due to the introduction of the steam engine. Belgium was the first continental country into the Industrial Revolution. It started by industrializing the textile industry in Ghent (cotton) and Verviers (wool).

As the first industrialized country on the European continent, Belgium quickly followed in Britain’s footsteps. However, only by the end of the 19th century, did industry and industrialized work become more important than agriculture and artisanal production. This becomes clear when looking at the employment figures. In 1846, the industrial census noted 90,000 industrial workers, or 4% of the total working population, whereas, by 1910, the industry employed nearly half of the working population. This perception of Belgium being a rapidly industrializing country was mainly due to coal mining and the metal and textile industry; the remains of Belgium’s industrial past are characterized by a great diversity ^[9][22]. Before this period, Belgium was a traditional industrial country in Europe^[10].

The first Industrial Revolution witnessed clusters of industrial activities located near the natural resources and raw materials. Liège already had exploited proto-industry with forges and gun manufacturing, while Charleroi was predominated in nail factories, so they were able to embrace coal mining, steel, and other metal activities extensively, which led to population movements from the countryside for job opportunities. From the other side, the canal of Brussels-Charleroi was inaugurated in 1832 by linking the mines to the North Sea through the city of Brussels (Figure 3)^[11].

Figure 3. The Brussels-Charleroi canal, 1966.

At the same time, the center of Belgium, and in particular the part of its connection with the city of Antwerp, was gaining momentum with new industrialized activity. Antwerp and the port of Liege were gradually becoming the key logistics pivot of Belgium even for the whole of Western Europe (Figure 4) ^[12][25].

After the First World War, the arrival of Ford and General Motors to Antwerp and Renault to Brussels was an important step for the industrialized activities of Belgium, while in 1917 the coal finding in Limburg (eastern Belgium) marked a new era. However, this evolution was ceased during the internal crisis of the 1930s^[11].

After the Second World War, the ‘heavy’ industrialized and intensive activities in the Walloon region seemed competitive; nonetheless, very soon the weaknesses and the need for modernization became apparent ^[11].

3.2. Inspection and Research Institutions for Industrial Heritage

The industry was engine by economic power primarily. However, the development path of industrial heritage was influenced by industrial heritage inspection and research institutions^[13], for instance, the UNESCO assessed a set of industrial heritage list to protect the industrial sites in the range of the world. The industrial sites on the list can take higher-level protection than before. To have a comprehensive understanding of the development status of industrial heritage in each region, it is also necessary to understand the status quo of their own internal industrial heritage research institutions. The Industrial Revolution of the U.K. spends 50 years to spread into Belgium. Nonetheless, Belgium started an industry heritage investigation, followed by the U.K. tidy ^[14].

In 1970, Georges van den Abeelen created the industrial archaeology center, it was a trigger for industrial inspection and record subject in Belgium ^[12]. Meanwhile, it was where the exhibition man and machine were held in Brussels two years later supported by historians and archaeologists from different fields.

In Flanders, the VVIA (1978) had an important role on the national level and eventually represented the whole country at the issue of inspection and recording of the Belgian industrial heritage^[15]. After an extensive analysis of research projects, and reports in 1984, based on the VVIA, the PIWB and TICCIH Belgium were established ^[16] as a triangular relationship. This is a unique situation in Western European countries (Table 2). Each institution is doing inspections and records for industrial heritages in their regionals.

Take the PIWB as an example, it was established at the time of the rise of industrial heritage protection in Belgium. In the early stage, its work mainly focused on the publicity of the restored sites and promoting the social protection of potential sites. With the advancement of research and the development of industrial tourism, the work of the PIWB has become diversified and the related fields have become wider. They began to pay attention to the relationship between industry and human beings. Meanwhile, the concept of industrial archaeology was expanding considerably, calling for vigilance extended to other fields—ancestral technologies and proto-industries, tangible as well as intangible heritage, oral history.

3.3. Industrial Heritage in Belgium

As previously mentioned, ‘industrialization’ has had different impacts leading to significant changes in the urban, social and cultural environment (for instance, greater density and more compact urban areas, population moves, etc.)., thus contributing to the typical 20th-century urban settlement^[17]. The classification of territory as ‘industrial’ implied a qualitative perception, in which territory and industrial infrastructures were analyzed from a functional, cultural, and historic angle^[18]. In this sense, and according to Borsi ^[19] the industrial landscape is “the landscape resultant from a thoughtful and systematic activity of man in the natural or agricultural landscape with the aim of developing activities related to the industry”. This definition enabled the recognition of an entire landscape as a single “element”, allowing the expansion of the conception of its conservation to accommodate “recognized patterns of activity in time and place” ^[20].

Based on the ERIH, this research categorized the industrial heritage of Belgium (Table 3). Listing the most important elements of the Belgian industrial heritage, we observe that Belgium scatters its heritage in every corner with a variety of categories (Table 4).

Table 4. Main elements of the Belgian industrial heritage.

dustrial Heritage	Description	Illustration
Blégny Mine	Located between Liège and Maastricht, Blegny-Mine is one of the four authentic coal mines in Europe with underground galleries accessible for the visitors through the original shaft
Museum Plantin-Moretus	The world’s oldest surviving printing works is a work of art in itself
Val St-Lambert	The Belgian glassware that took the world by storm a century ago
Speelkaartmuseum	The huge scale of machines once required to make playing cards
Le Bois du Cazier	A slag heap in archetypal post-industrial Charleroi
Canals of the Borinage	Remarkable ship-lifts, old and new
Centre Touristique de la Laine et de la Mode	A fascinating textile museum

Most of them were renewed properly and 6 of them were added to the world heritage (UNESCO) (Figure 5)^[21]. On the one hand, redeveloping these heritages to cultural or other types of activities through adaptable architectonic interventions, while on the other hand, surveying and analyzing their conservation and renewal paths are a benefit for urban regeneration and the science of human settlement. UNESCO promotes at the same time the identification, conservation, and preservation of the world heritage as an outstanding value to humanity. Europe is particularly well represented on the list of heritage sites, as is Belgium (Figure 6)^[22].

Figure 5. The UNESCO-world heritage and Industrial heritage landmarks in Belgium.

Figure 6. Industrial heritage in Wallonia counting.

In addition, we can identify many industrial wastelands in the Walloon territory. Yet, there has not been a detailed existing inventory of an architectural and heritage interest but only according to several categories resulting from past production. We can easily see that the latter is located on the Croissant Houiller with the major urban centers of Charleroi and Mons (Figure 6).

3.3.1. Pre-Industrialization Heritage

The origins of the industrialized activities in Belgium find their earliest traces already back to the late Middle Ages, where industries prosper with some of the resulting production exported outside the Walloon territory, for instance, Dinant, which was an important center for brass working, and focused on the raw materials trade from England and Germany. From the other side, in Nivelles and in the west of the Comté de Hainaut, the linen industry was experienced, as well. Furthermore, master ironworkers developed new processes with records back to 1320. During the 16th century (noticed as the ‘metalworking period’), the prosperity, especially in Wallonia continued, where one of the densest steel regions of the western Europe was established; during the same period, two hundred factories operated in Wallonia (Figure 7), while the coal production was increased considerably in Liège. At the same time, the textile industry began its expansion in the region of Verviers and new glass industrial activity was developed in Hainaut and part of Brabant. Later, during the 17th century, the war struck all business activities, and with its end, the manufacture of nails, gunpowder, weapons, and coal export were increased, while the glass industry from 1650 and onwards was developed around Charleroi and Jumet^[23].

Figure 7. Geographical distribution of Walloon industries, 1680.

The earlier industry heritage was called pre-industrialization heritage, the representation in Belgium is the wool textile factory heritage ^[8][24]. During this period, the country has developed a vibrant trading tradition focused basically on the textile production, which flourished in Flanders and the iron processing in Wallonia. These key branches had been the prerequisites for the industrialization era, which followed. Indeed, Belgians maintained intensively the connection with Great Britain and in 1720 the first steam engine went into action near the region of Liège, a model inspired by T. Newcomen which used to draw out wastewater from coal mining. This engine was succeeded later by another one around the areas of Mons and Charleroi boosting rapidly the coal and steel industrial activity. Later, in 1792, the country was dominated by Napoleon, who introduced the trade freedom and the market was flourished up in France^[25].In the middle ages, the regions of Flanders and Brabant were the centers of the production of wool fabrics, and the division of labor was very meticulous. After the 16th century, Belgium’s cottage industry became more and more prosperous and became the real foundation of Belgium’s industrial development in the 18th century, for instance, the museum of industry (Ghent) (Figure 8)^[26].

Figure 8. Aerial view of UCO Desmet-Guequier, 1948.

Because of its developed textile industry, Ghent developed from the end of the eighteenth century into an important center of the textile industry in Belgium ^[27]. During this period, the factory buildings were almost re-built from monasteries. Because the textile machine needs a bright and spacious space for running.

3.3.2. Industrialized Period from 1802 to the 1890s

The year 1802 is generally regarded as the beginning of the modern industry in Belgium^[28]. After that, trade volume and production capacity stimulated each other and entered a period of rapid growth. At the end of the 19s, Belgium appeared numerous beer factories, giant bridges, transportation hubs, and so on, for instance, before the First World War, Belgium had more than 3000 beer factories ^[29]. Nonetheless, due to the large-scale expansion in this period, the design and construction of industrial buildings had not gone through too much serious thinking and deliberation. Almost no one studies what materials should be used and what forms should be adopted for these buildings. Therefore, in this period, the industrial buildings had a similar appearance to general public buildings^[28].

After the Belgian Independence Movement. The Belgian government attempted to raise the level for Antwerp in international cross-border trade, compared with Rotterdam and Hamburger^[30][31]. They built several transportation connection facilities with other central industrial cities in Antwerp. Established a sea transportation base and raw material import center for Wallonie’s heavy industry.

According to this condition, Antwerp has a large number of industrial constructions, including warehouses, canals, railways, shipyards, dockyards, and so on. In the first half of the 20th century, two World Wars broke out, which objectively promoted the rapid discrepancy transformation of the Belgian industry between Wallonie and Flanders^[32]. After the end of this period, the Belgian industry building got a wide range of influence from internationalization. It began to try to use new building materials, including prestressed reinforced concrete, steel, glass, and so on. The style of industrial buildings and the use of materials began to connect with the world.

3.2. A Focus in the Case of Belgium

In Belgium, not only locomotives and carriages, but also railways and stations were got a reservation, for instance, the Tramway Historique Lobbes-Thuin railway heritage which is one of the most aging tourism railways in Western Europe. Managing by ASVI. It includes trains, railways, stations, and service facilities. Tourists to the line can inspect the vehicles not currently in use in a large showroom (Figure 9)^[36].

Figure 9. Showroom for vehicles display.

They can also take an old train through picturesque wooded countryside, passing the notable churches and terraced gardens and a belfry at Thuin (Figure 10)^[36].

Figure 10. Train experience.

When talking about industrial heritage in Belgium, the mining heritage is an inextricable part. In this study, Wallonie is the representative case in Belgium. In 1720, a new air pressure pump was installed in the Liege coal mine area for the first time ^[37]. In 1814, Mons-Charleroi had an extraordinarily burgeoning in mining with more than 400 mining areas. The annual output had reached 1 million tons. This situation brought oceans of mining heritages after the industry-transforming^[38]. Nonetheless, due to its huge area of land, and the lack of decoration outside, this phenomenon led to the rejection of the people for a long period. A typical mining heritage influences people is even more than that of a medieval church because this mining played an important role in promoting social development and economic prosperity.

Instead of demolishing these heritages, it is better to transform and renewal them, retain the imprint of industrial development, and make them continue to serve modern life. Therefore, the Belgian society reusing and conserving them selectively and gradually. Some of their pits have formed their microclimate, and many are rich in animal and plant life^[39]. It is a route to preserve and develop ecotourism projects. Tourists can explore their unique landscape and eco-system while climbing the pit, and also experience the industry history in Belgium by tourists themselves ^[40]. Such as the project the trail of the pit in the Walloon region, a kind of reusing in eco-tourism for industrial heritage, which became very popular in Belgium^[41].

Complementary to the common status of the conservation brownfield, the reconstruction of the ecological environment. There are also challenging and bold attempts. A large number of mines, tunnels, factories, and industrial facilities have become the material evidence for reserving the history of Belgium, for instance, the Blegny-Mine world heritage site museum which has been listing in the UNESCO world heritage sites (Figure 11)^[42][43].

Figure 11. Aerial view of Blegny-Mine.

When it closed in 1980, the Blegny-Mine was the oldest and last remaining mine in the Liege district. The famous feature of that is tourists can experience the whole mining progress by old facilities. Like how workers did before 200 years. The museum has an intact mining assembly line. Tourists can go underground by a cage (Figure 12)^[43].

Figure 12. The underground operation area of Blegny-Mine.

Understanding the whole mining process by various forms of tour introductions, for instance, infrared-guided audio tours, lighting effects, animations, authentic reconstructions, and an exciting media show that stages the origin of the coal. The museum has multifaction facilities, tourists can not only take a scientific tour but also can take a walk on the stone heap, playgrounds, a petting zoo, a mini-train, or even a boat trip to Liege. It offers various tourism choices for families. As one of the 4 major mining sites of Wallonia recognized the UNESCO world heritage, and a site of regional industrial route “Route of Fire”, Blegny-Mine plays an important role in the industrial heritage system in Belgium.

Belgium’s industrial heritage protection takes various types of industrial museums as an important way of protection, preserving the original state of industrialization, reflecting and inheriting the achievements of industrial civilization. As a new form of special tourism with historical nostalgia and popular science experience as the main motivation and the integration of industry and tourism, industrial tourism in Belgium has not developed for a long time and has the smallest area of territory. However, compared with the traditional industrial tourism powers surrounding, Belgium has the highest density of industrial heritage tourism projects (Table 5).