I hate the -gem neologisms like Lievegem and Pajottegem. We haven’t naturally formed place names like that for centuries. I get that they’re trying to make it sound like their municipalities have historical names, but it just sounds artificial.
The suggestions with Pajottenland (I think Zuid-Pajottenland was one of them) were much better. That’s an actual historical name.
Even the ones that are just the two old names with a dash inbetween are better. At least they make it clear that the municipalities are just a level of government, which comprises multiple towns for efficiency, and the individual towns still exist and people still feel connected to them.
The Netherlands is much better in that regard. They have huge municipalities, but e.g. a journalist will say something happened (like a car crash or whatever) in Sas van Gent in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen instead of writing Terneuzen because that’s the municipality Sas van Gent is part of. Unless of course the municipal government is actually relevant. In Belgium a journalist will often write something happened in Merelbeke-Melle when it’s literally fewer words to just say whether it happened in Merelbeke or Melle (or another town in that municipality). Less information for no reason.
It’s like some people believe the old places stop existing and get replaced by a large blob of houses near the geographical center of the new municipality. No, it’s just the government that changes.
What bothers me with this is that at least for one of those fusions it’s done against the wishes ofvthe population and only done to get rid off some of the debts as in distribution of the debts to every person in Flanders while there is little to no real improvement for the inhabitants
I think some of these fusions are fine but most are just atrocious.
* Hasselt and Kortessem: seriously, why? They are only joined by an ultra-small strip of land, the towns aren’t even close together.
* Antwerpen-Borsbeek: not a necessary function, but this one feels mostly like a way for Antwerp to lessen their debts – because this is based on their population, they get a HUGE financial bonus.
* Borgloon-Tongeren: two historic cities, it’s a huge shame that Borgloon, the historical capital of what’s now Limburg, will cease to exist as an independent entity after more than a 1,000 years due to the greed of some local parties.
* Bilzen-Hoeselt: seems pretty okay to me, makes sense, though the new community is suddenly VERY large with 40k inhabitants.
* Merelbeke-Melle: the same as above.
* Nazareth-De Pinte: one of the more sensible fusions imo.
* Ham-Tessenderlo: this one is also okay.
* Lochristi-Wachtebeke and Lokeren-Moerbeke: Wachtebeke and Moerbeke would have been much better off fusing with each other and with Stekene maybe. It’s crazy how some people in Moerbeke now have to drive 20 minutes just to get their documents in order.
* Beveren-Zwijndrecht-Kruibeke: this one looks aesthetically pleasing on a map, but that’s about the only nice thing I have to say about it.
* Pajottegem: also makes sense despite the terrible name. Part of me believes that Pepingen was deliberately left out of this one so they can get the exact same big bonus in 2030.
* Wingene-Ruiselede: makes sense geographically, Ruiselede would have become just another small ‘deelgemeente’ if they fused with Aalter or Tielt. Howevwr: the new municipality is weirdly long, it borders East Flanders yet reaches into the heart of West Flanders.
* Tielt-Meulebeke: again, Tielt was big enough, Meulebeke should have fused with Pittem, Ardooie and Oostrozebeke imo. This looks weird on a map, and for a reason.
4 comments
I hate the -gem neologisms like Lievegem and Pajottegem. We haven’t naturally formed place names like that for centuries. I get that they’re trying to make it sound like their municipalities have historical names, but it just sounds artificial.
The suggestions with Pajottenland (I think Zuid-Pajottenland was one of them) were much better. That’s an actual historical name.
Even the ones that are just the two old names with a dash inbetween are better. At least they make it clear that the municipalities are just a level of government, which comprises multiple towns for efficiency, and the individual towns still exist and people still feel connected to them.
The Netherlands is much better in that regard. They have huge municipalities, but e.g. a journalist will say something happened (like a car crash or whatever) in Sas van Gent in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen instead of writing Terneuzen because that’s the municipality Sas van Gent is part of. Unless of course the municipal government is actually relevant. In Belgium a journalist will often write something happened in Merelbeke-Melle when it’s literally fewer words to just say whether it happened in Merelbeke or Melle (or another town in that municipality). Less information for no reason.
It’s like some people believe the old places stop existing and get replaced by a large blob of houses near the geographical center of the new municipality. No, it’s just the government that changes.
What bothers me with this is that at least for one of those fusions it’s done against the wishes ofvthe population and only done to get rid off some of the debts as in distribution of the debts to every person in Flanders while there is little to no real improvement for the inhabitants
I think some of these fusions are fine but most are just atrocious.
* Hasselt and Kortessem: seriously, why? They are only joined by an ultra-small strip of land, the towns aren’t even close together.
* Antwerpen-Borsbeek: not a necessary function, but this one feels mostly like a way for Antwerp to lessen their debts – because this is based on their population, they get a HUGE financial bonus.
* Borgloon-Tongeren: two historic cities, it’s a huge shame that Borgloon, the historical capital of what’s now Limburg, will cease to exist as an independent entity after more than a 1,000 years due to the greed of some local parties.
* Bilzen-Hoeselt: seems pretty okay to me, makes sense, though the new community is suddenly VERY large with 40k inhabitants.
* Merelbeke-Melle: the same as above.
* Nazareth-De Pinte: one of the more sensible fusions imo.
* Ham-Tessenderlo: this one is also okay.
* Lochristi-Wachtebeke and Lokeren-Moerbeke: Wachtebeke and Moerbeke would have been much better off fusing with each other and with Stekene maybe. It’s crazy how some people in Moerbeke now have to drive 20 minutes just to get their documents in order.
* Beveren-Zwijndrecht-Kruibeke: this one looks aesthetically pleasing on a map, but that’s about the only nice thing I have to say about it.
* Pajottegem: also makes sense despite the terrible name. Part of me believes that Pepingen was deliberately left out of this one so they can get the exact same big bonus in 2030.
* Wingene-Ruiselede: makes sense geographically, Ruiselede would have become just another small ‘deelgemeente’ if they fused with Aalter or Tielt. Howevwr: the new municipality is weirdly long, it borders East Flanders yet reaches into the heart of West Flanders.
* Tielt-Meulebeke: again, Tielt was big enough, Meulebeke should have fused with Pittem, Ardooie and Oostrozebeke imo. This looks weird on a map, and for a reason.
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20230344
en nu begrijp ik waarom ze het pushen…: onderzoek wijst uit dat fusiegemeenten zorgen voor een grotere kans op goedkeuren van bouwprojecten.
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