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Exploring the ambiguous socio-spatial potential of collective heating in Flanders. Planning and design as lever for a sustainable energy transition

ABSTRACT Energy networks have supported and reproduced Flanders’ dispersed urbanization, but today this energy-intensive landscape is running into its ecological and societal limits. As a part of the energy transition, a pluralization of heating solutions is emerging in the region. Collective heating systems introduce logics of proximity, spatial selectivity and collectivity into this landscape characterized by dispersion, ubiquity of services and individualism. This paper explores what spatial and socio-political questions are at stake in the transition to a fossil-free heating system: can it support proximity-based spatial development and energy democracy or will it contribute to socio-spatial fragmentation and exclusion? These potentials and risks are revealed through an in-depth case study of the city-region of Roeselare, based on scenario and design workshops with stakeholders. The research indicates that spatial planning and design have a key role in visualizing the spatial and socio-political potentials of the heat transition, by identifying opportunities for collective solutions at multiple scales, connecting energy strategies with other spatial questions and imagining more inclusive governance models.