ABSTRACT
Since the nineteenth century, oil has been a major source of economic growth in the port city of Antwerp. The port has dominated the urban space of Antwerp for many centuries, just as it has dominated the way citizens imagine the city. The relationship between the city and the physical presence of the oil industry is a matter of the imaginary. Oil was not a consequence of the development of modern Antwerp, but the motive power of it. The construction of quays and canals pushed out neighborhoods, docks replaced fortifications. Oil has also shown its dark sides in Antwerp, as a driving force for wars and as a cause of explosions and fire. One result of petroleum-related disasters was that industrial activities linked to oil were progressively moved away from the city. Environmental pollution due to industrial oil activities has only recently been considered unacceptable. At the same time, the petroleum industry’s architectural and urban heritage is being recognized as authentic and worthy of preservation. As Antwerp takes stock of and reimagines its relationship with oil, Pieter Uyttenhove proposes that oil be regarded as one essential part of what has been an age dominated by carbon.
