Leuwen-the-New - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Leuwen-the-New (in Walloon Li Noû Lovén ) is a new Ville French-speaking of Belgium located in Walloon region in the Province of the Walloon Brabant.

It owes its creation with the linguistic quarrels which shook the Belgium in the years 1960. It is indeed following the will of the Flemish Communauté to see the French-speaking students leaving the university of Leuwen (KUL), Dutch-speaking city located at thirty kilometers in the east of Brussels, which was taken the decision to create a new city which would shelter a French-speaking university.

Town planning

After several hesitations, the university authorities agreed to build their new city on the territory of Ottignies, in the current province of the the Walloon Brabant. The site on which will build the university residence is a vast undulating plate located in edge of the forest of Lauzelle. Exposed to the winds, it counts at the time only two or three farms and some dwellings gathered in the hamlet of the Hut. The essence of the site is covered of beet fields. The French-speaking section of the UCL buys there with the assistance of the Belgian State a surface of approximately 900 hectares to ensure its installation. Work will then be started the January 20th 1969.

The new inhabitants settle there as of 1972. The number of people attending then Leuwen-the-New is very reduced. In 1973, only 676 people placed on the site. Joined in day by the few students and employees of the University, they formed a small community of 1.500 people. This restricted character will grow blurred quickly. In 1981, they are already 10.477 to attend the city in full expansion. The final objective of this urban project is to reach 30.000 permanent residents without counting the 10.000 to 15.000 students who place in week on the site.

Leuwen-the-new by was created the university and for the university. This one is its only raison d'être, its only justification.

UCL determined a whole of guiding lines which were going to guide the construction of Leuwen-the-New:

the city cannot be an isolation, a campus in which only the students and their professors would find themselves. On the contrary, all the socioprofessional categories must be present. Co-education must be maximum.
the human dimension of the city must be central. Nothing is used for to build gigantic monuments and large avenues. On the contrary, the city must be with human size.
the city is pedestrian. The motor vehicle traffic will be underground.

It is according to these guiding lines that Leuwen-the-New developed. The urban center is built on a gigantic concrete flagstone which supports buildings and malls. In lower part of this flagstone the carparks and the arteries for cars are.

Four principal districts are articulated around the urban center: Biéreau, Lauzelle, Hocaille and Heathers. Moreover, a fifth district, not envisaged by the university authorities, developed: the district of the Hut. This last district is characterized by its alternate habitat and its refusal of the urban programming imposed by the university.

Leuwen-the-new is today a city in full expansion which does not cease extending from a project of town planning to another. Its central situation, its proximity of the principal road axes (highway E411, main road 4), the fact of being in a rail junction and its proximity compared to Brussels make Leuwen-the-New city similar to the new cities which surround Paris in France.

The linguistic crisis

The 24 Hours Bicycle

This race is one of the major festive events of Leuwen-the-New. Launched in 1976 by four students, it is held each year in the current of October and mobilizes the city and the student's community all whole of midday Wednesday at the midday Thursday.

Several tens of teams of students must traverse with bicycle a circuit of a few kilometers during 24 hours. The victory is obviously allotted to the team having traversed the most turns of the circuit.

The racing cycles can be traditional bicycles or bicycles " folkloriques" , decorated, assembly of several bicycles, wood, papier-m4ach3e… and fruits of the imagination of the participants.

Each year, the city is also placed under police high surveillance because this event attracts students of all the Belgium and even of certain countries bordering!

Beginning of the year '80, the 24 Hours Bicycle had become the appointment of almost 80.000 people. This success of crowd comprised an other side of the coin: the festival was not really any more controlled, increasingly occulted by the " Guindaille " pure and lasts accompanied by strong alcohols, so much so that a good portion of the public did not know even any more that there were bicycles! Moreover, always end of the year 90, Leuwen-the-New is the sad witness of the successive deaths of young people in a state of intoxication. However, years 2000 gave place to a reinforcement of the safety of this go, become increasingly important. Managed by the students it ensures the good progress of the festivities today.

Currently, the 24 Hours Bicycle give place to animations in any kind for small and large: inflatable castle Wednesday afternoon, concerts in the open air all the night, fireworks… The organizers, by joining the initiatives of the circles and the Kots-with-project , succeeded in finding a true direction of the festival.

The 24 Hours Bicycle celebrate to them thirtieth edition in 2006, inter alia by the edition of a book abundantly illustrated and the inauguration of a sculpture in bottom of the street of the Walloons. The event nevertheless was endeuillé once again and of this fact stopped before its term.

Other student's activities

Student's associations of Leuwen-the-New are divided into circles (facultaires) and regional. Those organize each year a " baptême" for the new students, series of initiatory activities intended to insert them in the student's folklore. To carry the cap, cover-chief of the catholic students of Belgium, another student's ritual will be however necessary, within an assembly of caps, the " corona".

Apart from these internal activities, circles and regional louvanists are very active on the site, ensuring in a voluntary way the organization of the evenings coeds throughout the academic year.

Festival Universatil , festival of Theater and performing arts organized by the University Theater of Leuwen (ASBL TUL).
Festival Midday-Minuits of Jongle' street , festival of arts of the street organized by Circokot.
the festival of the music , organized by the Kot-E-rate/rhythm.
the Ball of blue the , organized jointly by the Industrial Circle and the House of Sciences
the Ball of the Tubes , organized jointly by the Agronomic Circle and the House of Sciences
the Ball of the Saint Valentin , organized by the Industrial Circle
" The ball with the lampions" , organized by the agronomic circle
" Large Concert" , organized by the CESEC

There exists currently more than 100 kots to project with Leuwen-the-New, credits in multiple fields going of the music to the sport, while passing by the theater, the improvisation, the humanitarian, the social one, the languages, photography, the dance, environmental protection, etc…

The scientific Park of Leuwen-the-New

First of the kind in Belgium, the scientific Park of Leuwen-the-New ( LLN Science Park ) was created the January 21st 1971. It is also the largest scientific park of the Walloon region: it extends on 231 Hectare S distributed on the territory from Ottignies-Leuwen-the-New and on that from Mount-Saint-Guibert.

Right from the start, the aims in view by the creation of the scientific park were to develop the co-operation between the companies and the catholic Université of Leuwen (UCL), to contribute to regional economic development and to ensure the diversification of the urban environment of the town of Leuwen-the-New.

In 1972, Monsanto is the first company to be established on the Park; its example will quickly be followed by others… Nevertheless, all the companies are not authorized to be installed on the scientific Park. Indeed, the UCL delimited criteria of precise establishment.

The candidate must be a company of:

research
production calling upon the high technologies
services considered to be complementary or useful for the good performance of the research activities and the site

or a Spin-off of the UCL

The companies of the scientific Park (Start-up S, Spin-off S, SME or large companies) are mainly active in the fields:

of the sciences of alive the,
of information technologies,
of the fine Chemistry

and

of the Engineering.

Today, the LLN Science Park counts some 130 companies - getting more than 4450 employment, 1 Incubateur and 3 businesses centers. He plays a big role in the process of innovation by in particular stimulating the interactions between the companies and the university research.

See too

catholic University of Leuwen (Leuwen-the-New)
Université_de_Houte-Si-Plou
Kots-with-project

External bonds

Institutions

Town of Ottignies - Leuwen-the-New

Current events on the city

Leuwen-the-News, infos of Leuwen-the-New
Press review in connection with Leuwen-the-New

Random links:

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