My Story About Space, Gentrification, and Growing Up in Ghent

How do you read a city?As a young person? As a newcomer? As a resident in transition?

When I first arrived in Ghent as a young guy, I found my space on the streets: benches, squares, parks.But cities change.Gentrification shifts borders, erases places.What remains for the young people who are still searching for their place?

Through the walk "Ode aan de hangjongeren", developed for Stadslezers Club, I invite you to read Ghent the way I experienced it.Not through monuments and architecture, but through meeting places, stories, and the small traces of everyday life.

A big thank you to Koos Fransen and Emma Petillion for asking me to create this journey on behalf of Stadslezers.The Wandelclub challenges us to see the city differently: as something living, changing, layered.

👉 More info about the walk can be found here: [link]

This initiative was created by RAUM and is a collaboration with several inspiring partners:Het Museum voor Onbedoelde Kunst, The Spirit of Amsterdam, @migrantentours Kaapstad, Pop-Up City, Expodium Events, A City Made By People, Soundtrackcity, Studio Kars + Boom, OMI Rotterdam, We The City, @Scheepers&Renee, Rederij Lampedusa, Tours that Matter, Woel Collectief, Nightwalkers.