The Consortium of the Intercommunal Agencies Interleuven (arrondissement Leuven) and Haviland (arrondissement Halle-Vilvoorde) and the Province of "Vlaams-Brabant" in Flanders, Belgium, covers an area of more than one million inhabitants in the centre of Belgium.
Identified in the Central Capital Cities (CCC) study of 1996 (1), as the "ABG" (Antwerp-Brussels-Ghent) area it has a population of about 4 million inhabitants. Part of the territory in the Flanders Region is called the "Vlaamse Ruit" or the "Flemish Diamond" in the Flemish Government's Structure Plan (Ruimtelijk Structuurplan Vlaanderen-RSV). The whole area including the Brussels Capital Region with 1 million inhabitants, the "Brabant Wallon" area as well as the Province of "Vlaams-Brabant" is characterised by strong economic development, urban pressures and urban sprawl in a polycentric network of towns and cities.
In particular the municipalities around Leuven in the activity area of Interleuven as well as the municipalities surrounding Zaventem airport in Halle-Vilvoorde and the activity area of Haviland, require "smart" and innovative policies.
There is also significant "green belt" planning designation in the suburban areas surrounding the Brussels Capital Region, which constitute the main activity areas both of Haviland and partly of Interleuven. Both Intercommunal Development Agencies have responsibilities for land policy and public intervention in the marketing of industrial sites and housing and are as such the public implementing agencies for spatial planning in the Province of "Vlaams-Brabant".
This project has received European Regional Development Funding through the INTERREG lll Community Initiative.