Genk: A city built on coal

The city of Genk lies at the heart of the Campine coal district of Belgium. With about 65.000 residents Genk is one of the most important Flemish industrial towns. I say town, as Genk only received city status in 2000 and morphologically it certainly differs from the norm. Genk could be best described as a small town that is part of a continuous small scale conurbation.

Originally a Celtic settlement, Genk remained a small village with between 200 and 500 residents throughout the ages. The reason for this was the location on the northern edge of the fertile soils around Hasselt; beyond Genk only heathland was to be found. Small brooks that sprung up on the edges of the wasteland made Genk and the surrounding area inhabitable for small groups of people that settled in villages, hamlets and isolated farmsteads.

The old road system projected onto the present-day aerial image shows a number of small areas of cultivated land separated by heathland. All settlements are located near a brook. Genk was historically characterized by seven hamlets: Genk-dorp (Gd), Winterslag (Wi), Waterschei (Wa), de Bret (Br), Gelieren (Ge), Sledderlo and Langerlo (La). The isolated farmsteads at Boekraak (Bo), Hengelhoef (Hh), Hostart (Ho), Ter Boekt, Driehoeven (Dh) and Camerlo (Ca) lay on the edges of the arable land or far removed near a water crossing (ford).

When the Walloon geologist André Dumont confirmed a coal seam in the neigbouring village of As in 1901, the future of Genk was to change dramatically.  In the following year coal was also found beneath Genk in the hamlet of Winterslag. The colliery that was founded here was the first of the seven Campine coal mines to come into production. The mining concession for the 38.000 hectare site of Genck-Sutendael  at Winterslag was granted in 1906. In the same year the concession André Dumont-sous-Asch at Waterschei and the concession Les Liégeois at Zwartberg were granted. All three collieries were located north of the village of Genk on the heath. The first coal was extracted in 1914, after the Winterslag-mine had been operational for a few years. Between 1900 and 1930 the population exploded to 24.500 inhabitants as a result of the influx of new workers for the three mines. The diversification into manufacturing after 1950 has more than doubled the number of inhabitants again.

The development of Genk as a city was kick started by the discovery of coal. The urbanized area north of the former village of Genk is composed of garden villages (1910-1955, shown in orange) and housing estates (1955-2000 shown in red) that serve mainly to house personnel of the three collieries (shown in yellow). As the emphasis shifted towards manufacturing around the canal and the former coal harbour, the area south of the former village was urbanized. For the most part Genk comprises of urban sprawl (detached, semidetached and short rows of houses). This pattern of urbanization is very common in Belgium. 

Morphologically Genk shares many characteristics with similar urban areas that sprung from industrialization of one sort or another (for instance Tyneside, Gelsenkirchen, Oberhausen and Enschede). Originally consisting of separate urbanized areas close to the industrial activities that eclipsed any historic settlements still in existence (industrialization and the subsequent rapid urbanization often meant that historic settlements were encapsulated or altogether removed) these conurbations consolidate their central area by planned and often enforced high density urbanization and urbanization of the areas around this new centre to form a more or less continues urban fabric. The efforts to make such splintered urban areas into a "proper city" always also includes the realization of wide new thoroughfares and ring roads.  

Within the red outline the urban area of Genk. Note that it connects up to neighbouring As, Houthalen-Oost and Bokrijk. Via the latter, Diepenbeek and Beerenbroek the urban area of Genk connects to the city of Hasselt (also the regional capital). The original landscape still shines through the urban pattern, as the marshes along the brooks have not been developed. The Dorpsbeek (Village Brook) of Genk is an exception. Most of this watercourse was covered and directly south of the railway line an urban strip with large buildings (shown in pink) was developed, among which was the first mall in Belgium.