Ask the people! Exhibitions on public works in Ghent during the first half of the 19th century

Thriving on the economic prosperity of its textile industry, the city of Ghent (Belgium) developed into an important industrial center during the first half of the 19th century, earning itself the nickname ‘Manchester of the mainland’. In an attempt to consolidate its economic prosperity, the city turned towards public works to craft a modern urban identity. Following an established tradition in the Netherlands, Ghent employed a city architect to cope with public works. As the head of the public works department, the city architect was responsible not only for the execution of building projects - checking cost estimates, preparing building specifications and surveying construction sites - but also had a monopoly on architectural design. Starting in the 1830s, however, the city architect’s monopoly on architectural design and the city’s secretive policy on public works was actively questioned by both politicians and citizens by means of pamphlets and newspaper articles. In response to such bottom-up criticism, the municipality organized public exhibitions in which the city’s architectural projects were presented. During these events, citizens were consulted and invited to leave comments and suggestions on upcoming projects. Drawing on original research and using archival records such as visitor logbooks and posters, this paper investigates the Ghent exhibitions on public works and architecture as important points of encounter between policy makers and citizens. Examined against their immediate political background, the exhibitions are read as tangible expressions of changing social, political and economic relations between ‘public architecture’ and ‘the general public’. By means of two case studies - the Ghent entrepôt (1844-46) and the reconstruction of the belfry tower (1851-54) - this paper explores the impact of citizen participation on public works and divulges how public consultation emerged as a political instrument in early 19th-century Belgium