A ‘ghost town’ in Belgium dreams of a return to its best days

With its deserted streets and crumbling, graffiti-covered walls, Doel has a firm reputation as Belgium’s best-known ghost town, but its few inhabitants – currently 21 – now see a glimmer of hope that their village will recover.

Such a case would be a remarkable reversal of fortune for a place that has been steadily emptying since the late 1970s, when its population was 60 times greater.

Caught between the port of Antwerp (the second largest in Europe) and a nuclear power plant, Doel has become a morbid attraction for curious tourists and "urban explorers", who are filmed wandering around inside dilapidated buildings.

Police regularly patrol to prevent vandals and squatters from entering those buildings.

Just two cafes – one next to a 17th-century windmill – and a church remind visitors that the town still resists oblivion.

"There are many activities. But if you come here on a Sunday, or especially at night, of course you will see empty houses and that is what irritates people the most."Liese Stuer, a Doel resident, told AFP.

"I think it’s important for people to know that it’s not a ghost town, that there are still people trying to live here and trying to establish a life.", he claimed.

– Memories of an elegant city –

Stuer, a 37-year-old Flemish dialect teacher for foreigners and freelance graphic artist, moved to Doel five years ago when she teamed up with a local, but she used to visit Doel as a child with her grandparents, who lived nearby, and remembered her like a fancy city.

But Doel’s fate came crashing down in the late 1990s when Belgian authorities decided to expropriate and demolish the villages around the port of Antwerp to build a new container wharf.

While most residents moved elsewhere, a hard core stayed behind and put up a fight in the courts, through fierce lobbying and promoting street art to bring color to empty houses.

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Given the port’s importance to Belgium’s economy, it seemed like a doomed campaign. The Flemish regional government forbade people to move there and vandalism made the place increasingly unsafe for the population.

However, in 2016 the Belgian Supreme Court dismissed the expansion plan, after the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that it threatened the surroundings of the Doel marshes and the ecological balance of the Scheldt River, which borders it.

The nature and solidarity that unites the residents of Doel made Stuer decide to stay.

"It is very nice to live here. It is the place where I want my son to grow up, because of the people and the environment, which I find very warm and welcoming.", he pointed.

"To me, it doesn’t feel like I’m isolated. Not at all. It is a very connected town", He said.

– Future indefinite –

But it’s still unclear what exactly awaits Doel.

There are ongoing talks between authorities and residents. In December, city officials outlined a plan to slowly allow in new residents and refurbish an old stranded ship, while building a dock to the Doel perimeter.

The Flemish government, which now owns all but one of the houses in Doel, is loath to see the town return to a population close to the 1,300 it had in the 1970s.

"We know that the town is not going to disappear. In fact, it has the image of a ghost town, but that is not how it should be"Flemish Minister for Finance, Heritage and Housing, Matthias Diependaele, told AFP.

But "we have to see what we can do with it today (…) the most difficult point is the fact that we know for sure that right next door there will be 24/7 port activity", he stated.

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