One City, Different Views: Perceptual Frames of Life in Brussels

There are many reasons for urban migration. One factor is a negative perception of the city as a dwelling environment. The aim of this report is to understand this perception in order to begin to transform deeply rooted stereotypes about the city as a residential environment and help city marketers to frame their campaigns more effectively towards specific audiences. Brussels is the city where the case study was conducted. A thought-listing methodology and cluster analysis were used to uncover the mental schemes through which residents, non-residents and commuters perceive the city. These schemes oscillate between two attitudinal poles: “metropolitanism on one end of the spectrum; “suburbanism” on the other end. Within this tension field, substantial variations exist.