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Louvain-la-Neuve (; French for "New Leuven"; ) is a planned town in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the province of Walloon Brabant. The town was built to house the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) which owns the entire territory of the town; following the linguistic quarrels that took place in Belgium during the 1960s, and Flemish people claims of discrimination at the Catholic University of Leuven, the institution was split into the Dutch-language Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), which remained in Leuven, and the Université catholique de Louvain.
To a great extent, it still lives following the rhythms of the university that is its . However, with the construction of L'Esplanade shopping complex, the Aula Magna exhibition centre and auditorium, a large cinema complex, and five museums, it is beginning to grow beyond its academic roots.
Put under the direction of Raymond M. Lemaire, Jean-Pierre Blondel and Pierre Laconte, this urbanistic project saw the first students and inhabitants arrive in 1972. At this time, there were only around 600 permanent residents of the town, who were joined during the day by some students of Applied Sciences, the first faculty to open. With the completion of university buildings and the ongoing residential development, the town experienced rapid growth, with 10,477 inhabitants recorded in 1981. The final goal is to reach 30,000 inhabitants, in addition to the 15,000 students living in town during the academic year.
The town was created with the sole purpose of hosting the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain). As such all the grounds are property of the university. Consequently, the university was able to play an important role in the conception and planning of the town. They decided that the town should not be only inhabited by students, but rather draw a diverse community as is found in any classic town. Moreover, one of the main points of the urban design of Louvain-la-Neuve was to make it people- rather than automobile-centred. As a consequence, the town centre is built on a gigantic concrete slab, with all motorized traffic travelling underground. This allows most of the ground level of the town centre to be car-free. Most buildings are built on the slab ( la dalle), and the pedestrian area is expanding even far from the town centre featuring many mixed use overpasses and traffic calming solutions. This constitutes an early example of the 15-minute city, with the Agora, Main square and train station in a tight central triangle reachable by foot within 15 to 20 minutes from the outermost districts.
Louvain-la-Neuve's location south of Brussels at the crosspoint of several important roads makes it easily reachable by car. Moreover, a train extension has been built from the nearby station of Ottignies, which allows passengers to travel to or from Brussels in under an hour.
Louvain-la-Neuve is now a thriving, growing town. Construction work is constant as many more of the characteristic small two to five floor buildings made of red bricks are erected.
Due to the large student population that leaves the town during weekends and holidays, Louvain-la-Neuve can be quite empty during those periods. Nevertheless, the student life both day and night is well developed, centered around Student Unions, "project flats" ("kot-à-projet"), regional pubs, etc.
The starting concept was simple: to race for 24 hours on a bike. Nowadays, competitors are separated in three categories: racers, that race seriously; folk bikes, including decorated bikes and home built contraptions; and charity racers raising money for humanitarian causes.
The festival is an occasion for the numerous student associations in the town to compete in building silly bikes, set up some related activity, or simply provide beer and music to the tens of thousands of students coming from all over Belgium.
In the morning, the activities end with a concert by a famous singer in the main square.
This event gives a hint at how student life and traditions have developed on the newly born campus, reviving some long lost customs as the traditional Catholic Belgian students hat, the calotte.
The ride has also been at the center of some more political issues. In 1999 it was cancelled due to the death of a drunken student who had fallen from the dalle in 1998. This happened again at the 2006 edition, when a student was found dead in the early morning in the streets of the dalle. The event was also threatened in 2005 and 2006 because of a student association strike and other organisation problems.
From the outset, the objectives pursued by the development of Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park were to develop cooperation between industry and the Université catholique de Louvain and to contribute to regional economic development. Particular emphasis is placed on environmental-friendliness, as well as the quality of the premises and their surroundings.
The main area of activity are:
Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park is now home to more than 130 innovative companies and their 4500 employees, 1 business incubator and 3 business centres.
The Hergé Museum contains eight permanent galleries displaying original artwork by Hergé, and telling the story of his life and career. Although his most famous creation, The Adventures of Tintin, features prominently, his other comic strip characters (such as Jo, Zette and Jocko, and Quick and Flupke) are also present. The exhibitions also include examples of Hergé's diverse and prolific output working as a graphic designer in the 1930s. The museum houses a temporary exhibition gallery, which is updated every few months to host new exhibitions (with diverse titles such as Tintin, Hergé and Trains and Into Tibet with Tintin).
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