The Brussels Construction Sector Under the Microscope

In the article The business of city-building: long-term change and continuity in the construction sector (Brussels, 1830–1970), Matthijs Degraeve (VUB) investigates the evolution of Brussels’ construction sector during a period of rapid urbanization and industrialization. Drawing on a database of approximately 16,700 construction firms, he analyses changes in the number of firms, their size, and their organizational structures.

The study shows that the Brussels construction sector experienced a dual development. On the one hand, industrialization and economies of scale led to larger firms, greater market concentration, and an increasing role for incorporated companies. On the other hand, many construction activities remained dependent on labour-intensive work on building sites, allowing small and flexible businesses to remain dominant. Even in 1965, 88 percent of construction firms were still operated as sole proprietorships.

The author argues that the construction sector did not fully follow the classic path of large-scale production and industrial concentration. While activities such as woodworking and metalworking became increasingly mechanized, occupations such as painters, plumbers, and roofers remained heavily dependent on specialized labour and small-scale entrepreneurship.

To reconstruct Brussels’ urban development, the author used historical data on buildings and population available through POPPKAD. These data made it possible to compare long-term growth in the building stock and construction activity with changes in the number of construction firms.

The study illustrates how historical databases such as POPPKAD provide valuable insights not only into demographic and socio-economic developments but also into entrepreneurship, urban growth, and the history of economic sectors.

Publication:

Matthijs Degraeve, “The business of city-building: long-term change and continuity in the construction sector (Brussels, 1830–1970)”, Enterprise & Society (Cambridge University Press), 26(2), 2025, pp. 356–387