Research Ruben Peeters

Abstract

This project, "Islands of Affluence," investigates the spatial dynamics of wealth and political power in 19th-century Antwerp (1858–1898), a critical period of intense industrial growth and urban transformation. While historical inequality research often focuses on national or aggregate measures, this study addresses a frontier in the field by asking: Who constituted the political elite, where did they reside, and how did this concentration change over time? To answer this, the project creates a unique, individual-level, geo-referenced database of the city's politically elite derived from a continuous series of municipal voter lists containing personal tax information. The methodology leverages Gemini AI for high-throughput transcription of the largest lists and integrates the data into the existing GIStorical Antwerp infrastructure for rigorous spatial analysis. This approach will empirically determine whether the city's massive economic expansion and urban restructuring following the demolition of its walls fostered social mobility into the elite or, conversely, reinforced the geographic concentration of wealth and political influence in exclusive "islands." The resulting open-access dataset is crucial for understanding the origins of modern residential segregation and will serve as a foundational resource for future collaborative research on infrastructure and inequality in industrializing Europe.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Peeters Ruben

Research team(s)

• Centre for Urban History

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

During the 19th century, millions of people moved from the countryside to cities in search of economic betterment. While many became impoverished laborers, some ascended to the urban middle class. One route to wealth accumulation for middle classes was through mortgage credit and participation in the booming housing markets of the 19th century. However, it is unclear whether migrants had access to local mortgage credit markets or whether they instead had to turn to their family or networks of the place of origin. Due to data limitations, the existing literature lacks systematic research on migrants' engagement with mortgage markets in Europe. To answer these questions and tackle the data gap, this project investigates the relationship between the social inclusion of migrants and their access to mortgage credit in the city of Antwerp between 1830 and 1870. This project methodically links personal data from mortgage loans with information from various other sources. Quantitative methods and network analysis are employed to scrutinize the borrowing and lending patterns of migrants across three distinct periods. Life course analysis will be used to investigate access to credit and real estate throughout the life courses of a representative sample of migrants and non-migrants in Antwerp in the second half of the 19th century. Together, this provides a holistic understanding of migrants' use of mortgage credit, their access to real estate and the impact this had on their lives.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Gelderblom Oscar
• Fellow: Peeters Ruben

Research team(s)

• Centre for Urban History

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The financing of business in the nineteenth century did not necessarily require bank credit. Loans also flowed through alternative channels from lenders to borrowers. This pilot project investigates for Antwerp the size of the market for bank credit and non-bank credit throughout the 19th century. We place these credit transactions in the city's geography to examine how supply and demand found each other.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Gelderblom Oscar
• Co-promoter: Deloof Marc
• Co-promoter: Peeters Ruben
• Co-promoter: van Kooten Rogier

Research team(s)

• Centre for Urban History

Project type(s)

• Research Project