“Dream villa gone in an hour”: How the framing of ex officio demolitions in the mass media triggered alternatives to enforcement in planning legislation in Flanders (Belgium)

While a growing body of literature shows that enforcement in planning does not always work as intended, little attention is paid to the specific context in which policymakers decide to reverse enforcement measures and adopt policy alternatives. To address this research gap, we examined the extensive and often emotional media coverage of the Flemish government’s vigorous enforcement policy against illegal construction in Flanders, the northern region of Belgium, around the year 2000. This paper demonstrates that the mass media’s overwhelmingly negative framing of the ex officio demolition of illegal dwellings led policymakers to adopt alternatives to enforcement in planning policy and legislation. An analysis of framing and reasoning devices in press reports and television broadcasts has shown that convicted homeowners were framed by the media as either violators or victims in relation to the enforcement measures. Policymakers not only adopted and responded to these frames, but actively shaped them, contributing to a feedback loop between social unrest and policy responses. By uncovering this dynamic interplay between the media and politics, this paper addresses the concept of political short-termism, where immediate political gains and media responses are prioritised over long-term planning and sustainability ambitions.