Brussels must be built with the focus on its people, a warm village and an attractive metropolis at the same time.
We give the city the space and perspective to continue developing so that everyone feels good and welcome.
Around the canal, there was no life, only plain concrete and rats. Just about every square, from Place Marie Janson to the Parvis was an open-air car park. That was the situation in Brussels 20 years ago. Today, they are all places that have regained their lustre in recent years. They are places where it is a pleasure for everyone to be. Thanks to the efforts of Vooruit.
But this is increasingly difficult. Not everyone agrees with the direction the city should take. More and more urban projects are delayed or actually blocked, resulting in urban cancers and messy spaces.
Vooruit.brussels wants to put people first again. Because in the end, that makes things better for everyone. Vooruit has been working for years now under "Brussels for people" with the slogan "from a city for cars to a city for people". The residents and the public interest should be central, not the pursuit of profit or extreme fixed ideas. Brussels has more than 100 neighbourhoods. All different, each with different challenges and different assets. We want a school, a café, and a bakery in every neighbourhood, so that the city is a place for all Brussels residents.
We are looking for solutions to the housing shortage, to make the city greener, and to make everyone feel at home in their neighbourhood. In doing so, we resolutely choose for the people, for the public interest. It is Forward for Brussels. Or it's backwards.
Vooruit.brussels wants to take responsibility and provide answers to new forms of coexistence, more intensive use of space and a rapidly changing climate.
It's Forward for Brussels and for each of its 100 neighbourhoods. Or it's backwards and then we all lose. It's up to you.
Lively neighbourhoods with everything you need within walking distance
We go all out for pleasant neighbourhoods where living and working go well together and where young and old feel welcome at any time of the day. The lower floors of large buildings should contain neighbourhood shops or community facilities so that you can find everything in your neighbourhood within walking distance. We ensure that even those residents who are less mobile can borrow a book or go for a coffee.
The canal is Brussels' main asset. We transform unused industrial areas along the canal into new green and affordable urban neighbourhoods. We turn the prison sites in Saint-Gilles and Forest into cosy city neighbourhoods and we are helping the abattoir site and the old barracks to develop further. In the process, we connect all development sites by green corridors for cyclists and pedestrians.
Space for living
Vooruit.brussels wants to respond to the increase in population by making new, green urban neighbourhoods, where you can find what you need within walking distance. In places that are well served by public transports, we want to use the space more efficiently to build the necessary housing that the city so desperately needs. We want to transform unused halls, parking lots or warehouses in the middle of densely populated neighbourhoods into open green oases, so that everyone has a city park with clean air only a few minutes away. This way we provide more oxygen in the most densely populated areas, that often have the poorest quality of air. Social housing from the seventies will be renovated by priority, so that everybody can spend the winter in warmth and comfort. We will tax development projects more fairly, so they can contribute in a fair way to the city, and with the proceeds we can improve affordable housing in the entire Region.
City renewal projects as acupuncture
After the redesign of the Parvis, Deputy for Urban Renewal in Saint-Gilles Willem Stevens has started the renewal of the Marie Janson Square, so that it becomes a pleasant green connection to the renewed Boulodrome and the Parc Pierre Paulus. Under Brussels Deputy for Urban Planning and Public Space Anaïs Maes, the redesign of the central boulevards has been prolonged as a pleasant pedestrian environment up to the Rue Sainte Catherine and the Marché aux Poissons. The Adolphe Max Boulevard has undergone a metamorphosis too, from a parking boulevard to a green city boulevard.
Protect the past, build the future.
Pascal Smet launched the Year of Art Nouveau in Brussels in 2023, which attracted visitors from far outside of Brussels. Brussels should be proud of its heritage, and we’re also going to promote the recent heritage more. We want to open more gems in our heritage to the public. Ans Persoons made a big first step by making the owners of the Stoclet Palace open the doors of this UNESCO-monument to heritage visits. Vooruit wants to put our heritage more in the spotlights. We want to save the Japanese tower and the Chinese pavilion in Laeken from further dilapidation and restore them to their former glory.
We are building the city and its rules to be prepared for the future
New developments are integrated seamlessly into the existing urban fabric. We don’t want the whole city to be a wharf once every thirty years. Pascal Smet made sure that decrepit buildings like the Royale belge in Woluwe or the old administrative centre can not be demolished anymore. They must be transformed, and preferably also include the housing function, so they can claim a new place in the urban fabric.
Urban planning rules are made to improve the city, not to slow down its development. Under Ans Persoons, a whole new framework has been built to guide the development of our city, named “Good Living”, and elaborated by a group of Brussels experts. Good Living focuses on social and ecological sustainability.
The public space is metamorphosed, with a change from an approach centred around mobility, to an approach where the Brussels resident is put first and where more recreation and interaction is made possible. We provide more greenery in the streets and choose security and comfort over ad-hoc measures. We want more terraces in the streets, shaded benches, and sunny lawns with a toilet nearby for everyone, including our four-footed friends.
We make more greenery compulsory, including the usage or opening of large flat roofs.
A government at the service of its citizens.
Under Pascal Smet, procedures for requesting planning permits have been digitalised entirely. This saves a lot of time and energy. But we can do even better, and we want the whole region to be customer friendly. We want less bureaucracy and faster decisions about permits for projects, based on quality and sustainability. We involve the neighbourhood in construction projects, early in the process and not when it’s too late. Long-term vacancy and gruelling procedures and construction projects become history. Vooruit doesn’t want to build the city above people’s heads, but together with them.
Useless rules will be further eliminated so everyone can adapt their property to their needs without too much fuss. Pascal Smet already ensured that the isolation of roofs and facades, and the replacement of windows can be done more easily, often without requiring a permit.
Brussels is known for its rich history, its buzzing cultural life, and its important role at the heart of Europe. But just like many urban areas worldwide, Brussels must face the challenge of preparing for the future, without losing its uniqueness. We want to invest in sustainable neighbourhoods where the quality of life for al residents is improved.
Vooruit.brussels wants to continue the ambitious review of the Brussels urban planning regulations, and to continue building a city where social and ecological sustainability, inclusiveness and quality of life go first.