Schaerbeek collective rethinks how a neighbourhood should look

Aurelien Dumont has spent most of his life in Schaerbeek. The former mailroom clerk remembers when the Josaphat site was a marshalling yard for the national railway company. Now retired, Dumont comes here in the mornings, wading through the tall grass to track the birds and insects that have since reclaimed the area. He’s heard of the plans to redevelop the site, but hasn’t taken part in the public discussions – politics isn’t his thing, he explains.

“I’d rather this area remain as it is. People call it a wasteland, but I only see nature that is finally recovering and reclaiming everything. You’d be hard pressed to find as much untamed space anywhere else in Brussels,” the 68-year-old says. “I’ve been told that this project is supposed to preserve a lot of the green while giving the neighbourhood a much-needed boost, so who knows, maybe it won’t be so bad after all.”

The Josaphat site is a 25-hectare plot stretching through Schaerbeek and Evere, just across the street from the famous park of the same name. It’s divided by a train line; one side home to an industrial park and sporting complex, the other a vast grassland, where several NGOs run a communal garden, a crowdfunded kitchen and a meeting space for locals.

In 2014, the Urban Development Corporation (SAU-MSI) announced plans to turn the site into a new neighbourhood, with 1,600 apartments, a hotel, at least one school, day care centres and locally owned shops. Footbridges over the railway tracks would link the living area to the renovated industrial zone, sporting complex and Evere railway station.

Sustainable neighbourhood

With almost four hectares set aside for public parks, the project, expected to break ground in 2018, aims to retain much of the natural greenery, while addressing the city’s need for affordable public and private housing. The new Josaphat will be a sustainable neighbourhood where people can live, work and socialise, says Ward Claerbout, SAU-MSI project coordinator.

“Our goal is to give the site its own identity and make it a functional part of the surrounding community. We don’t want to create islands in the city; a neighbourhood has to respond to the needs of its residents. If you drop your kids off at a school that’s halfway across the city, it causes huge mobility issues for everyone. The same with employment – it’s important to create opportunities that aren’t too far from people’s homes. Why not make use of industrial parks that are already there,” asks Claerbout.

In addition to Josaphat, SAU-MSI coordinates six other sites across Brussels, including the vacant area around Gare de l’Ouest metro station, earmarked as a similar project to Josaphat, and the Citroën-Yser garage, to be converted into a museum of contemporary art. The corporation was founded by the regional government to oversee real estate projects, considered crucial to the future of Brussels.

Says Claerbout: “Through SAU-MSI, the government wanted to retain more control of the development of these strategic areas and ensure that they work in the interest of our citizens. We will build partnerships with private developers to protect the public interest; a coordinated approach will lead to better projects that are in line with market requirements.”

According to Hanne Van Reusel, an architectural researcher at KU Leuven, the Josaphat project is a step in the right direction. “In Brussels, a lot of development has been in the hands of private developers,” she says.

Historically, it was known for lax zoning regulations and lack of oversight on new construction. Private developers were allowed to follow up on their plans largely unrestrained, replacing historical buildings with modernist high-rises that provided bigger returns on their investment.

This was prevalent between the 1950s and 70s, when the region experienced a surge in redevelopment, first in preparation for the World Expo in 1958 and later to house the growing number of eurocrats who began arriving in Brussels following the establishment of the European institutions. In the process that became known as Brusselisation, historically valuable neighbourhoods were levelled, prompting the authorities to introduce zoning laws in the 1990s that put a halt to unrestricted, private development. Today, thanks to increased oversight and public knowledge, this is over, says Van Reusel. “Brusselisation still goes on, but we won’t lose entire neighbourhoods. Our civil society is much stronger now.”

Involving the locals

At Josaphat, Van Reusel helps run the crowdfunded Recup Kitchen as part of an initiative called Josaphat Commons. The umbrella group brings together non-profits, social activists and researchers, with the aim of convincing the regional government to turn Josaphat into a neighbourhood that involves its citizens in decision-making, through ideas like collective housing, common gardening space and co-operative energy production.

“We’ve been working on a proposal, in which we’ve gone into detail on issues of affordable housing, mobility, public space, local economy and governance,” says Van Reusel. “If you have a public park, why not plant fruit trees there and have people harvest them together? Or let the residents take care of the school after hours, by opening up the sports infrastructure and the courtyard as a meeting place, for example.”

She believes this shared aspect creates a sense of ownership and pride, prompting residents to take care of their neighbourhood in a more sustainable way. “In urban development today, there is still this idea that citizens don’t know what’s good for them, that they can’t think beyond their own backyard. But when you look at the people that our initiative has brought together – to cook meals or take care of the garden – it’s clear that we can do so for the rest of the city,” she says. “This isn’t some hippy get-together. People who live in Brussels already have the knowledge on how to fix mobility issues and create sustainable living spaces – the government only needs to listen to them.”

This article first appeared in The Bulletin autumn 2017. Browse the magazine here, pick up a copy in newsagents or subscribe today...