2023-09-08 09:02:00
How does this project bother you?
As early as 2014, we regretted that there had been no public debate to consider the use of such an emblematic building. Such a debate, requested by neighborhood associations, is however planned and included in the Regional Sustainable Development Plan. The city of Brussels, following agreements visibly concluded behind the scenes with large brewing companies and institutional partners, has therefore imposed its vision. However, we had put forward alternatives to encourage reflection, such as establishing the regional parliament, to put the Region in the spotlight, in the Stock Exchange.
Beyond these first disappointments, there are numerous criticisms. The Stock Exchange building was neither the most suitable nor the most relevant to host a beer museum. Elsewhere in Brussels, there are breweries which could have been repurposed as part of such a project, and small museums which highlight Belgian brewing knowledge – and which will therefore suffer from this competition. In addition, let’s not forget that the Stock Exchange is a public building (owned by the City of Brussels), located in a “collective interest or public service facility zone” of the regional land use plan. However, its use as a tourist attraction in no way responds to the interests of residents or democratic issues.
The Stock Exchange was still extremely well located; such a museum, within it, will offer a real point of attraction for pedestrians…
This building is indeed well placed and allows Brussels to strengthen a tourist center around pedestrian areas. But this project also confirms for us what we anticipated about the evolution of the pedestrian area: it becomes a center dedicated to parties, events, tourism, and which is no longer at all a city project, concerned with preserve public space, the inhabitants and the citizens who live there.
You fear, following the inauguration of the Belgian Beer World, that overtourism in Brussels will worsen. Is this really what threatens the capital?
Such a project targets one million 500,000 visitors per year – twice as many as the Atomium. This is enormous given the tourist saturation that we are already seeing around the Grand-Place. It is therefore not an exaggeration to talk about the risk of overtourism. The problem of the capital is that it is very complicated to decentralize tourism. We therefore believe that such a tourism project could have been designed much more intelligently. If we want to highlight Brussels brewing know-how, why not think of a route that directs tourists to the Cantillon brewery or to the Brussels Beer Project, for example? Let’s not forget either that this new use of the Bourse offers Horeca spaces which are already very numerous in the district, to the point of making daily life very complicated in the area: particularly around the Saint Géry halls.
Is Brussels selling off its heritage?
For you, could the City of Brussels better articulate tourist development and the liveability of the city center?
This is what cities like Lisbon, Amsterdam and Barcelona are doing. They seek to regulate overtourism to think about an urban project in a more global and balanced way. In Brussels, the festive policy of the city center is a project of mayor Philippe Close which makes life there very difficult, particularly at Place de Brouckère. The Stock Exchange project will make this situation worse.
Could it not, on the contrary, be virtuous to promote cleanliness and safety in and around pedestrian areas?
For a city to be both pleasant to live in, to visit and to function well, on the contrary, it requires residents who live there sustainably and who participate in the uses of the neighborhood. We therefore hope that the Bourse will also host spaces for neighborhood associations, for example.
More generally, we are opposed to the folklorization of the historic center. Please note that municipal services have left the Town Hall on the Grand-Place (the building will be dedicated to cultural events and protocol and promotional ceremonies). Faced with this choice, we propose that the Parliament of the Region be established there. It is an idealistic fight, of course, but it is not healthy for the city center to be emptied of the civic and political life that has always developed there, for it to be emptied of its meaning and transformed into a vast place for tourism and events.
Is the socio-economic profile of the population of the Brussels city center changing in light of these developments?
The hypercentre, like everywhere in Brussels, is marked by significant economic disparities. Contrary to popular belief, there is also a lack of social housing. However, the current real estate projects which are developing luxury, even high standard, housing are not intended for the residents present. What is worrying is that it is mainly studios and “flat hotels” that are seeing the light of day there, and which can cater for Airbnb-type attendance. We would like the public authorities to push for the construction of more affordable and family-friendly housing that could settle in the long term, encourage diversified commerce and contribute to a more peaceful climate. It is also surprising to see the schizophrenia of the municipal authority. On the one hand, it seeks to regulate Airbnb-type rentals, and on the other, it encourages projects that encourage such requests for housing, as well as overtourism.
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