Transformed Place Marie Janson: Largest Pedestrian Area in Brussels for Families and Recreation

2023-07-01 18:00:00

”We’re a bit like stoeffers, but we’re very proud: it’s the largest pedestrian area in Brussels following the pedestrian area in the centre”. Seated at his “new office”, a huge table to share “like in a daily bread”, Jean Spinette appreciates the metamorphosis of Place Marie Janson. The Mayor of Saint-Gilles “obviously” counts the Parvis in his area calculations. He takes a few steps towards a long concrete bench, at the bottom of these 14,000m2 inaugurated on July 1, 2023. “Before, it was a dump here, behind the parking lot and the permanent wall of vans. Now, on market days, mothers will be able to watch their children play in the water jets”.

Let’s face it: Place Marie Janson has changed a lot. Better. The project, launched in October 2021, lasted more than a year and a half. Jackhammers have finally given way to children, who cling to street-workout machines, swing on wooden games or slide down the small artificial embankment equipped with climbing holds. Between the permeable grassy areas, their parents have taken out the petanque balls. Or the Molkky: we are in Saint-Gilles. A few beers are uncapped on the large picnic tables or the many rounded benches. At the top, along rue Hôtel des Monnaie, young people have already launched football or 3X3 basketball tournaments. And a local resident walks his dog in the new dedicated space.

The children and their parents have replaced the parking lot on Place Marie Janson. ©EdA – Julien RensonnetWillem Stevens ©EdA – Julien Rensonnet

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No more question of letting trucks and vans enter: given the cellars of the former mint, the trees have developed their roots horizontally.

“45 years ago, the place was a complex of buildings,” recalls Willem Stevens, Alderman for Urban Revitalization (Vooruit). “In 1979, the Commune razed everything to pave and plant trees”. A sports field is grafted, as well as a car park. “But we see that it is a place of passage. We wanted to create a real meeting place”. Flagship measure: motorized access limited to deliveries and users of parking lots on rue de Moscow.

Mixed toilets

The Municipality relies on the resources allocated to the Parvis-Morichar District Contract and selects the project of the architects Paola Vigano and VVV. “They understood that it was necessary to give new functions while keeping the trees”, resumes Stevens, who specifies that “57 additional trees have arrived, some of which, said to be ‘centenarians’, will take on much more volume”. There are also 3 kiosks. The first serves the sports grounds, the second opens onto the Parvis as the perfect concert stage and the last houses mixed toilets and a bicycle garage, managed by parking.brussels. “The toilet will be open during the markets”, specifies the city councilor. To protect the planted area, the concrete bench acts as a barrier. “No more question of letting trucks and vans in: given the cellars of the former mint, the trees have developed their roots horizontally”.

Football and basketball courts and yoga areas: we are testing the possibilities on the new Place Marie Janson. ©EdA – Julien RensonnetJean Spinette ©EdA – Julien Rensonnet

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The appropriation of the place by the users will change the dynamics. If people find pleasure in settling there, social control will operate by itself.

Residents, café owners and shopkeepers have a concern: the former place Marie Janson had the reputation of draining a frequentation sometimes incompatible with a swing session. “I am very comfortable with this question”, assures Mayor Spinette. “The crossings are reviewed, the low wall separating the square from the Parvis has disappeared, the bushes and glass bubbles too. It looks more like a park. A few years ago, some were hiding to attempt car or bag-jackings. It’s out of the question”. The mayor also thinks that it is “its appropriation by users that will change the dynamic. If people find pleasure in settling there, the social control will operate by itself”.

But Jean Spinette is not naive either. “When you open such a public space, you have to raise awareness”. This is where the Midi Police Zone comes in. “We are launching a visibility plan for the forces that emanate from the various services in our area”, intervenes Stéphane Szymusik, commissioner responsible for proximity in the territory of Saint-Gilles. “We work on hotspots where we identify nuisances, our presence must reassure traders, residents and users”. The operation will be held until September, like the one that prohibits the consumption of alcohol in certain streets. Including necessarily this new place Marie Janson.

All ages were represented for the inauguration. ©EdA – Julien RensonnetStéphane Szymusik, from the Midi zone. ©EdA – Julien Rensonnet

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We work on hot-spots where we identify nuisances, our presence must reassure traders, residents and users.

”We are putting blue back on the street. We must ensure that the square is accessible to all sections of the population”, warns Spinette, who slips that the surveillance cameras are connected. “But I’ll cut the rumours: here, you can sit anywhere, there’s no anti-homeless furniture”.

Budget: 1.5 million via Beliris, 2 million via the Region for the neighborhood contract, 500,000 via Bruxelles Mobilité.

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