The City of Brussels is working to make the European Quarter, a concrete-heavy district housing several EU and international organisations, greener. The first step in its "master plan" to do so is to completely renovate Rue Guimard.
Compared to just ten years ago, Brussels has become much greener. However, many streets lack plants and trees, while on others greenery was introduced in a way that it damages the public space and the plants' health.
The recently announced redevelopment of the historic Place de la Liberté centred around fixing this, and now Rue Guimard – a key street in the European Quarter – is being tackled.
"Rue Guimard is an important link between the city centre and the Leopold district. Today, the space in the street is mainly occupied by the 85 parking spaces," said Anaïs Maes, City of Brussels councillor for Town Planning and Public Space.
Between these parking spaces, 35 tall-stemmed trees were planted in tiny planting beds several years ago.
"The trees suffer due to the lack of space for their roots, pushing up the street lining and affecting their health," said Maes.
Credit: Anaïs Maes cabinet
The City of Brussels has therefore submitted a permit for the complete reconstruction of Rue Guimard.
More greenery and bicycle parking
While a phytosanitary study showed that the trees on Rue Guimard are in generally good condition, some show abnormalities due to lack of space.
"The project envisages preserving the trees, except one dead tree. Three new tall-stemmed trees will be planted as compensation," Maes noted.
Besides the preservation of the tall-stemmed trees, multi-stemmed trees will be planted in the green spaces for more varied flowering. As part of the renovation works, full green spaces will be created around the trees by laying parking spaces out lengthwise, allowing the pavements to be widened.
At the same time, perennials, ornamental grasses and shrubs will be added to the green beds to increase biodiversity.
"The plants were selected based on their appearance, colour, flowering period and landscape value, with a special focus on species attractive to pollinating insects such as butterflies and bees," Maes explained.
"A greater variety of flowers ensures a richer supply of nectar and pollen, essential for the reproduction of these insects," she added.
The currently 26.7m² of permeable space will be expanded to 679m²m, while another 434m² will become semi-permeable, meaning rainwater will better infiltrate the soil.
Looking at infrastructure, some parking spaces will remain, and a 12-metre delivery area will be added as well as 30 bicycle poles. The driving direction will also be changed: currently, the whole street allows two-way traffic, but in the future, the street section from Rue du Commerce to Frère-Orbansquare will become one-way.
These works mark the first step of the City of Brussels' master plan to make the European district greener. The framework defines how certain streets should be redesigned to structurally soften the ground and make public space more green.
"The redevelopment of Rue Guimard also fits into our broader vision to make the European Quarter a lively and mixed neighbourhood," Maes said, referring to the plan unveiled at the end of last year.
"If we want people and families to actually want to live here, we also need to tackle the public space in this neighbourhood," she added.
