Activity 4: The struggle over the Northern Quarter
Brussels, a permanent construction site?
Activity 4: The struggle over the Northern Quarter
View of the Northern Quarter before its demolition in 1960. © Le Soir
At the end of the 1960s, an enormous project was launched by the property developer Charles De Pauw, to build a "World Trade Centre" to the west of the North station, modelled on the towers of New York Bay.
It involved the demolition of the area of Chaussée d’Anvers / Antwerpsesteenweg, known as the "Northern Quarter", to turn it into a large business centre: a high-rise district crossed by two motorways. This was the "Manhattan Plan", which would drastically change the structure of the district and led to the expropriation of several thousand inhabitants. A social housing construction programme was drawn up in order to rehouse them, although it was considerably delayed. The project as a whole was heavily criticised and fell victim to the economic crisis of the 1970s, which led to its abandonment and ensuing large tracts of land lying fallow until the 1990s. It was on this area that the Northern Quarter was built, becoming one of the main business districts of Brussels.
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The new Northern Quarter. © CIVA, Brussels
At the time of the restructuring plans, the Northern Quarter was inhabited by a disadvantaged population, many of whom were of foreign origin. The residents mobilised against the project, raising awareness among the people of Brussels through numerous demonstrations, leaflets and posters. Several neighbourhood committees, such as the "Struggling Northern Quarter" ("Le Nord en lutte"), were also formed in an - ultimately unsuccessful - attempt to halt the titanic project.
Here is one of their awareness-raising leaflets. The front is in French while the languages on the back demonstrate the diverse origins of a large part of the neighbourhood's inhabitants. Take a look at the leaflet and click on the icons to discover which language it has been translated into.
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