In 2015, the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region has initiated the Canal Plan in order to achieve a set of objectives in the central part of the city, on both sides of the waterway:
- to keep economic activity in the city and strengthen its urban integration;
- to create housing that meets the needs associated with population growth for all household profiles;
- to create pleasant, unifying public spaces (in particular by promoting the Canal axis and its crossings);
- to create the conditions for an open city by promoting a mix of functions, a diverse population, etc.
Realising these goals involves:
- Creating and promoting functional diversity by working on urban forms and planning programmes that enable different functions to co-exist;
- Rationalising land use and attempting to use it intensively;
- Using public spaces as the starting point for determining the form of the city.
- The government has given itself ten years to achieve its ambitions in the Canal Area. To mobilise the Canal Area’s potential, it has defined an operational zone of 700 hectares, including 300 hectares of public land, and appointed a dedicated team bringing together several of Brussels’ public bodies. This team operates according to an original method, based on co-construction and project-based urban development.
