What is it about?
The Marolles neighbourhood is one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods of the capital. However, public spaces are of poor quality and the rate of impermeability is 86.90%. What's more, with the exception of the Porte de Hal park, the neighbourhood has no large green spaces.
The project involves the redevelopment of 5 streets in the Marolles neighbourhood: Rue du Miroir, Rue Saint-Ghislain, Rue des Capucins, Rue du Faucon and Rue de l'Abricotier.
These 5 streets have their own particularities but share certain characteristics:
- The road surface is in poor condition, making it uncomfortable for pedestrians, cyclists and people with reduced mobility
- The public space is often fragmented by small building components, furniture and so on
- Motorists do not respect the speed limits (the slopes are steep and lend themselves to higher speeds)
- The pavement is in poor condition and the poor street lighting creates a feeling of insecurity
- Most spaces are reserved for cars, and in some places the pavement is only 50 cm wide
- The streets have little high quality greenery and are subject to the urban heat island effect on hot days
Rue du Miroir
Rue du Miroir will become a pedestrianised street. The current 5 parking spaces will be removed and the car park for people with reduced mobility will be moved 30 metres inwards (between Rue Blaes and Rue de Nancy).
A play area will be created near the emergency exit of the Émile André primary school. The difference in level in the play area is compensated for by a slope with stones and climbing ropes. There will also be a wheelchair-accessible carousel, a fun mirror (Rue du Miroir), a shared library and seating furniture.
The birch tree in the middle of the street will be retained and 5 new trees will be planted, including 4 fruit trees. Finally, an open-air 'waiting room' will be set up opposite the 'Centre de Santé du Miroir'. A bin storage area will be built to store the bins that are currently causing a nuisance in the public area.
Rue Saint-Ghislain
The street will be laid out on a single level and will retain its status as a meeting zone. Parking will be reorganised while maintaining 6 parking spaces and a delivery zone (12 m). This will enable better sharing of public space and provide more space for pedestrians.
A rain garden will be built to collect some of the rainwater run-off. Six new trees will be planted and 4 double cycle racks installed. There will be 3 new benches, including 2 at the entrance to Espace Jacqmotte, on the even number side of the street.
Rue des Capucins
The street will be level and will have the status of a limited-access zone. The 4 parking spaces and the delivery zone in Rue des Capucins will be removed. Instead, open spaces will be created on the sides of the street, allowing deliveries to be made without obstructing passing vehicles.
The main aim of this development is to increase the amount of space available for pedestrians, but also to make the areas through which young children pass on a daily basis safer (the various public participation sessions highlighted speeding in the street due to the significant difference in height).
The street will be as inclusive as possible for all users. As there are many passers-by in the street, the design aims to create leisure spaces for everyone. There will be benches with comfortable backrests and armrests for the elderly, a shared library for the crèche to encourage exchanges between parents and children, a play area for young children at the crèche and games such as hopscotch and alphabet tiles to encourage playful learning.
Bike and cargo bike racks will also be installed and 2 new trees planted.
Rue du Faucon
Rue du Faucon is the last link in the pedestrian route between the Palais de Justice law court and Place du Jeu de Balle. The street will be pedestrianised and designed as a small park in which to go for a walk. The 10 existing parking spaces will be removed.
The project involves planting 11 new trees, extending the existing green space and integrating the existing staircase into a stepped layout with rest areas and planting. The 'Monument des Vivants' (Monument to the Living) will be brought into focus, the bicycle locker will be retained but relocated and 3 new bicycle racks will also be installed.
Rue de l'Abricotier
The street will be restored to its original level, with a central drainage channel formed by cobblestones. Opportunities for greening the street are limited (narrow width and underground utilities network). As a result, greening will be limited to the planting of 2 new trees at the entrance to the street. Finally, the direction of traffic will be reversed, making it easier for the hospital's emergency vehicles to reach the small ring road.
Greening and rain water management
The existing birch trees (Rue du Miroir), lime trees (Rue des Capucins), maple trees (Rue du Faucon), 4 maple trees (Rue du Miroir) and Japanese cherry trees (Rue du Faucon) will be preserved in the redevelopment project.
Because of the shift in the centre of the road and the street layout, the 3 Photinia trees in Rue du Faucon and the 3 young maples in Rue du Miroir will be removed and replaced by fruit and honey species. These will provide additional biodiversity.
A total of 26 new trees will be planted, including 16 fruit trees. A number of green areas with low shrubs and planting are also planned. The permeable surface area of the project will increase from 188 m² to 919 m². In future, 33% of rain water will also be collected in the different green zones.
Participation
The project is the result of a co-creation process with residents, retailers and the various associations and players in the neighbourhood, including the Marolles District Commission. This process was initiated in 2020 with the aim of carrying out a diagnostic of the existing situation and determining guidelines and priorities for the development of these 5 streets.
Many comments were incorporated to produce a proposal that met expectations and took account of the limitations of the existing situation.
Redevelopment plan
What purpose?
This project meets the following ambitions and objectives:
- Offering a network of calming public spaces, directing all types of parking to off-street car parks, in order to meet the needs of residents and visitors in terms of green spaces, tranquillity and high quality
- Developing the green network as a support to active mobility methods and biodiversity
- Rebalancing and diversifying the uses of public spaces
- Improving the safety and quality of public spaces for the purposes of living and environmental resilience
- Developing a strategy to reduce soil sealing in the city of Brussels and make its public spaces greener
- Prioritising and redeveloping roads, taking into account the specialisation of roads and the 'Ville 30' speed restriction
- Creating peaceful neighbourhoods based on the STOP (Good Move) principle
- Incorporating inclusiveness criteria into public spaces from the design stage
- Ensuring accessibility to all transport methods for people with reduced mobility
- Speeding up the development of a cycle network and providing appropriate bike parking facilities
- Planting fruit trees in public spaces
- Responding to the lack of play areas
