Openstreets 22

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It’s in Molenbeek, in the capital’s most diverse, densely populated and polluted neighbourhood, that Openstreets has been setting up camp every summer since 2020. This fast-growing project began with the observation that car traffic in the area was so heavy that it prevented the development of an outdoor community. Children stayed at home to play, and neighbours did not get to know each other.

A series of streets have been closed to motorised traffic from June to September and thus transformed into a laboratory for a healthier, more liveable and more inclusive city. In collaboration with local associations, the project involves residents of all backgrounds and ages, including young people, who are generally harder to reach. The streets are temporarily redeveloped, with plantations, benches and cycling facilities, and made accessible to people with reduced mobility. The activities organised invite residents to reclaim their street.

The project has both short – and longterm objectives. On the one hand, the aim is to return the streets to citizens for the summer, and on the other, to develop sustainable micro-interventions and organise co-creation workshops to generate and publicise concrete and imaginative proposals.