The Brussels regional administration and the City of Brussels, in collaboration with the regional commerce agency (Atrium.Brussels) have launched a call for projects with the goal of revitalising ten districts in the city centre. According to Atrium.

Brussels, shops in these areas were impacted by the lockdown following the attacks and the pedestrianisation of the city centre.

The ten areas are Dansaert, Notre-Dame-aux-Neiges, Midi-Lemonnier, Mont des Arts, Rue Neuve, Sainte-Catherine, Grand-Place, Marolles, Sablon, and Saint-Jacques.

The call for projects, called Make.Brussels, aims to bring together the Brussels creative community and citizens. It was supported by an online publication platform through which projects could be summited. In total, 372 projects and ideas were published on the platform from April 4 to May 6, 2016. Citizens of Brussels could then vote, between May 9 and 20, to select the most compelling ideas. Thirty projects were approved, three in each district, with a total of 27,936 votes collected, the website notes.

Funded by crowdfunding

These thirty ideas were then translated into prototypes and assessed by an independent jury. Finally ten projects were selected to develop their ideas. These were supported by a crowdfunding campaign on the KissKissBankBank site. This campaign will help them collect up to EUR 30,000 to fund their project. Campaigns will end on December 31, 2016.

The goal is “to transform the population into ambassadors”, said Arnaud Texier, Atrium.Brussels director, on a blog.

Among the ten projects, the Kring Café Velo “creates a friendly and creative space dedicated to cycling” in the Dansaert district; Melting Pot promotes street food in the Notre-Dame-Aux-Neiges area; Stryty creates an app to collect information and coupons on local shops; and La Ligne decorates dilapidated metro station with art.