Brussels wins award for pedestrian zone - and vetoes another project

The city of Brussels has won a European town planning award for its pedestrian zone - in the same week that it vetoed plans for another pedestrian area on Place Royale.

The Boulevard Anspach pedestrianisation, which began last year, was one of three winners out of 20 candidates at the 11th European Urban and Regional Planning Awards, organised by the European Council of Town Planners, ECTP.

Brussels city hall said the award "affirms our willingness to give the city centre back to its inhabitants and to contribute to a better environment".

Jan Schollaert, the Brussels city planner overseeing the project, picked up the award. The jury praised his team for prioritising pedestrians and cyclists in the heart of Brussels, rethinking the links between residential and tourist areas and making environmental upgrades to public spaces.

News of the award came as the city of Brussels vetoed a plan to partly pedestrianise Place Royale - prompting accusations from green politicians of a lack of consistency.

The plan, which involved reducing the road space, and installing a new green area around the statue of Godfrey of Bouillon, had been drawn up by Beliris, a collaboration between the federal government and the Brussels-Capital region.

The head of the Francophone green party Ecolo told La Libre Belgique: "This is a missed opportunity to improve the environment, quality of life and enhancement of this exceptional neoclassical heritage.

"The proposed solution of giving more space to pedestrians without hindering traffic is interesting. This is the type of solution which was adopted on the Place de la République in Paris, where one side of the square was closed to traffic."

According to Nagy, the decision highlights an inconsistency on the board of the city of Brussels: “There is clearly opposition internally. On the one hand, they want to reduce traffic pressure, and on the other, they don’t want to touch anything - leaving the car as the preferred mode of transport, as if there was not a serious pollution problem."

She was critical of Brussels' councillor for urban planning and heritage, Geoffroy Coomans de Brachène, adding: "If he thinks that the only way to value the statue of Godfrey of Bouillon is to leave it in the middle of traffic, then he has no place as alderman for heritage. At the moment, visitors risk their lives to get close to the statue."