2013-05-25 – The development of the Canal territory was a key subject of discussion at the governmental seminar organised by the Minister-President of the Brussels Region in Ostend on Friday and Saturday.
Urban development, employment and training, housing, transport, cultural and sporting facilities, the economy, governance and taxation were all on the agenda. During the two days of intensive meetings, the Government reached agreement on no fewer than 40 dossiers, each including very specific measures to be taken in the year ahead.
Several of these relate to the Canal territory.
- The Government, with the aim of territorial development in mind, has decided to site the future Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in the Canal territory, to enhance its attractiveness. The precise location will be decided in July.
- Functional mix is a topical issue for the development of cities and metropolitan economies. Economic activity has to be made compatible with residential needs, and concerns about the quality of housing, transport, local jobs and the development of non-polluting activities call for a strongly cross-disciplinary approach to the issues, in the light of the need to strike an economic balance. With this in mind, the Government has decided to establish a free zone in the Canal territory, using an incentivisation policy to make an intelligent mix of functions possible that will generate work, prosperity and well-being.
- The Government has agreed to the main points of the Schaerbeek-Formation master plan. It has taken the view that this zone, due to its position very close to the Canal, the national rail network, the Brussels Ring and Brussels National Airport, and because of its considerable size, will enableeconomic and logistical activities to be reconfigured and synergies to be generated. In this connection, a consultation process will be launched on the eventual relocation of the businesses present in the central part of the Canal territory to the port approach. In the future, Schaerbeek-Formation will therefore be the multimodal logistics hub for the capital.
- The Government has also decided to speed up the development of the Tour & Taxis zone. The creation of the new mixed, sustainable district around Tour & Taxis will give the Region a new large-scale urban park and will require suitable transport infrastructure. The Government has therefore decided on the route of the future tram line that will serve the site.
The Government has also reached agreement on the NEO project (involving the complete reconfiguration of the Heysel Plateau) and has taken key decisions for its implementation: the use of the Roi Baudouin stadium site for the construction of new housing and facilities essential to the Region’s development, and the building of the stadium on the site of Heysel’s current Car Park C.
The Government has also agreed that 30% of the housing to be developed on the Josaphat site (for which the planning study will be completed this October) will be social housing. Talks will also need to be continued with the Federal Government in connection with the SNCB-NMBS Multi-Year Investment Plan (MIP) with a view to the creation of an RER station on the site.
