Belgian official tourism site labels city 'ugly'

TourismBelge, the official Instagram account of Belgium's Wallonia region has labeled one of its major urban areas #ugliestcity, and appears to have stirred up more amusement than resentment.

The hashtag popped up with a string of others on the account, which was actually advertising a 1906 Art Nouveau house designed by Hector Lecomte (below) in Charleroi, once a main industrial city of Belgium's French-speaking Wallonia region, but now with a rust-belt reputation similar to a number of U.S. and U.K. cities.

Officials at the tourism board asserted that the hashtag is in 'good humor' and in line with the city's tourism, and claims that residents use it as a 'badge of pride." “Charleroi residents have a sense of humour… and are highlighting to visitors their human assets, their ability to bounce back, especially through culture.”