It’s the 21st century, but Brussels is looking backward as well as forward, with a couple of projects that will have an effect on the future as well.
One of the projects involves ‘daylighting’ sections of two of the Belgian capital’s rivers, channeled underground in the 19th and 20th centuries to make way for urban development. New thinking, happening also in other parts of the world, is that undergrounding increases chances of flooding, and deoxygenates the water, changing what can grow and live in it. The open water also helps reduce the effect of heatwaves.
The two rivers involved are the Woluwe and the Ukkelbeek, each of which will get new pedestrian promenades and other amenities along the uncovered sections.
The other project is nearing completion: restoration work on the city’s last medieval gate, the Porte de Hal, which dates to the 13th century, when it was built as part of the city’s second wall. It was restored in the 19th century after a close call with demolition, but its roof has needed replacement and other work has been carried out. Its new slate roof comes from the same quarry that supplied the new slates for Notre Dame in Paris after the fire.
Image: Romaine/Wikimedia Commons
