Garden district Bon Air or good air

The garden district Bon Air or Goede Lucht was built between 1921 and 1923 in the heart of the countryside, far away from the built-up areas at that time. Its style resembles that of The Wheel (La roue). The name of the garden district seems to be intended for the expropriated inhabitants of Brussels, who want to be convinced to move to this isolated and hard-to-reach place. In the same respect, the street names hold numerous promises about a new and different life instead of the supposedly unhealthy life in the middle of the city. Some examples are: the Hygiënestraat, Heilzaamstraat, Gezondheidsstraat, Matigheidsstraat, Vruchtbaarheidsstraat, Gelukstraat or the Geestdriftstraat.

To this day, Good Air is the only neighborhood that is not part of the city. The Ring around Brussels forms a dividing line between this district and the city centre. An absent-minded hiker might think that he has ended up in a small village, as there are so many in Flanders: a clock tower with a number of houses around. But if he looked a little closer, he would notice that there is no church in the village square, but a school and that the houses – despite the many renovations – show a common style. Furthermore, he would notice that the inhabitants are clearly real city sparrows. They are therefore connected to the city by a bridge and tunnel.

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