Place Jourdan

When you have just come out of the park, Place Jourdan feels like a village square (minus the church), squeezed between big, bold office blocks and residential areas. At first you have the sense that this is a thriving local community, with its Maison Antoine chip shop, Café L’Espérance (Chez Bernard), Au Vatel bakery and so on; however, if you listen in on the conversations of passers-by you soon realise that it’s mainly expats who feel at home here. Dark clouds have often hung over this square. In view of its location in the Maalbeek valley and close to the most economically important district of Brussels, an urban expressway between Schaerbeek and Ixelles was planned here in the 1960s. When those ideas were scrapped in the 1980s, investments were made in the surrounding buildings and streets. The residential accommodation over the shops was given a boost, enabling the square to retain its mixed character. A second threat was the pressure from offices. The land on the north side where the Sofitel Hotel now stands was the subject of a battle between residents and developers for many years. The zoning plan of 1968 stipulated that high-rise office buildings could also be built on this side of Rue Belliard. Speculators bought up buildings en masse, then let them go to wrack and ruin. The premises were occupied by squatters. It was a relief when a hotel was eventually built there rather than an office building. The recent redevelopment, which has made the square largely car-free, was initially met with suspicion on the part of some retailers and local politicians, but is now bearing fruit. The chip shop Maison Antoine, a long-standing local presence, was given new premises. Jourdan is buzzing again, but gentrification is making itself felt more than ever. Rising rents are attracting a more affluent – and rather homogeneous – public, while neighbourhood shops give way to hipper outlets.

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