The district for newcomers (Cureghem)

This Brukselbinnenstebuiten walk takes you through Cureghem, the urban district of Anderlecht that lies between the Petite Ceinture ring road, Brussels Midi railway station and the Canal. At the beginning of the 19th century, this was still a marshy, sparsely inhabited area of the Senne valley. A number of mills and isolated factories lined the waterways. Urbanisation and industrialisation got underway in 1860. After those processes began to falter a century later, the district was neglected for decades. The first modest urban renewal projects appeared in the mid-1990s; more ambitious plans are in the pipeline today.

This walk passes right through Cureghem, from Brussels Midi in the east to the Canal and the new Parc de la porte de Ninove in the west.

Tip: combine your walk with a visit to the market on the Abattoir site (on Friday, Saturday or Sunday) or the Midi Market (on Sunday).

Brukselbinnenstebuiten turns 50 in 2021. During its 50 years, our guides have collected thousands of images of Brussels: photos, slides, old maps and district plans. This unique collection presents the changing city in visual form and depicts lost heritage and the impact of urban planning decisions on the city and its residents. Some of the illustrations for this walk come from the Brukselbeeldenbank.