Brussels

"Sorry, I don’t speak Netherlands.” It’s a response that both Brusseleers and Amsterdammers have long ceased to bat an eye at. Is Dutch surviving in our capitals? What about the many dozens of other native languages? And what else do urban dwellers need besides language? “If you make it a battle between Dutch and English, the latter wins.”

The future is multilingual, we hear it several times in both Brussels and Amsterdam. And the fact that English today will not immediately displace Dutch is noted by language expert Marc van Oostendorp in small ways. “When you speak English in a foreign country with someone who later turns out to be a Dutch speaker, a sense of shame still arises. As long as that is the case, Dutch is not in danger.”

How do the cities deal with crucial challenges around mobility, housing, waste, tourism, and language?
AT5 and BRUZZ investigated this in Amsterdam and Brussels.
'City of the Future', five weeks starting from April 20 on BRUZZ tv, BRUZZ.be, and in BRUZZ magazine.

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