type
Public participation
Context
The Ixelles Cemetery district is a dense, highly diverse hub known for a lively nightlife scene rooted in student life (bars, cafés, and student housing). While this urban intensity creates a cheerful atmosphere around the roundabout, it also generates significant nuisances and tensions for both visitors and residents. Since the "Balance ton bar" movement, the area has also been grappling with challenges regarding safety, inclusivity, mobility, and public space management, both day and night.
Mission
To address the challenges of urban renewal in the district, the Municipality obtained funding from a Sustainable Neighborhood Contract (CQD “Petite Suisse”). Managing the city at night remains difficult due to lack of sufficient knowledge. The key issue is to ensure the best cohabitation between the festive activity and other uses and audiences. In this context, the Municipality has launched the formalization of a “Night Code”, built with residents, outers, venue managers, workers, associations and public authorities.
Approach
The "Night Code" is being co-created with the people who experience the area: residents, students, workers, and night owls alike. To this end, the initiative engages a diverse range of local stakeholders in a dialogue-based process, addressing various themes through informal, interactive formats: debates and "fishbowl" discussions, neighborhood tours, night-time exploratory walks, a social survey on gender, mapping workshops, and training sessions involving night workers and municipal services. The goal is to produce a list of concrete actions and recommendations to improve inclusivity, ensure smoother mobility, expand the network of cool spots, and foster a greater sense of hospitality and safety in the Petite Suisse neighborhood, both by day and by night.