Venelles, Joli Bois, Dames Blanches : from garden cities to Woluwe-Saint-Pierre

Like many Brussels municipalities, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre has seen the construction of several small garden cities, starting in the 1920s: Joli-Bois city, Venelles city, Friendship city... so many evocative names that translate well the idealistic aspirations that these places have welcomed. If, at present, the majority of these cities no longer necessarily house social housing, they remain the witnesses of architectural and urban planning experiments intended to make decent housing accessible to all. The visit will also be an opportunity to take stock of the future of the Dames Blanches field: the last large land reserve to be dedicated to public housing, it has been confronted for decades with contradictory visions and persistent political conflicts. Faced with these, it is now necessary to take a step back to shed light, in light of contemporary social and environmental issues, on the projects currently on the table.