Haren: the last village of Brussels

A municipality annexed to the Ville de Bruxelles in 1921, Haren has managed to keep the air of a peaceful Flemish village. Agriculture is still present there, as is the memory of chicory cultivation and an important heritage of local roads and paths. This rural identity is however fraying little by little: from the beginning of the 20th century, the outskirts of Haren saw a crowd of factories settle that sought the proximity of the canal and the railways and enclosed the village. More recently, numerous real estate projects and large-scale public facilities (STIB depot, mega-prison, etc.) have emerged, still threatening the last agricultural lands and the local roads and paths that cross the village. Their disappearance has sometimes been bitterly fought by the inhabitants and environmental defenders: we will recall the fight for the preservation of the Keelbeek path, threatened by the mega-prison project. The ARAU invites you to walk these (very old) paths to discover the history, the heritage, and the threats that weigh on the future of the last Brussels village.