Rue Neuve (Brussels)
Rue Neuve (French) or Nieuwstraat (Dutch), meaning "New Street", is a pedestrian street in Brussels' city centre. It runs between the Place de la Monnaie/Muntplein in the south and the Place Charles Rogier/Charles Rogierplein in the north. Rue Neuve and its close surroundings are the second most popular shopping area in Belgium by number of shoppers, after Meir in Antwerp.[1] It is served by the metro and premetro stations De Brouckère and Rogier.
 Rue Neuve in Brussels | |
| Location | City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium |
|---|---|
| Quarter | Marais–Jacqmain Quarter |
History
The street used to be called Rue Notre-Dame/Onze-Lieve-Vrouwstraat, after the Church of Our Lady of Finistere, which is now in the middle of the retail district. It has been a centre of commercial activity since at least the end of the 19th century, and was known as a centre of luxury shopping early 20th century. The street was pedestrianised in 1975.[2]
Nowadays, Rue Neuve has the second highest rents of any street in Belgium, at €1,600/square metre/year (the Meir shopping street in Antwerp ranks first, with 1,700 €/square metre/year).[3] However, it has been criticised by some for being to "boring" architecturally, "uniformly 'mass market'" and lacking in independent retailers, and without variety of uses, for example with very few residents.[2] The City of Brussels has plans to bring more residents to the street and to make it more "attractive".[4]
References
- Meir klopt voor het eerst Nieuwstraat als drukste winkelstraat 10 Mar, 2010
- Mikolajczak, Charlotte (9 November 2013). "La rue Neuve leur appartient" (in French). La Libre. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- High streets – the rental hit parade 10 Mar, 2010
- "Du solide pour une rue Neuve habitée !" (PDF). ARAU.org. Atelier De Recherche Et D'action Urbaines. Retrieved 4 June 2016.