Lille - Avenue Peuple Belge

Big consultation

on the metamorphosis of the Avenue Peuple Belge

The city is currently organising a major consultation on the metamorphosis of the Avenue du Peuple Belge until 23 May (more information on city website)

We have already proposed our ideas during the municipal elections in our programme for green spaces in Lille.

Swim in the river like in Copenhagen

During the 2019 municipal elections, one of Volt Lille's proposals was to put water back in the Avenue Peuple Belge. We were thinking of cities like Amsterdam or Bruges, where canals are a prominent feature of the cityscape, or cities like Copenhagen, where you can jump into the river on hot summer days for a swim. Three years later, a little wiser and while the city was organising a citizen consultation on the future of the Avenue du Peuple Belge, our team revisited our original idea.

A canal - a new Quai de Wault?

While the idea of bathing in the city is appealing, you should know that the Avenue Peuple Belge will not be a river with flowing water. It is more of a dead end, so any debris that ends up in the canal will stay there. This also means that the water is stagnant, which requires circulation to filter and prevent the canal from becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes. As the canal is close to the Rue de Ghent and many bars, the risk of accidents is also increased. Looking at similar projects in Lille, we fear that any intervention will result in a second version of the Quai de Wault, a paved street for cars with a deep, unused water bassin. The Quai de Wault green space has even been closed off with plants to prevent access by residents - perhaps because of the security risk. And the adjacent park is a place for drug dealing rather than recreation.

Volt Lille - Quai de Wault
Quai de Wault (photo de la Ville de Lille)

Lille is not Copenhagen in this respect and given the costs and safety risks, we believe that the option of a fully flooded canal will only recreate the Quai de Wault. Even the creation of a partial waterway would not solve this problem but would only move it further along the Avenue du Peuple Belge. We therefore believe that scenarios 3 and 4 are not ideal, both in terms of cost, safety and maintenance effort.

An urban forest and a park like Jean-Lebas Park?

Although we like the idea of an urban forest, the long and especially narrow avenue does not really lend itself to a forest. With cars driving around, we create a safety risk and the possibility of having to build another caged park like in Jean-Lebas. Again, allowing cars to drive around the park and the forest will become a permanent safety risk. In addition, noise and paving stones will not create an oasis of tranquillity in the middle of the city.

Volt Lille - Parc Jean Lebas
Parc Jean Lebas (photo par Lille.actu)

A shallow water surface

We also looked at other cities that had a history of industrial canals. The Innenhafen in Duisburg, Germany, is a good example of a waterway with a pedestrian zone around it. Lined with bars and restaurants, it is an attraction for its transquility and cultural scene. The water is refreshing in summer and as the canal is shallow and safe, there is also less risk of accidents.

Volt Lille - Duisburg Innenhafen
Duisburg Innenhafen, Allemagne (photo Métropole Ruhr)

We think this is an appropriate solution and are in favour of extending the artifiical waterway to the end of the Avenue du Peuple Belge and closing the surrounding roads to cars to allow pedestrians to walk on the waterway, children to play in the water safely and bars and restaurants to set up on the banks. A shallow waterway would also be easier to manage and clean, if done more carefully than in Lille Europe. It would allow for the inclusion of green spaces and tree cover.

Perhaps we could also take inspiration from Comines, which has a fountain in its main square, which would also be a refreshing idea to add at the end of the water feature.

Volt Lille - Grande Place Comines
Grand place de Comines (photo par The-ring.io)

If we look to Paris for inspiration why not have red chairs instead of green chairs and also allow people to sit around the water surface (or even inside to cool their feet in summer)

Volt Lille - Tuileries à Paris
Tuileries in Paris - © BrokenSphere / Wikimedia Commons

Our recommendation and choice

According to our analysis, scenario 2 is probably the closest to our idea, although it looks more like a park with a pond instead of a mirror surface…

We also think that a water surface, even if it is only shallow, has a more symbolic character and, given the risks of climate change and urban heat islands, a water surface also seems to be an element we would not want to exclude. In combination with fountains, it will be a magnet on hot spring and summer days. Finally, in terms of maintenance, a mirrored surface seems to be much more suitable than a complete canal.

Whatever the outcome of the public consultation, each scenario should consider closing the Avenue Peuple Belge to car traffic to avoid recreating a new iteration of the Quai de Wault or the Parc Jean Lebas.

(photos par la Ville de Lille, Lille Actu, Metropole Ruhr, the-ring.io)