Brussels

Not your ordinary city

Brussels fascinates and intrigues. How is it that this city - a hodgepodge where the worst atrocities of urban planning sit side by side with architectural jewels - can be so charming and seductive ?

Landlocked within Flanders but mainly French-speaking, the Kingdom of Belgium's multicultural capital, whose 19 « communes » range from working-class Molenbeek to upscale Uccle, has become the country's artistic centre and an extraordinarily creative centrifugal force. Crossing Brussels today is like travelling through time or taking a tour of diverse dialects and world foods.

This little book is not a guide, but rather a key. It invites the reader to understand the slow transformation of an ancient bourgeois town which many thought had drifted into a deep sleep. Until it became the capital of Europe. In order to be understood, Brussels must be decoded. This is not your ordinary city. This is much more than a city.

An intimate portrait of Brussels and its inhabitants followed by interviews with three prominent local thinkers : historian Roel Jacobs, sociologist Fatima Zibouh and philosopher Philippe Van Parijs.