City of Brussels: pioneer of municipal transparency

The most populated and most transparent municipality

The City of Brussels is the capital municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region and the most populated of the 19 municipalities, with nearly 200,000 inhabitants spread across a territory of 33 km² encompassing the historic Pentagon, Laeken, Neder-Over-Heembeek, and Haren.

In terms of transparency, the City of Brussels stands as a pioneer among Brussels municipalities. It meets all six BGM monitoring criteria.

Open Data: a portal since 2014

The City of Brussels has had an active Open Data portal since 2014, among the first in Belgium at the municipal level. The portal offers datasets on mobility, urban planning, demographics, and municipal finances in exploitable formats (CSV, JSON, API).

Citizen participation: faireBXLsamen

The faireBXLsamen platform ("making Brussels together") allows residents to propose, debate, and vote on municipal projects. Participatory budgets, consultations on urban planning, and citizen interpellations are accessible online. More than 100 projects have been submitted since its launch.

Municipal council livestream

Municipal council sessions are broadcast via livestream on YouTube, and minutes are published in full online. Video archives go back several years.

Digital communication

In November 2024, the City of Brussels decided to leave X/Twitter, refocusing its communication on official channels (website, newsletter, institutional social media). This decision, motivated by the degradation of the platform, makes the City of Brussels one of the first Belgian administrations to take this step.

Recent municipal decisions

Removal of road occupation tax for solar panels (December 2025)

The municipal council voted in December 2025 to remove the Temporary Road Occupation Tax (OTVP) for the installation of photovoltaic panels (limit: 5 m², maximum 2 working days). The City of Brussels is the first Brussels municipality to adopt this incentive measure.

Terrace plan: regulation of terraces in the pedestrian zone (January 2026)

A police ordinance by the aldermen's college (late January 2026) bans terraces and market stalls on Stoofstraat (Lombardstraat — Eikstraat section, Grand-Place — Manneken Pis axis) for safety and pedestrian flow reasons. A comprehensive plan to regulate the 900 terraces across the municipality is being prepared, focusing on the pedestrian zone, the Grand-Place and the Grasmarkt. The approach involves consultation with the hospitality sector.

Horeca terrace tax hike (adopted on 20 April 2026)

The municipal council of the City of Brussels voted on Monday 20 April 2026 an increase of the taxes on horeca terraces, announced by BRUZZ on 17 April. The new rates:

Equipment multipliers:

• Wooden floor: ×1.25
• Semi-closed terrace: ×3
• Closed terrace: ×10
• Displayed menu: flat +€200

The Zuidfoor funfair operators also see their rents raised by 5%.

Vote: majority in favour; against: PTB and Team Fouad Ahidar; abstention: Ecolo.

Municipal justification: significant rise in organisation costs (police, Red Cross, road maintenance, waste, daily cleaning, promotion), on top of the Region's transfer of certain charges previously covered regionally (notably those linked to concrete blocks, see Security card). The Brussels horeca federation 'regrets' the measure, calling it a 'bad signal' for a sector already weakened by the federal hotel VAT hike (6 → 12%, 1 March 2026).

Sources: BRUZZ (17 April 2026); BX1 (21 April 2026); L'Avenir / DH (17 April 2026). Confidence: official (tax regulation at municipal council, vote confirmed).

Begging regulation (municipal council of 20 April 2026)

The same municipal council of Monday 20 April 2026 adopted a regulation on begging, driven by Mayor Philippe Close (PS). The text includes two distinct components:

1. Begging with children — ban in three perimeters:

• the Pentagon (historic centre)
• Place Louise
• Avenue Louise

Fines up to €500 for violations. Police are required to inform offenders about compulsory schooling (5-18) and the social services available (subsidised childcare, school registration).

2. 'Aggressive, insistent, intimidating' begging — ban across the entire territory of the City for a period of 2 years, with an evaluation clause.

Vote: majority in favour; against: Ecolo, PTB, Team Fouad Ahidar.

Opposition: Benoît Hellings (Ecolo) denounces the "cruel" nature of "criminalising begging", arguing that the text tackles the symptoms rather than the causes and risks shifting the problem to other municipalities. The opposition also points to the problematic coherence with concurrent federal policies (long-term unemployment exclusions, see Social card).

Institutional reminder: competence over maintaining public order on the public highway and over municipal administrative sanctions (SAC) lies with the municipality (communal level). The regulation takes effect after publication and approval by the regional supervisory authority.

Sources: La Libre (20 April 2026); Le Soir (20 April 2026, URL to be validated — bot protection). Confidence: official (regulation adopted by the municipal council).

Evacuation of the Humanitarian Hub (21 April 2026)

On Tuesday 21 April 2026, the City of Brussels, in consultation with Bruss'help, carried out in the morning the evacuation of the tents installed around the Humanitarian Hub (Avenue du Port). Reasons invoked: deterioration of the situation (hygiene, rats reported, incidents, tensions). Occupants had been informed in advance and directed towards emergency shelter options; several refused the orientations proposed.

Doctors Without Borders publicly criticised an intervention that "brings no long-term solution". The evacuation concerns the outdoor encampment, not the Humanitarian Hub itself (which remains operational).

Confidence: unconfirmed (press article; official City / Bruss'help statement not found on 23 April). See also Social card. Source: La Libre (21 April 2026).

King Baudouin Stadium: request for federal co-financing (22 April 2026)

On 22 April 2026, a joint visit of the Region and the City of Brussels to the King Baudouin Stadium was led by the regional Minister-President and the Sports alderwoman of the City. Joint public position: no new national stadium, but renovation and modernisation of the existing one. Formal request for federal co-financing — publicly repeated formula: "The City cannot shoulder it alone. Nor can the Region."

No amount or timeline communicated at this stage. The case follows the collapse of the Eurostadium project on Parking C (Grimbergen) and constitutes the first public Region / City / federal negotiation on major sports infrastructure since the formation of the new regional executive.

See also Institutional card. Source: La DH (23 April 2026). Confidence: unconfirmed (public stance, no budget decision yet).

Stadslandbouw strategy — urban agriculture (April 2026)

The City of Brussels publishes its Stadslandbouw strategy (urban agriculture). Quantitative targets:

• +10 hectares of farmland mobilised by 2030 (roughly 20 football pitches), from a current area estimated at 13-15 ha on City territory or owned by the City
• 50 % of fruit and vegetables purchased locally (municipal procurement)
• Focus on legume cultivation

This strategy is distinct from the regional Good Food strategy (Brussels Region, adopted in 2015 — Bruxelles Environnement portal). Stadslandbouw is a plan specific to the City of Brussels.

URL of the primary publication to be verified on bruxelles.be before detailed communication. Press relay: BRUZZ (20 April 2026). Confidence: unconfirmed (press relayed — primary City source to confirm).

Annie Cordy mural destroyed in Laeken (night of 14-15 April 2026)

On the night of Tuesday 14 to Wednesday 15 April 2026, a fire ravaged the barracks building in Annie Cordy park in Laeken. Emergency services arrived around 5 a.m. The façade carried the Annie Cordy mural created in 2018 for the artist's 90th birthday: the roof collapsed and the mural did not withstand the flames. The origin of the fire remains unknown.

Future tribute: the park redesign plans a bust of Annie Cordy and a new mural nearby, executed by street artist Amandine Lesay. The design, validated by the rights holders and through a citizen participation process in late 2021, already had local consensus. Culture alderman Nawal Ben Hamou (PS) publicly regretted the loss of "the tribute to one of Brussels's greatest icons" while awaiting fire investigation results.

Source: La Libre (15 April 2026). Confidence: official.

College reshuffle (11 March 2026)

Mayor Philippe Close announced on 11 March 2026 a partial reshuffle of the college of mayor and aldermen:

• Khalid Zian (PS, former CPAS president) returns to the college — responsibilities: Public Works and International Solidarity (shared mandate with Karim Tafranti, who becomes alderman end of 2028)
• Nawal Ben Hamou (PS) takes over Culture (previously managed by Philippe Close)
• Anaïs Maes (Vooruit) cedes Public Works but retains Mobility, Urban Planning and Dutch-language Education

Source: La Libre, 11 March 2026.