The Dampremy Quartier Nature (Dampremy Nature Neighborhood) is the pilot project for the city of Charleroi’s Nature en Ville (Nature in the City) initiative.

 Located at the heart of the city’s former industrial park, the project encompasses a string of sites around the Dampremy neighborhood. Although the sites are currently underdeveloped, they have great potential to become one of the city’s major green spaces.

New networks of foot- and bike paths added to the city’s master plan inspired us to imagine the project as a pathway: a thread running through the Dampremy neighborhood, weaving a distinctive and recognizable landscape of small groves of flowering trees.

The groves of trees set the stage for an almost film-like post-industrial scene. The greenery both conceals and uncovers the urban surroundings, heightening the originality of the landscape. The trees frame dramatic backdrops along the different sections of the pathway, while their blooming flowers bring new warmth to the foreground.

We developed a unique strategy for the rollout of the project, establishing both short- and long-term plans that take into account the budget and context. Constructing the pathway and planting the accompanying small groves of trees first will allow us to transform and enhance the site in the immediate. The future, more robust evolution of the site will occur in collaboration with local residents and community organizations, focusing on the ongoing cultivation of the space’s wooded backdrop.