Charleroi
After Brussels, we ventured to where few tourists have dared go before: to Charleroi in Wallonia, Belgium, an industrial city that did not do very well in its transition to post-industrial. It is now largely a collection of abandoned factories, empty government buildings, and crumbling “ghost metro” lines.
Here we took an “urban safari” led by Nico, a tour guide by day and custom chair designer by night. I was a bit unsure of going on this tour, not because Nico introduced himself as a “very bad man,” but rather because this seemed like the kind of voyeuristic disaster tourism that people did in NOLA post-Katrina or that people do now in Detroit.
But despite my reservations, I enjoyed myself as Nico led us through abandoned factories, piles of glass, discarded syringes, and plenty of thorny bushes. I am not sure of what was said on this tour, as Nico speaks a mixture of French, English, and sound effects. It seemed less like disaster tourism and more like “look, there’s still really great and unique spaces here, even if no one is using them right now.” It wasn’t a hopeful picture of Charleroi per say, but it made me think twice about writing off tiny little discarded cities.
Here are some “highlights” from the tour:
This used to be a mall. Now there are no shops or shoppers and only this one, random car.
This used to be a factory and is now an art space for spay painters, a hideout for junkies, and a stop on the Urban Safari.
A bustling Charleroi Metro station:
Nico has us climb this rather large hill so we could get a panoramic view of Charleroi. On the way back down, we ended up losing three of our classmates who got lost. I had not been nervous about safety until this point of this tour when I saw how utterly panicked Nico looked when three students were lost on the mean streets of Charleroi.
This is a largely abandoned industrial plant.
Lastly, the coolest part was getting to go inside one of those cooling-tower thingys, like the ones you see at nuclear power plants. Except this one wasn’t for a nuclear power plant.
At the end, Nico gave us all stickers for his tour. He said to put them somewhere public where people could see them, “like a toilet or something would be best, ça va?”
