At the beginning of the 20th C, the Belgian towns were facing a huge shortage of social dwellings. After consultation with English and Dutch experts, the town planners decided to build the social housing neighborhoods on the garden city model. The most famous ones - "Logis" and "Floréal " - are in Brussels and can still be visited today.
Begun around 1912 by the architects Louis Van der Swaelmen and Jean-Jules Eggericx, this huge residential area provided inexpensive homes, with attractive small two-storey houses interspersed with gardens. They were inspired by the English garden cities and by the “cottage style” of the Dutch social neighborhoods. The specific features of the two cities are preserved until today: the Logis has green woodwork and streets with names of animals, and Floreal has yellow woodwork and streets with names of flowers. Exceptional care has been devoted so far to both the houses and the public spaces.
The district preserved until this day its harmonious and welcoming environment. However, in the present modern society, the inhabitants find it more and more difficult to comply with the strict rules of a listed architectural heritage.