What do children and young people want in public spaces? This is a question architects and local authorities are asking themselves more and more often. In schools and within sustainable neighbourhood contracts, among other contexts, Brussels’ young people are increasingly being given a say. Although they don’t just seek out spaces that have been specially designed for them: ‘They don’t always have to be places for skateboarding. Sometimes they just let us get on with it, and that’s cool.’

The skatepark along the Brussels-Willebroek canal may not officially open for another month or so, but the urge to skate is so strong that young people have already broken through the fences surrounding it. On a sunny Monday afternoon, five of them are there skating.