Social housing: La Cité Jardin Wauters, Seraing

It wasn't until the establishment of the National Society for Affordable Houses and Lodgings (Société nationale d'habitations et de logements à bon marché) in 1919 that social housing became an issue in Belgium and Belgian politics. The SNHLBM had branches throughout the country, especially in existing industrial towns and cities.

Up to 1914 the working class mostly knew scandalous living conditions. Many of them lived in alcoves, in cellars or on lofts. Others shared their cramped rooms with other families, often living away from the streets on built-over garden plots. Examples can still be found in the Hors Château district of Liège. Urban regulations were mainly focused on fire safety and building integrity and much less on sanitation and living conditions. Even the few regulations that were put in place were laxly maintained and more often than not evaded by the owners of the buildings.

The Great War of 1914-'18 led to a broadly felt need for change. The politicians owed a debt to the people for their participation in the war effort. Another important factor was the 1917 Russian revolution. So universal suffrage (for men) is introduced. Working hours are reformed to the now familiar three times eight cycle. This meant a fuller citizenship for the working classes. In this climate the creation of social housing becomes one of the main priorities of the Belgian government. New housing was needed to replaces the houses lost during the war years, but also to properly house the working classes so they may vacate their slums.

During the 1920s and 1930s the new housing built under auspice of the SNHLBM was based on the ideals of the English Garden City Movement. These new Cités Jardins ( literally garden cities) allowed people to live in a green environment, away from the workplace. The garden cities of Cheratte (1920) and Tribouillet (1922) are well known examples around Liége. Many architects of the time saw the creation of these new garden cities as an opportunity to create a new urbanism.

The building society La Maison Liégeoise started selection possible locations for new housing in Seraing in 1920. Both local and national governments provide the funds for investing in the construction of these rental houses for the working classes. The SNHLBM organizes a design competition for a garden city in Seraing in 1922. The winning design for this Cité Jardin Wauters was made by the architect Crollaer. He designed a neighbourhood along English garden city principles with curved streets, a central public space, room for allotment gardens and typically diverse placement of the -rows of- housing along the streets. He even includes two closes. The houses were built for the workers of the nearby Cockerill cokes plant and iron works.

The Cité Jardin at Seraing is always compared to the Cité Nord at Zwartberg. This is probably based on the large oval public space and the fact that the Cockerill company had a link with both. Morphologically they are very different. The Cité Jardin Wauters is consistently Unwinesk in its design with the closes (c), the belt road (b) connecting several public spaces (p), the variable building line and buildings that swerve in and out on corners to widen (w) the street space (although in reality these building were not built like that, but with straight corners).