 The Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat in Brussels | |
  Location within Brussels   Rue Neuve, Brussels (Belgium) | |
| Location | City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium |
|---|---|
| Quarter | Marais–Jacqmain Quarter |
| Coordinates | 50°51′11″N 04°21′23″E / 50.85306°N 4.35639°E |
The Rue Neuve (French: [ʁy nœv]) or Nieuwstraat (Dutch), meaning "New Street", is a pedestrian street in central Brussels, Belgium. It runs between the Place de la Monnaie/Muntplein and the Rue du Fossé aux Loups/Wolvengracht to the south and the Place Charles Rogier/Karel Rogierplein and the Boulevard du Jardin Botanique/Kruidtuinlaan to the north.[1]
The Rue Neuve and its close surroundings are the second most popular shopping area in Belgium by number of shoppers, after Meir in Antwerp.[2] It is served by the metro and premetro (underground tram) stations De Brouckère (on lines 1, 3, 4 and 5) and Rogier (on lines 2, 3, 4 and 6).
The street used to be called the Rue Notre-Dame/Onze-Lieve-Vrouwstraat ("Our Lady's Street"), after the Church of Our Lady of Finistère, which now stands in the middle of the retail district. It has been a centre of commercial activity since at least the end of the 19th century, and was known as a centre of luxury shopping in the early 20th century. The street was pedestrianised in 1975.[3]
Nowadays, the Rue Neuve has the second highest rents of any street in Belgium, at €1,600/square metre/year (the Meir shopping street in Antwerp ranks first, with €1,700/square metre/year).[4] However, it has been criticised by some for being too "boring" architecturally, uniformly "mass market", lacking in independent retailers, without variety of uses, and with very few residents.[3] The City of Brussels has plans to bring more residents to the street and to make it more "attractive".[5]
