The UGLIEST City in Europe...or the WORLD?

In 2008 there was a poll in the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant to decide the ugliest city in the universe. Charleroi, south of Brussels in Belgium, won that poll and ever since then people have been calling it the ugliest city in Europe - or even the ugliest city in the world.

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Charleroi is Belgium's third biggest city, with 400 000 inhabitants. It had an explosive growth during the prosperous times after the Belgian Revolution, with significant industries and a lot of coal mining. This gave the area the nickname Pays Noir, the black country - and it led to many people moving in to Charleroi. However, after World War II there was a rapid decline in the industries here, so Charleroi fell into an economic crisis.

These days Charleroi is filled with poverty and unemployment. Ugly run down houses and enormous building complexes witness of an anticipated population boom that simply never happened. The city is plagued with problems...and a sense of desperation.

But is the city really that bad? Or are all of these descriptions hyperbole? Time to visit Charleroi and see for ourselves if it really deserves the title of the ugliest city in Europe.

Aside from looking at the city I also discuss its history and its potential future, and I mention how the artist Nicolas Buissart saw a perfect marketing opportunity, when he set up the (in)famous Charleroi Adventure City Safari, to show the very ugliest parts of the city.

#charleroi #ugliest #belgium