First the draw, then the vote

In the Brussels municipality of Forest/Vorst, randomly selected residents are developing proposals for redesigning Place de l’Altitude 100. The entire population will then be invited to vote on these proposals. The process combines in-depth deliberation by a Citizens’ Jury with a municipality-wide ranked vote.

The mini public is called “Notre Altitude 100” in French and “Onze Hoogte 100” in Dutch. Its central question is: What should the future of Place de l’Altitude 100 look like? The municipality wants to reduce through traffic, improve safety and balance the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and public transport users.

From the population register to the discussion table

The municipality initially invited 3,000 residents from an area with a population of about 25,000. From those who responded, 24 people were selected in a second, stratified draw. Gender, age and level of education were taken into account. Half of the jury members live in the immediate vicinity of the square. Residents aged 16 and over are eligible to take part.

The Citizens’ Jury meets on four dates between October and December 2026. Members who attend the entire process receive a total allowance of €240. Meals and childcare are provided. Language support is also intended to enable people who are not fluent in French or Dutch to participate.

The process is supported by Démocratie XXL, What About Dem and Divers Gens. On the municipal side, those involved include Jacyara Farias de Azevedo and Alain Mugabo, the alderpersons responsible for citizen participation, and Flo Flamme, the alderwoman responsible for mobility.

Lucie François of What About Dem describes the idea behind such processes as bringing together people who might never otherwise meet so that they can think, talk and listen to one another. She sees this as a step towards a more open society and a new way of shaping democracy.

A square with many competing interests

Place de l’Altitude 100 is a transport hub, shopping area, residential environment and social meeting place. Expectations for its redesign therefore vary considerably. At a public information meeting on 8 September 2026, participants asked how shopkeepers and hospitality workers would be included if they worked around the square but did not live within the area used for the draw.

The organisers explained that the perspectives of these groups would be included in the briefing materials for the Citizens’ Jury. Elected politicians will not attend the jury’s working sessions. Their participation was planned only for the opening event.

An earlier redevelopment plan for the area already sought to encourage walking, make cycling safer, improve bus routes and provide better access to important sites such as schools, Forest National and Stade Marien. Residents will now consider for themselves which changes they believe would benefit the square.

The draw is followed by a preferendum

Once the Citizens’ Jury has completed its work, all residents of Forest/Vorst aged 16 and over are expected to be able to vote on its proposals. The municipality has about 48,000 eligible voters. Voting is due to take place both online and at polling locations across the municipality.

The organisers call this process a “preferendum”. The term combines the words “preference” and “referendum”. In a conventional local referendum, citizens usually vote yes or no on a single proposal. In a preferendum, they can instead rank or rate several proposals according to their preferences.

This is intended to show not only which proposal receives the most first-choice votes, but also which one attracts broad support across different sections of the population. The process combines the detailed deliberations of a small and diverse group with an opportunity for the entire population to decide.

The exact counting method has not yet been published. It therefore remains unclear how incomplete rankings will be treated and which calculation method will determine the final result.

The preferendum in Forest/Vorst is the first vote of its kind to follow a local mini public.

Politically promised but not legally settled

In a post published by democracy adviser Jonathan Moskovic, Alain Mugabo said that the decisions of the Citizens’ Jury would be binding on politicians. According to Moskovic, the political commitment is to implement the residents’ vision without altering it.

The municipality’s official documents use more cautious language. They state that the result will be submitted to the College of Mayor and Aldermen, which has committed to taking it into account when redesigning the square. No legally binding decision or corresponding resolution by the municipal council has yet been published.

Citizen participation expert Yves Dejaeghere therefore described the promised commitment as a political pledge rather than a legal obligation. What matters will be whether the municipality clearly explains how it responds to the result and which proposals it actually implements.

“Citizens are experts in their own lives”

Benoît de Bellefroid of Démocratie XXL sums up the ambition behind the process in simple terms: “Democracy is the power of the people, by the people.” Citizens, he says, are “experts in their own lives”. Politicians simply have to listen to them.

Whether “Notre Altitude 100” fulfils this ambition will depend not only on the Citizens’ Jury’s deliberations. The rules of the preferendum, the publication of its results and the municipality’s subsequent decisions will be equally important. Only then will it become clear whether combining random selection with a public vote actually produces a redesign shaped by the residents themselves.