In 2020-2021, Van Meenen Square was the subject of a feasibility study that highlighted the square’s potential in terms of mobility, landscape, town planning and usage.

The community consultation organised during the course of the study also identified the needs of residents and users of the square. The organisation of this public square, currently used mainly as parking needs a radical shift. The removal of the parking space should create space to allocate new facilities and generate new uses.
The municipality of Saint-Gilles is currently seeking a multi-disciplinary team to deliver the design while ensuring the participative process is maintained.

The aim is to redefine and reconfigure how the square and the cour d’honneur courtyard are used, to endow them with all the best qualities of public space, with particular attention paid to people with reduced mobility and gender diversity. The aim is to offer welcoming spaces for meeting and gathering, with recreational qualities that encourage interactions, enhancing environmental and landscape qualities to meet sustainability principles, and guaranteeing security for better sharing of public space. The project will also take into account the identity, economic and symbolic qualities of the current space.