While access to water and hygiene is recognized as a fundamental right, the supply of public showers in Brussels remains largely insufficient and poorly distributed. In a new publication from Brussels Studies, three ULB historians - Pauline Bacquaert, Chloé Deligne and Sophie Richelle - together with French geographer colleagues, analyze the current shortcomings, history and uses of public showers in Brussels, and sketch out concrete avenues for rethinking these essential services.
In the depths of winter, as at the beginning of 2026, the living conditions of the homeless and poorly housed are a cause for concern. Emergency housing places are in short supply, and solidarity systems are being organized. Like the SNCB and STIB, which have decided to leave certain stations open at night to provide meager shelter. But not being able to enjoy the comforts of decent housing or a home of one’s own brings with it many other difficulties, including not being able to wash. In 2021, it was estimated that over 100,000 people in Brussels did not have access to water in sufficient quantity or quality. The public supply of water for hygiene outside the home does not meet these needs. There are barely a hundred showers accessible to the public, and these are very unevenly distributed throughout Brussels.
Three Franco-Belgian research teams - historians Pauline Bacquaert, Chloé Deligne and Sophie Richelle - from the Centre de recherche Mondes Modernes & Contemporains, Faculté de Philosophie et Sciences sociales - for theULB, as well as geographers Lucie Bony (CNRS) and Marie Chabrol (Université de Picardie-Jules-Verne), who collaborated on the writing of the latest issue of the scientific journal Brussels Studies, .
The five researchers took multiple approaches to the issue of public showers. For Brussels, they traced its history and geography, and also carried out questionnaire surveys and interviews with the people concerned to better understand their needs and practices. An analysis of three cases of public showers in Brussels that have closed in recent years shows that, contrary to what the authorities all too often claim, it is not declining patronage that is the primary cause of these closure decisions.
They note that access to sanitary water in the public space became an unthought of public policy from the 1980s onwards, when bathrooms became a common commodity in Brussels homes and the public swimming pools, to which shower facilities were often attached, lost their hygienic character, becoming above all places of leisure, well-being and sport. Today, only one genuine public facility remains on a regional scale: the Bains du Centre (Brussels-City, Marolles district). It has 30 shower cubicles separate from the swimming pool. The voluntary sector mainly completes this offer, which remains totally inadequate.
The authors show that the complementarity between associative services specialized in catering for specific groups and public services open to all, all day long, is necessary. Their surveys also call for the deployment of public places where sanitary water is accessible, without waiting for a regional policy: municipalities can act now by making the most of their existing infrastructures (swimming pools, sports centers, schools). Based on the results of their surveys, they also provide keys to better design such services.
Read the full publication
Public showers in Brussels: prospects in the face of shortcomings
Links
Translation by myScience
