To step out of the European Commission and cross the road to its sister institution, the council of ministers, is to risk quick death under the wheels of a cranky car ripping towards the centre of town or a slow death from their exhaust pollution. That is during the day. At night time, the EU area descends into an after-work pall, empty of life.

In short, years of chaotic planning, for want of a better word, have left the European Quarter in Brussels, covering 170,000 square metres, an ugly, soul-less mess. Offices occupy 80 percent of the space and the area is cut through twice by multi-lane roads leading in and out of the EU capital.

Ordinary Bruxellois rarely go there and speak of an EU ghetto. People who work there during the day, live and enjoy themselves somewhere else. At weekend, many of the shops and restaurants that thrive on the deep pockets of the EU officials simply close and the most common sight is an earnest tourist or two trying to distinguish one big grey building from another.

In fact, as a metaphor of how far citizens commonly perceive the EU to be from ordinary life, it is sadly apt.

But now Brussels authorities, themselves sick of this eyesore, have taken the matter in hand on Thursday announcing the winner – Atelier Christian de Portzamparc – of a competition to “beautify” the area and make it a “diverse and living” neighbourhood.

Work will begin in 2011. The plans foresees most of the change for around theRue de la loi (one of the avenues splicing the quarter and famed for always being at least twice as windy as anywhere else in Brussels due to its wierd channelling effect and for the fact that you have to wash your face, and preferably your clothes, after walking down it during rush-hour traffic).

There will be some “iconic buildings” – this means they will be the highest in Brussels – more green spaces, more pedestrianized areas and more bike lanes. Some 160,000m² will be devoted to shops and 100,000m² to housing. There might even be a European school.

Will this make the quarter just more habitable just for ex-pats or will it appeal to Brussels people in general, I wonder.

In any case, don’t expect anything too soon. It is set to take 15 years to unroll and past projects don’t inspire confidence. The reconstruction of the commission’s asbestos-riddled Berlaymont building went several years over deadline and several millions over budget.

Meanwhile, I find it a shame that the project is still so car-friendly and doesn’t foresee a public transport nirvana as befits the EU’s message on the environment. “We’re not going to ban traffic from the Rue de la Loi,” Charles Picque, minister president of Brussels capital region, said. Why ever not?