[2][3][4] The area developed during the Industrial Revolution along the Brussels–Charleroi Canal and is currently in a fragile social and economic situation due to the decline of its economy and the poor quality of some of its housing.

[1][2][5] Cureghem was originally a hamlet dependent on Anderlecht on the banks of the river Senne, with a few mills, cottages, inns and a chapel called den Noodt-Godts.

[8] Partly due to its favourable location on the Brussels–Charleroi Canal, opened in 1832, the textile industry flourished in the hamlet and many commercial activities were established along the Senne, many of which were linked to brewing and the slaughter of animals.

The municipal authorities of Anderlecht decided to develop a dynamic urban planning policy by laying out wide streets lined with bourgeois houses to the west of the Chaussée de Mons/Bergensesteenweg, which had long been the backbone of Cureghem.

[10] Its location in an expanding district, close to Brussels-South railway station and the Royal Veterinary School, motivated the local councillors.

Much of the original Belgian working-class population, when its financial means allowed it, left Cureghem for Brussels' newly developing suburbs.

In some areas, the ensuing poverty left its mark on the urban landscape and scarred the social life of the community, leading to rising crime rates and pervading cultural intolerance.