belfast city master plan

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Colin Buchanan and Partners Belfast Masterplan

BELFAST CITY MASTERPLANBELFAST CITY COUNCIL

March 2004

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Chapter One Introduction (4)

Chapter Two Strategy Overload (10)

Chapter Three Economic and Spatial Analysis (16)

Chapter Four Drivers & Inhibitors (36)

Chapter Five Masterplan Strategy (40)

Chapter Six The Spatial Plan (50)

Chapter Seven Programme for Action (100)

Appendices

1 Review of Strategies

2 Commentary on Transport Issues

3 Manchester Case Study

4 Acknowledgements

table ofcontents 1

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Final Masterplan

March 2004

Colin Buchanan & Partners

Colin Stutt Consulting

Gehl Architects

The Paul Hogarth Company

Donaldsons

Ken Crothers

Colin Buchanan & Partners

Premier Business Centres,

20 Adelaide Street,

Belfast BT2 8GB

Tel +44 028 90517082

E-mail [email protected]

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From Decline to Revival

The Need for Change

The Seeds of Change

The 15 year Development Framework for Belfast

A Single, Shared Strategy

The Role of Belfast City Council as Civic Leader

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Chapter 1Introduction

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Introduction

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Belfast was amanufacturing city of global importance with locally ownedcompanies trading world-wide and leading technical innovation inengineering, textile, food and related fields. Belfast's mostprestigious buildings still date from this period, when the city playeda leading role in economic, cultural and political developments,nationally and internationally and was the largest city in Ireland.

However, more recently, Belfast has experienced decline. Itspopulation, a primary indicator of urban health, has fallen fromalmost half a million to just over a quarter of a million over a 50-yearperiod. Its global and national significance has also declined andBelfast is now only the 13th largest city in the United Kingdomaccording to the 2001 Census.

Put simply, Belfast is not pulling its weight either in its own right or asthe capital of Northern Ireland and this should be of concern to thecitizens of Belfast and to those living elsewhere in Northern Ireland.A region with a capital city, which is not fully functioning, is missingout on regional opportunities of significance.

From Decline to Revival

For half a century, public policy in relation to Belfast, whether formedby central or local government, has been concerned about managingthe decline of the City.

The Matthews Report, published in 1963, attempted to concentrategrowth and investment in designated major urban areas. However Itsought to limit the growth of Belfast as it was felt that increasedconcentration of the population in the city was detrimental toNorthern Ireland as a whole.

Whilst this development model has been criticised for its lack ofeconomic analysis, the legacy of the Matthew Report with regard tothe spatial equity argument continues today.

There is now the need for new direction to stem the decline of theregion's Capital City, to stimulate and focus growth within the Belfasturban area and facilitate the development of Belfast as a dynamicEuropean city. This new focus is partially evident in recentlypublished national and regional strategic documents i.e. The RegionalDevelopment Strategy for Northern Ireland. However these do not gofar enough, further change is required to facilitate the renaissance ofBelfast as the primary engine for growth and prosperity in the region.

This Masterplan is intended to begin the process of generating newgrowth in Belfast by laying the foundations for a revival of the Cityplaying more effectively the role of a regional capital. Such a revivalwill not result from single policies, instead it requires a new vision forthe City and committed action on a cross-sectoral basis to realise thatvision over a sustained period of time.

But such revival does not come about by chance. It requires:

an honest and unflinching analysis of the City's

problems and its relationship to the region - the

economic entity;

a commitment to tackle even unpalatable and

difficult issues;

a strategic alignment to support a single long term

strategic framework for the development of

the City;

commitment of energy and financial and intellectual

resources to the implementation of that strategy; and

clear, effective responsibilities for the development,

implementation and review of that strategy.

The Need for Change

Belfast has a complex and controversial history. It grew from virtuallynothing to a substantial city on the basis of the enterprise andinnovation of its people. Since the great expansion of the 19thCentury, Belfast has been a divided city. Its troubles reflected widerdevelopments on the island of Ireland.

In more recent years the City has revived considerably, but it is stillthe only area of Northern Ireland to experience decline in populationbetween the 1991 and 2001. Whilst the rest of Northern Ireland hasexperienced in-migration and population growth in contrast todecades of emigration, Belfast has not. Its population has continuedto decline both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the growingNorthern Ireland population. In 2001 Belfast accounted for just 16%1

of the population of Northern Ireland, compared to 32% in 1951.2

Belfast has also experienced other forms of decline. The City Centreretail offering is no longer compelling, out of town centres nowcompete with what was once a unique retail product. However, citycentres are now a key area for inward investment and the weaknessof Belfast City Centre is a regional weakness for Northern Ireland as awhole. The wider centre city of Belfast (from Queen's University to thecity centre and the Harbour Estate) is the key location for knowledge-based inward investment in Northern Ireland, but this centre city zoneis physically fragmented, poorly presented in image terms and its roleas the dynamic core of the city and of the region has not yet beenrecognised in spatial and economic planning.

More recent development in the City has been unevenly distributed.While Laganside and the outer suburbs have prospered, the areasbetween the city centre and the surrounding communities remainfractured and often underused. These require a distinctive approachto be based upon physical regeneration, good urban design and thecreation of new employment opportunities integrated with housing tomeet the needs of the City's “potential”.

The city today is a shadow of its former self and has some distance togo before it can take its place once again amongst the top rankingurban centres of northern Europe. Notwithstanding the physicallegacy of its recent history, the city is struggling to excel in areas ofphysical regeneration and renewal by comparison with its UK andIrish counterparts. The physical product of the city is largely mediocre,the core is fragmented and empty in the evening hours, some of itsneighbourhoods exhibit excessive levels of neglect, contemporary

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architecture (with only a few notable exceptions) is poor, streets aregrossly over engineered, public spaces are in many instances dirty,underused and unfriendly, the public transport system is outdated andoverall presentation to new visitors and investors is unimpressive.

These critical observations are a measure of the slow but constantdecline of the city as the regional capital of Northern Ireland. This cannot be allowed to continue and must now constitute a major concernto all of those engaged in shaping the economic future of NorthernIreland.

The Seeds of Change

Belfast is already engaged in a process of economic change anddevelopment.

On the negative side the end of shipbuilding, reduction in otherengineering sectors such as Mackies and Sirocco and continueddifficulties in the aerospace industry are all significant challenges.

On the other hand, the development of local, knowledge-basedbusinesses, the creation of the Northern Ireland Science Park, theopportunities opened up by the creation of Titanic Quarter and theconfirmed development of a major retail and mixed use facility atVictoria Square are all indicators of real progress and opportunity.

Michael Parkinson was commissioned by Belfast City Council during2003 to undertake a study on a comparative city basis. In terms ofheadline statistics, whilst the data relating to productivity is stillsketchy, early analysis of existing GDP data suggests that Belfastperforms better than most UK cities and sits mid table whencompared with other European cities. Whilst the total number ofemployees working in Belfast is small compared with other largercities, in terms of employee jobs per capita the city scores well, areflection of its position as the regional employment centre. Belfast’sunemployment rate again sees it placed “mid table” – better thanmany French and UK cities, and a high proportion of the working agepopulation is qualified to degree level.

Belfast within this baseline context does have strengths that can bereflected. One of the strengths being its well qualified workforce, with24% of its working age population qualified to degree level.

In addition Belfast has a very young population with 28.4% ofresidents aged 19 and under, (compared with just 25% across the UKas a whole). Also average weekly full time earnings in Belfast were£427.60 in 2002, 9.6% higher than the regional average.

Belfast experienced steady growth in total employment between 1996and 2001 up 7.1% - ahead of Birmingham, Leeds and Nottingham.Combined with a share of regional employment eleven percentagepoints higher than its share of regional population, a higher share thanany of the core cities, this indicates that, despite employment growthbehind the regional average, the city remains the employment centrein Northern Ireland. These benefits are supplemented by a highproportion of employee jobs in Belfast being full time – at 71.7%(2001) well above the regional rate of 67.1% and higher than most ofthe core cities.

The price of all types of property across Northern Ireland is up 63%since 1998 and property is now most expensive in South Belfast.Taking Belfast as a whole the average house price is £99,300 – up73% since 1998. This rise is greater than that experienced inSheffield, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle during the sameperiod.

In conclusion, the growth processes need to be directed in such away as to maximise the benefits to Belfast and Northern Ireland at thesame time as to remove the constraints to growth and development.

The 15 year Development Framework forBelfast

This masterplan document proposes a framework for the revival ofBelfast in the period to 2020. It is based on a robust analysis of thesocio-economic needs of the City, expressed spatially in a 15 yearintegrated development framework. Our specific spatialrecommendations are based on the following themes:

Energising the Core;

Connecting the Middle City;

Promoting Neighbourhood Renewal;

Presenting the City; and

Releasing Environmental Assets

The value of the framework lies in the integration of the differenteconomic, social and physical perspectives, the use of internationalbest practice techniques resulting in the creation of a clear spatialframework which can be the driver for policy development andimplementation by Belfast City Council, central government inNorthern Ireland and its agencies.

A Single, Shared Strategy

Over the years Belfast has been the subject of numerousdevelopment plans, often competing and seldom integrated. This hasresulted in confusion at all levels. The lack of clarity and sharedintentions about the development of the City has been an inhibitor toinvestment and development. Belfast now needs a single agreedmedium to long term 'to do list' which will be effectively implementedby agreed agencies.

The unique governance situation in Northern Ireland, where centralgovernment holds statutory planning powers has in the pastprevented leadership through local governance. Many successfulcities have depended on strong local leadership as an essentialcontribution to their success e.g. Leeds. Often diverse partners areunited through a strong individual (e.g. Chief Excecutive of a LocalAuthority) to work towards a common objective.

While local authorities in Northern Ireland now have enhanced powersto invest in the economic development of their areas, the reality is thatmany aspects of this masterplan can be implemented only by co-operation and partnership between Belfast City Council, GovernmentDepartments (e.g. Department for Social Development, Department ofthe Environment and the Department of Regional Development),agencies (e.g. Invest Northern Ireland and the LagansideCorporation) and the private, voluntary and community sectors inBelfast. The Masterplan recognises this and makes proposals fornew, streamlined and more effective structures for partnershipworking in Belfast.

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The Masterplan also draws on best practice and experience in urbanregeneration in the UK, Ireland and internationally. In our detailedrecommendations we bring the experience of many leading citieswhich have encountered development problems and overcome themsuccessfully. Such best practice models not only provide confidencethat the problems facing Belfast can be tackled but also that thetechniques used are effective and grounded in experience elsewhere.

The Role of Belfast City Council asCivic Leader and its BMAP Influence

Belfast City Council has commissioned this masterplan but, uniquely,in comparison to other major cities throughout the United Kingdom,Belfast City Council is not the planning authority for Belfast. TheDepartment of the Environment, through the Planning Service, iscurrently preparing the Draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP),after an extensive consultation programme. The plan covers six localauthority administrative boundaries including Belfast.

This Belfast City Council Masterplan is, therefore, intended to be animportant contributor to the BMAP, which will set the statutory landuse planning framework for Belfast and the surrounding Council areasfor a 12 year period.

While the input to the BMAP process is important, the role of themasterplan is wider and includes:

fostering civic leadership, through the preparation

of a single development strategy for the City for a

15 year period, to be the subject of consultation

and agreement with the statutory, private and

voluntary and community sectors in Belfast;

ensuring that Belfast City Council's own operations

are fully aligned to achieve and implement the strategy;and

offering political leadership in making difficult

choices required for successful implementation of the

proposed strategy. In a divided city, the creation of a sense

of shared political purpose is an indispensable first step to

revival and growth.

Footnotes

1 2001 Census

2 Demographic Trends in the Belfast Region by Paul A.Compton included in the Geographical Society of Ireland,Special Publication No. 5 ‘Geographical Perspectives on theBelfast Region.

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Setting the strategic scene

National policy

Regional policy

Planning policy statements

Local policy

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Chapter 2Strategy Overload

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Strategy Overload

Setting the Strategic Scene

International, national, regional and local policy exist in abundancetherefore the question arises do we need another strategy - thepiece to complete the jigsaw? This directly leads us to assess whatcurrently exists.

There is a tendency to feel that Belfast is over-strategised. Too manyorganisations and offshoots of organisations developing theirapproaches and plans in a clumsy, sometimes disjointed andoccasionally isolated fashion. This Masterplan must attempt to pulltogether the various strands that at present have not been translatedon the ground into meaningful actions capable of making Belfastsuccessful.

The importance of ‘locational policy’ (where houses, roads ect arelocated) can not be overemphesised. Major mistakes can have longterm (50 - 100 years) implications.

The existing raft of strategies is quite simply not delivering for thecity. The fact remains that Belfast is a congested and fragmented citywith a weakened city core, the product of many years of sectariandivision and unrest, and unfocused planning and promotionalapproaches. The challenge is now to identify those strategies (oraspects of strategies) that can be used as the solid building blocksfrom which to move forward and develop, and those that are ofmarginal value to the process of re-building the city.

Citizenship is critical to this approach.

National Policy

Towards an Urban Renaissance -The Urban Task Force Report-1999/2025

Good practice suggests that towns and cities should be welldesigned, be more compact and connected, support a range ofdiverse uses within a sustainable urban environment which is wellintegrated with public transport and adaptable to change.

"Achieving urban renaissance is not only about numbers andpercentages. It is about creating the quality of life and vitality thatmakes urban living desirable. We must bring about change in urbanattitudes so that towns and cities once again become attractiveplaces to live, work, and socialise. The process of change shouldcombine strengthened democratic local leadership with an increasedcommitment to public participation. There must be an increase ininvestment in our urban areas, using public finance to attract themarket. All government initiatives, which affect towns and cities,should demonstrate a shared commitment to urban renaissance.The renaissance will require a change of culture through education,debate, information and participation. It is about skills, beliefs andvalues not just policies".

A New Commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal - NationalStrategy Action Plan 2001

This approach is based upon a holistic and integrated approach totackling social and economic disadvantage. Under several headingsi.e. work and enterprise, crime, education and skills, health andhousing and the physical environment, the plan aims to agreecommon goals to reduce problems and to narrow the gap betweenthe most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of the country. It haschosen eighty eight of the most deprived local authority districts totarget additional financial resources.

Regional Policy

Northern Ireland Executive - Programme for Government -" Making a difference" - 2002 to 2005

The priorities stated include growing as a community, working for ahealthier people, investing in education and skills, securing acompetitive economy and developing internal and external relations.

Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland - 2025

Central to the Masterplan, the Regional Development Strategy setsout a long-term spatial framework to guide future development withinNorthern Ireland. Its vision by 2025 is to create an outward-looking,dynamic and liveable Region capable of providing a high quality oflife for all. It aims to achieve this through reinforcing andstrengthening the urban hubs, creating an upgraded and integratedtransport system and enhancing the regional gateways.

The importance of Belfast and its hinterland as the primary engine ofgrowth for the region is recognised, albeit in a partial way throughthe quote "securing a strong and vibrant capital city and metropolitanarea is vital to the economic and social well being of NorthernIreland". However this fails to identify the separate function of thecity within the wider metropolitan area.

Strategic Planning Guideline 1 for the Belfast Metropolitan Area aims"to create a thriving Metropolitan Area centered on a revitalised cityof Belfast". The Masterplan provides a more detailed spatialarticulation or dimension for this guidance.

In Belfast's case, it relies upon "promoting a sustained urbanrenaissance based on maintaining a compact city, a high qualityurban environment with improved urban transport systems andgreen spaces, thus underpinning its strategic role as the hub foreconomic activity, employment and services, and providing moreattractive places in which to live".

Objective Econ 1.3 specifically aims to support urban renaissance bypromoting "vitality and viability of town centres as the major locationsand first choice for future investment given their accessibility to allsections of the community".

The question arises, does it go far enough at reinforcing theimportance of Belfast City to the Region? This does not appear to befully reflected in the policy statements. The importance of thisrelationship will be further explored in the core city comparatoranalysis in later chapters.

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Urban Regeneration in Northern Ireland -A Strategy forNeighbourhood Renewal - 2003

The strategy aims to regenerate those communities experiencing themost serious economic and social deprivation across NorthernIreland. It outlines an approach to regeneration with crosscuttingpolicies coupled with a joined-up delivery across public sectoragencies merging the four strands of people, jobs, services andinfrastructure.

Some of the relevant key themes aim to tackle the most acutedeprivation/disadvantaged areas; place regeneration at the centre ofthe work of departments, agencies and programmes; and developcity and town centres strengthening linkages with disadvantagedareas.

Regional Transportation Strategy for Northern Ireland 2002 -2012

The vision of the Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS) is 'to havea modern, sustainable, safe transportation system which benefitssociety, the economy and the environment and which activelycontributes to social inclusion and everyone's quality of life'. TheRTS identifies strategic transportation investment priorities andconsiders potential funding sources over the next 10 years.

The RTS provides a range of transportation initiatives acrossNorthern Ireland including providing quality Bus Corridors on all mainBelfast commuter routes; commencing rapid transit network in theBelfast Metropolitan Area; and demand management measures inBelfast;

The city/region relationship is shaped to a significant degree by thetransportation infrastructure that links the two. It is critical to both thatthe balance is right and is found to be to the mutual benefit of both.The masterplan will examine this relationship from the city'sperspective as the prime economic driver of the region.

Planning Policy Statements

A number of Planning Policy Statement (PPS's) documents havebeen prepared by the Department for Regional Development (DRD),to provide guidance to the whole of Northern Ireland in the form ofstrategic planning policy on a number of land use issues, includingRetail, Housing and Access, Movement and Parking. Planning

Policy Statements are a material planning consideration for the DoEin preparing development plans and dealing with individual planningapplications.

The three PPS's of most relevance are;

PPS5 Retailing and Town Centres:

Prepared in 1996 and currently under review. A study by Roger andTyms carried out research on large-scale retail development as partof their review of retail planning policy in Northern Ireland Theresearch will inform the forthcoming Planning Policy Statement). Itsets out the Department's planning policies to enhance the vitalityand viability of town / city centre, maximize competition and theopportunity to use alternative transport to the car, ensure theavailability of a wide range of shops and maintain an efficient andcompetitive economy.

PPS12 Housing in Settlements:

This PPS is in draft form only. It has a number of policy objectives,including the ; development of balanced local communities; creatingcompact urban forms; higher density urban housing; a mixed-useapproach to new residential; and integration of residentialdevelopment with public transport and modes of transport other thanthe private car.

PPS3 Access, Movement and Parking:

As before this PPS is in draft form. It defines the Department'splanning policies for vehicular and pedestrian access, the protectionof transport routes, transport assessment, and parking. It forms animportant element in the integration of transport and land useplanning and embodies the Programme for Government'scommitments.

Local Policy

DSD GVA Grimleys City Centre Regeneration Strategy 2003

The report establishes the need to prioritise investment to give aclear message to the market on what the priority developments areand to control development in order to maximise rental growth,making development and investment viable.

The leading themes are to encourage; new and diverse retailinvestment; modern offices/business development; investment intourism and leisure; connectivity and public realm enhancement; andreinforcing City Communities.

Priorities include; Victoria Square as the principal shoppingdevelopment in town; Royal Avenue/Cathedral Quarter (NE Quarter);public realm (at Castle Place/High Street and Bridge Street,Donegall Square/City Hall, Donegall Place/Royal Avenue, FountainStreet/Queen Street/Castle Street, Chapel Lane/Rank Street andpedestrian links to the river); rear of Castle court/North Street (NWQuarter) - masterplan and regeneration strategy; city centre officecore (potential vacant sites); and Grosvenor Road Office Site (highquality development).

DSD People and Place - Neighbourhood Renewal in BelfastDraft Implementation Plan, 2004

This draft plan aims to: develop confident communities to improvequality of life, develop economic activities in the most deprivedneighbourhoods and connect them to the wider urban economy,improve social conditions for those who live in the most deprivedneighbourhoods and create attractive, safe, sustainableenvironments. The document, currently at consultation stage,prioritises the most deprived neighbourhoods.

DOE Belfast Urban Area Plan - 2001

The BUAP 2001 is the current landuse planning document for theadministrative area of Belfast City Council and includes the adjoiningurban areas of Castlereagh, Lisburn, Newtownabbey, Greenislandand Hollywood. This document sets the development strategy andpolicy statements for the City but has been superseded in parts bythe series of Planning Policy Statements (PPS) that set out policyand guidance for a number of specific land use activities.

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Published in 1990, the principle aims of the BUAP identified the needto; maintain and strengthen Belfast's position as the regional centrefor Northern Ireland; to create a physical environment and aframework for social and economic activity which would enhance thequality of urban living; and facilitate an efficient, economic and orderlypattern of development.

Prepared during a period of economic change and civil disturbance(which led to significant population decline and decanting to adjacenturban areas), the BUAP failed to define and articulate the area as theeconomic driver for the region. The main aims of the BUAP weretargeted through a development-led approach which identified avariety of physical measures to contain and renew the urban area andthe inner city, promote a vibrant urban economy, create a strong city-centre, and a revitalised inner city. However the BUAP significantlyenhanced the potential capacity of Belfast as a regional centre byidentifying significant development opportunities within the City e.g.the development of Laganside.

DOE Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015 - Issues Paper 2025

BMAP will provide a statutory land use planning framework to guideand control future development until 2015 and covers theadministrative districts of Belfast, Carrickfergus, Lisburn, Castlereagh,Newtownabbey and North-Down. The Draft Plan is due to bepublished later this year.

In line with the RDS the Issues Paper seeks to create a thrivingMetropolitan Area centred on a revitalised City; to strengthen the roleof the BMA as the regional economic driver and to develop a strongCity complex to rival other European cities. The issues paper furtherconsiders:

Accommodating additional housing need within the existing

urban area;

Enhancing the employment potential of the city centre,

Belfast City Council Corporate Plan 2003 -2006

The recently launched plan states its key objectives as; providing civicleadership; improving quality of life now and for future generations;and promoting good relations and delivering best services.

Priorities include; creating a clean and attractive city; a safe city; ahealthy city; a strong economy; and managing the City's waste.

Belfast: Capital City - The Development Agenda 2025

The lead themes of transforming leadership, diminishing barriers,leaving a legacy, becoming a better place and believing we are worthit, capture the dynamic approach and political drive needed to makethings happen.

" Belfast will remain the lynchpin for the economic and social goodhealth of the entire region. The success of a revitalised Belfast will beshared by everyone".

Belfast City Council Local Economic Development Plan 2002-2006 - Sustaining Competitive Advantage

The plan is based upon; increasing investability, creating clusters,promoting entrepreneurship and competitiveness, driving economicchange, fostering neighbourhood renewal and outward and forwardlooking region are the stated areas for focus.

However it must be recognised that Belfast City Council’s role issomewhat limited by central government (Department of Finance andPersonnel) especially with regard to European resources.

Laganside and the Harbour Estate and developing

strategic locations for employment growth in North, West

and East Belfast;

Tackling Belfast's existing traffic problems caused by the

dependence on the private car;

Supporting the continued renewal of the riverside with

modern commercial, residential and entertainment

developments;

Upgrading the arterial routes to produce quality

environments and strengthening their roles as service

centres;

Exploring opportunities for the development of further

leisure and community facilities and the potential of the

Lough, Lagan and surrounding hill;

Improving the international image of the city and improving

its attractiveness to visitors; and

Supporting and reinforcing the role of the city centre as a

regional shopping centre and educational, cultural and arts

capital.

DRD Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan (BMTP)

BMTP seeks to co-ordinate the implementation of transportationwithin the same BMAP area, by drawing up an integrated and phasedprogramme of transport schemes and measures. It hopes to ensurean integrated approach to land use and transportation planning. TheBMAP will set out the future land use for the BMA and will incorporatethe main proposals outlined in the BMTP.

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A Ten Year Health Check

Economic Analysis

Social Analysis

Physical Analysis

Transport & Movement Analysis

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Chapter 3Analysis

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Analysis

Before examining how Belfast compares with the performance ofother UK cities, it is important to understand the demographic, socialand economic trends in the city over the last ten years.

A Ten Year Health Check

The table on the following pages takes a snapshot of Belfast's profilewhich is compared against other UK cities.

The objective of the analysis is to enable the masterplan to identifythe drivers of economic growth, the asset base upon which they relyand the inhibitors that constrain their performance. These aresummarised in Chapter 4 and form the basis upon which themasterplan strategy is evolved in Chapter 5.

Key Topic Demographic/Socio and Economic Statistics and trends

Since 1991, Belfast City Council has lost 5.4% of its total population as a result of out-migration and wasthe only council in Northern Ireland to experience decline.With a population of 277,391 it homes 16% of Northern Ireland’s population.Smaller than most Capital Cities.The population structure is increasingly youthful with a higher than average 20 to 24 year old group,important for the growth of new industries.1

Static Protestant population comprising 40% with an increasing Catholic proportion of 42%. (Note a high% did not provide a census response).2

Continuing polarisation of communities exhibited city wide.

Contains ten of the worst deprived wards in Northern Ireland in terms of health. (Governmentcommitment to Target Social Need).

166% rise in house prices in Northern Ireland compared to 75% in the UK.3

Household size declining further implying an upward demand.Relatively low rate of new start builds compared with rest of Northern Ireland.City Centre living competes unfavourably with suburbia.60% brownfield housing target for BMAP area.

Belfast exhibits the best and worst education results with the continued need to bridge the gap.35% of school leavers obtained 3+ A Levels whereas 7.6% did not achieve any qualifications, bothgreater than the Northern Ireland average.4

Increase in the number of further education places equating to approximately 60,000 in total.Low level of commercialisation activity between universities and businesses compared with the South ofIreland where it is three-fold.5

Employment growth of 6% compared to Northern Ireland average of 11%.6

Low wage economy biased towards low added value manufacturing goods.Slight increase in benefit dependency culture.

Major decline within Belfast to 9% accompanied by increase of market share in neighbouring districtsfrom 18% to 21%.7

88% jobs are in service sector. Public sector dependent economy (72% of civil services jobs are locatedin Belfast). Very vulnerable to fluctuations in public expenditure.

Population

Religious affiliation

Deprivation indicators

Housing market

Education

Labour market

Manufacturing sector

Service sector

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Key Topic Demographic/Socio and Economic Statistics and trends

Employs 3% - the lowest rate recorded in Northern Ireland. This is in stark contrast to the level of build activity.

Slow to grow by comparison to other cities e.g. Manchester, but potential now exists through the Northern Ireland Science Park, the Universities andHospitals’ eagerness to encourage further growth.

From 1995 to 2001 both tourism spend and numbers employed in the industry have doubled to £100m/year and 5000 respectively, with significantcapacity for further growth.8

Increasing trend where investment by new industries keen to be located in liveable city centres.Quality of Life and environment a major consideration in a competitive market.

Continues to employ majority of Belfast residents. Increasing lack of small business space/property in city.Increasing acknowledgement of the potential of locally based employment growth in community businesses, intermediary labour markets and localexchange trading schemes.

Has worked at Laganside but has still to foster improved linkages with the city centre.Investment in the city centre’s public realm has been neglected. Laganside’s investment is a marked contrast.The city is increasingly viewed as the economic driver for the Metropolitan area and Region.

Lack of government direction towards investment priority in spatial terms - stifling the market.No shortage of land but mismatch between land supply and demand. Large land banked sites available but not where businesses require them to be.

Decrease in number of people using public transport.Increase in city centre car parking spaces.Increase in traffic volume and congestion with the prediction of a further 30% growth by 2020.46% of Belfast households do not have access to a car9.Growing recognition of the role of public transport in providing safe and equitable access to services, facilities and employment.

Quality of life and environment (soft issues) have become more important to attracting and retaining mobile investment. Belfast is increasingly capableof offering these.A public realm open space strategy has been prepared - now must be delivered.Street cleanliness has improved but much needs to be done.Urban design quality has improved e.g. Laganside but little evidence elsewhere in city.Increase in safety perception issue especially at night.Increase in need to find sustainable solutions to waste management.Increase in understanding of the economic potential of green spaces.

Construction sector

Quality of life and theenvironment

Transport

Industry and other investment

City centre and areabased regeneration

Local indigenous business

Inward investment

Tourism

Knowledge based sector

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How does Belfast compare to other UKCities?

On the whole Belfast is improving but one must ask where it fitsagainst other comparator UK cities. Does it have a competitive edge?

Below we compare it's placing in demographic, regeneration spend,retail, cleanliness and safety terms from recent research conducted.

Demographic Trends

As previously noted population trends are a good indicator of thehealth of a city. The table below gives an appreciation of trends over aten year period for several UK cities.

Minimal residential development occurred in Belfast until the early1990's. This was as a result of suburbanisation and the flight to lesstroubled areas. Between 1990 and 1997 a small number ofapartments were developed but these were successful with youngpeople rather than appealing to the wider population.

Growth in this housing type has been demonstrated clearly over thelast five years. Local agents have noted that those under £120,000have sold quickly whereas those in a higher price range have beenslow to sell.

At present the residential market appears to be saturated with an oversupply of apartments, however the cycle may change again in theshort term.10

Regeneration Spend

Approximate regeneration spend per head of population for UK cities,shows that Belfast has spent more per capita than any other majorcity in the UK yet the physical fabric of the city does not convey this.Leeds by comparison has spent least, yet is renowned as one of themost successful regeneration models in the UK. Clearly there arelessons to be learned for Belfast.

It has been estimated that it costs approximately £100,000 toestablish an organisation before it becomes operational. Given thenumber of regeneration/development organisations within the Belfastarea, this clearly amounts to significant overhead costs.

Mid-year estimates 199111 Census 2001 Change in population

Leeds 706,700 715,404 8,704 (+1.2%)

Sheffield 520,100 513,234 6,866 (-1.3%)

Liverpool 475,600 439,000 36,600 (-7.7%)

Manchester 432,700 392,819 39,881 (-9.2%)

Cardiff 296,900 305,353 8,453 (+2.8%)

Belfast 292,938 277,391 15,547 (-5.3%)

Nottingham 279,400 266,988 12,412 (-4.4%)

Newcastle 275,000 259,600 15,400 (-5.6%)

Plymouth 251,000 240,720 10,280 (-4.1%)

Rank City Approximate regeneration spend per capita from 1994 to 2003.12

1 Belfast £3815

2 Manchester £3244

3 Newcastle £2072

4 Liverpool £1782

5 Nottingham £1719

6 Plymouth £1395

7 Sheffield £1291

8 Leeds £982

21


Other general performance indicators for 2001 to 2002 suggest thatcleanliness, safety perceptions, retail ranking, tourism spend, roomoccupancy, public transport use, accessibility perceptions, havedecreased whilst retail floorspace, number of retail units, number oftourists staying one night, frequency of evening visits, number of pubsand clubs have all sustained increased levels.

Retail

Many cities have undergone significant change over the last tenyears, often reinventing themselves as a result of effective UrbanRenaissance. The successful cities have all had a common vision fortheir cities.

Does Belfast know what it wants to be?

In addition to the above, it is noted that Belfast achieves highrentals of approximately £190 and £145 per square foot for primeand secondary retail areas respectively indicating strong retailconfidence.13

However the lack of modern, good quality retail space has led majormultiple retailers seeking more peripheral locations. Gaps exist in thefashion and sports sectors and specialist traders but interest by anumber of stores currently under-represented in Belfast exists.

Unfortunately a number of major retail proposals are currently subjectto long standing planning applications i.e. by Ewart plc for RoyalAvenue/Cathedral Way and by Westfield to extend Castle Court. Thishas stifled the market and lead to a negative perception of Belfast asa place where development opportunities are slow to realise. On apositive note however the recent permission granted to the A.M.DDevelopment/Victoria Square retail development should act as acatalyst to encourage further investment in the city centre.

Office Market

Belfast has experienced relative stability over the last ten years incontrast to other UK cities. Although it remains one of the leastexpensive UK cities in terms of office costs this is not always anadvantage. The underlying reasons for the low cost base are often anindication of a sluggish market. The fact is rents remain low andgrowth limited with demand coming generally from local companies.The Northern Ireland Office Market has been historically driven bydemand from professional services and banks. However Belfast has

relied heavily on the public sector and continues to exhibit that trend.This dependency has cushioned the “ups and downs” experiencedwith markets that rely upon speculative development. However thestandard (design and specification) of building required by the publicsector has been lower than that expected by most developments inboth the UK and Europe. Further to this, demand for higherspecification offices outstrips supply in Belfast.

Donaldson’s Property Market report (BCC July 2003), states averagetake up rates vary from 200,000sq ft to 350,000sq ft a year. Theysuggest projecting forward at the higher end given the economic“catch up” process that has continued to parallel the peace process.

The report confirms that there is approximately 800,000 sq ft officefloorspace currently available either available to let or underconstruction in the BMAP area. In addition 1,300,000sq ft of space isproposed in major office schemes in central Belfast which excludesboth Titanic Quarter and Sirocco. But does current supply satisfydemand?

Looking at forecasted employment growth based on the lower andhigher take up rates, Donaldson’s state that there would appear to besupply that should last for between 6 and 10 years. Therefore it isclear that future capacity would require to be accommodated toensure the continued growth of the office economy over a 15 yearperiod.

Cleanliness

The 1996 Tidy Britain Survey14 , ranked Belfast mid way out of 58 UKcities scoring similar to Cambridge, Portsmouth and Leicester.Although this survey is no longer carried out, a similar NorthernIreland one has been conducted annually since 2000. It demonstratesthat Belfast has experienced a significant decline in perceptions ofcleanliness. This affects not only the quality of life for those who live,work and visit but less favourable first impressions are often made bypotential investors.

The ongoing campaign at present is trying to positively tackle theissue and raise awareness of the benefits of keeping the city clean.

2000 18th

2001 13th

2002 25th

Belfast’s ranked position (out of 26)

22


Retail Change experienced15

Manchester

Glasgow

Leeds

Nottingham

Belfast

Bristol

Newcastle

Significant enhancement in the quality and quantity of its retail offer and environment. Transformation in terms of image from a city suffering industrialdecline and social unrest to its “Glam” image.Fact: Floorspace has increased by 17% whilst the number of retail units has remained static. Nationally ranked 3rd according to Verdict Research surveycarried out 2002.

Amongst the top performing centres in the UK. Constantly reinventing itself through its retail offering from Buchanan Galleries to Ikea. Significant publicrealm expenditure focussed within the city centre has assisted its success.Fact: Number of retail units has fallen but retail floorspace has increased by 36 % between 2001 and 2002. Ranked 4th.

Has experienced major renaissance as a retail destination triggered by the opening of Harvey Nichols store, the first outside London.Fact: Floorspace has marginally decreased and the number of retail units has slightly increased. Ranked 6th.

Now one of the top performing centres in the country. It has witnessed significant improvement in its retail performance and image.Fact: Floorspace and number of retail units have remained static over last year Ranked 7th.

According to research carried out by Verdict Research in 2002, Belfast had fallen to 11th out of the 12 ranked. This was due to the lack of new development.Strength of the retail location indicated that Belfast was ranked 23rd and named as a “Mr Average”. On the vitality and viability front, Belfast ranked 55th

highlighting up to 10% vacancy levels.

Experienced significant threat from a major out of town shopping centre.Fact: Floorspace has remained static whilst the number of retail units has marginally decreased.

Floorspace has marginally increased and Number of retail units has declined.

23


Belfast and its Comparative UK Cities

The table below examines the key findings taken from the 2001Census, making comparisons between Belfast City and a selection ofother UK cities.16

Socio-demographics

The cities which have experienced an increase in

population over the period are Cardiff (6.9%) and Leeds

(5.1%). Alternatively, Belfast experienced a decrease in

population (-0.7%) but not as great as Manchester (-2.1%)

and Liverpool (-2.8%).

Note that the population % difference figure for Belfast

differs from the previously used -5.4% due to the 1991

undercount. The figure of -5.4% is the most accurate

record of population trend taking account of adjustments

by using mid year population estimates.

Notably Belfast has a high proportion of students and

young working adults (43.1%), similar to Sheffield (42%)

and Cardiff (44.1%).

In Belfast 16.9% of people questioned about their religious

preference stated that they had none, however, this figure

was relatively similar to the other cities i.e. Leeds (16.8%)

and Newcastle and Manchester (16%).

With regard to average household size, Belfast was

second highest out of the selected cities with 2.38, slightly

below Cardiff at 2.41. All the other cities ranged from 2.34

in Leeds to 2.2 in Nottingham.

Belfast 277,391 279,237 -0.7 14.99 28.11 16.93 2.38

Cardiff 305,353 285,531 6.9 15.20 28.90 18.80 2.41

Leeds 715,402 680,424 5.1 13.20 39.50 16.80 2.34

Liverpool 439,473 452,340 -2.8 15.20 29.40 9.70 2.27

Manchester 392,819 401,207 -2.1 17.70 29.80 16.00 2.25

Newcastle-upon-Tyne 259,536 259,668 -0.1 15.40 28.70 16.00 2.28

Nottingham 266,988 263,522 1.3 18.10 29.20 24.80 2.22

Sheffield 513,234 500,900 2.5 13.40 28.60 17.90 2.32

Cities Population Age Structure Religion Households

% of persons aged16-24

% of personsaged 25-44

% of personswith no religionor religion not

stated

2001 1991 % differenceAverage

householdsize

24


Economic Profile

Belfast has the second highest level of unemployment

(5.41%) after Liverpool (6%). The remaining cities range

from 5.3% in Nottingham to 3.10% in Cardiff.

Within the different sectors of employment, Belfast's

majority work within the service industries (83.31%). The

remainder are employed within the manufacturing

(10.49%) and the construction industries (5.24%). This

profile is quite similar to Cardiff and Manchester.

Belfast has the second highest percentage of people with

no qualifications (41.8%), with only Liverpool having a

higher percentage (43.4%). Those with degrees and

professional qualifications are similar to Leeds (19.2%)

and Newcastle (20.9%).

Surprisingly in Belfast 46% of households do not have

access to a car or van, similar to Newcastle and

Nottingham. This is a higher percentage than Cardiff,

Leeds and Sheffield. On the converse Belfast has a high

percentage of households with 2 cars (13.08%), higher

than Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham.

Characteristics of a Competitive City

The previous sections have assessed Belfast in terms of its stand-alone performance and that compared to other UK cities. In doing soit has provided an insight into the city's competitiveness or lack of it.Therefore a useful starting point is to assess what make some citiescompetitive and others not.

Research has proven that certain common factors underpincompetitive cities namely:

The ability of cities to change their relative performance;

The relationship between cities and regions - the most

competitive regions contain the most competitive cities;

The links between economic competitiveness and social

inclusion - lower unemployment, higher skilled, better

educated workforce. Investment in Human Capital the

key;

A supportive national policy framework is essential.

Decentralisation within cities with more local autonomy

and clear accountability leads to a more proactive,

entrepreneurial and successful approach;

Strength of innovation in all areas;

Level and relevance of workforce skills;

Efficiency of transport connections to key markets;

Capacity to design and deliver long term development

strategies.

The key messages to Belfast are that investment in human capital, asupportive national policy framework, decentralisation with localautonomy and clear accountability, innovation, workforce skills andefficient transport connections are essential ingredients to give it thatcompetitive edge.

Successful Regions have SuccessfulCore Cities

"Successful regions have successful 'core cities' at their heart - butthe 'city-region' relationship is mutually reinforcing and requirespositive partnership in order to gain the full benefits"

This quote, taken from the Cities, Regions and Competitivenesssecond report, June 2003, emphasises the role Belfast must performfor the betterment of the region.

"In advanced countries major regional cities have significantlystronger economies and higher international profiles. They act asmotors of growth for their regions and in consequence their nationaleconomies are less reliant on the unique contribution of theCapital City".

Economic appraisal

Macro Factors - Globalisation

Belfast has undergone structural economic change typified by the 20year decline in manufacturing industry (current share is 9% comparedto neighbouring districts that exhibit shares from 18% to 21%). Overthe same period it has experienced an increase in public sector jobs(often a barrier to accelerating growth). In all, total employmentgrowth for Belfast was 6% between 1995 and 1999 compared to aNorthern Ireland average of 11%.17

Whilst the pattern of employment is changing, Northern Ireland has apredominantly low wage economy biased towards the production oflow added value manufactured goods. This is unsustainable in thelong term due to technological change, globalisation and changingconsumer tastes. The local economy is overly dependent on thepublic sector (72% of all civil service jobs are located in Belfast),18

making it vulnerable to fluctuations in public expenditure.

Belfast City Council's area has been over-represented in decliningand slow growth sectors but has not experienced the growth inconstruction and services employment as has been experienced inthe rest of Northern Ireland.

A drive to build high value added economy with higher wages iscritical to its future success. Building a high value added, high wage,regional economy will require emphasis on research development andinnovation placing demands on higher and further education sectors

25


to retain indigenous talent. Lesser number of further education placesexist in NI than in the rest of the UK. Future growth in the number offurther education places suggests that the opportunities exist but theretention of these is critical to creating an innovative economy.Current estimates suggest there are 58,325 further education placesin Northern Ireland.19

Clearly Belfast has not performed as the growth engine for the regionand much latent capacity now exists.

The city should have a distinctive economic profile different from therest of Northern Ireland. It has a specialist role to fulfil as regionalcapital and Gateway City, centre for principal administrative,commercial, industrial, retail, cultural, educational, health,entertainment and employment for NI.

In an increasingly open and deregulated global economy there isintense competition for mobile investment. “Soft” factors such asquality of life and quality of environment are increasingly important inattracting and holding mobile investment.

Belfast 197,519 5.41 10.49 5.24 83.31 41.82 19.2 43.78 13.08

Cardiff 138,247 3.10 10.30 5.30 82.3 32.6 25.2 29.7 21.3

Leeds 342,706 3.30 14.20 6.30 77.6 37.7 19.2 34.5 19.6

Liverpool 176,602 6.00 10.60 6.00 82.5 43.4 15.2 48.3 11.4

Manchester 159,127 5.00 10.70 5.20 83.2 38.9 21.4 47.8 10.6

Newcastle- 111,741 4.70 10.30 6.50 81.7 38.50 20.9 45.2 13.0upon-Tyne

Nottingham 113,383 5.30 15.20 6.40 76.7 39.60 17.6 44.9 11.9

Sheffield 236,098 4.20 15.60 7.20 76.1 38.90 18.8 35.7 17.9

Cities

(2001 Census)

All personsaged 16-74

Percentage ofpersons aged

16-74economically

active

Percentage of persons aged 16-74 inemployment working in:

Percentage ofhouseholds with

Percentage of populationage 16-74

Un-employed

TotalServices

With noacademic

qualifications

With degree orprofessionalqualifications

ConstructionManu-facturing

No carsor vans

Two carsor vans

26


Local Economic Factors

Labour Market

A snap-shot of the labour market reveals that;

the gap in educational attainment between school leavers

with no formal qualifications and those educated to third

level continues to widen;

the unemployment level has dropped to 5.41%20 however

there is still a dependency culture on government benefits.

Access to jobs by traditional means is often difficult for

those marginalised and the need for an activated social

economy is greater than before; and

more people are prepared to travel further for work on the

basis that where they live should provide a quality of life

experience rather than where they work. Large numbers

of people (53%)21 are currently commuting to work in the

city from neighbouring districts.

Inward Investment

Traditional inward investment is flat globally however growth is beingexperienced in new industries associated with knowledge andcreativity. Increasingly city centre locations are being sought to locatethese industries. Quality of life is a major consideration for much ofthis investment. Therefore Belfast must be able to compete with themany cities that have already taken up the challenge.

Local Indigenous Businesses

The majority of people employed work for local indigenousbusinesses. These businesses struggle to find appropriate locationsand property. The numerous Local Enterprise Centres that providesupport are largely full and have low turnover rates. This in turncreates problems for businesses that often need property ready tooperate from. A shortage of such premises is currently evidentthroughout the city. As a result of the analysis in the Shankill and WestBelfast Employment Task Force Reports, Invest Northern Ireland is toconsider a pilot 'industrial co-ownership' initiative in inner city areas ofBelfast in which existing tenants of local enterprise agencies will beencouraged to move into owned premises, but in a context in whichthe capital costs will be shared with the development agencies. Landhowever is in no shortage especially within the fracture zones thatexist around the inner city and adjacent to surroundingneighbourhoods.

Retail

Current retail and office policy has created inappropriate out of townopportunities at the expense of the city centre. Delays in decisionmaking e.g. A M Development /Victoria Square, have reinforced anegative perception to future investors. In the future developmentprocedures must maximise the opportunity presented in suchschemes.

Social appraisal

Belfast covers 11,489 hectares and is home to a resident populationof 277,391 (16% of NI's population). Approximately two thirds of thepopulation of Northern Ireland live within a 50 kilometre radius of thecity.

The population has fallen by 5.4% since 1991. Belfast City Councilwas the only District Council area not to experience growth in the lastten years. Although the population in neighbouring council areas rosesignificantly e.g. Carrickfergus by 13.8% and Castlereagh by 8.2%.

In addition Belfast exhibits a youthful population with approximately afifth below 16 years and a higher than average 20 to 24 year old agegroup. A youthful population has implications for education, trainingand jobs.

Catholics (42% up) and Protestants (40% static) who make up theremainder of the population generally live in highly segregated areas.Ethnic minorities comprise less than 1% of the total population.

According to the Noble Report, Belfast contains the worst tendeprived wards in terms of health.

New living arrangements require smaller household size due to thegrowth in elderly population, marital separations which adds to agreater demand for an increased number of homes.

Belfast is a divided and polarised society. A recent report entitled"measuring and visualising labour market and community segregationin Belfast " 22 makes two key recommendations;

1. There is a need for a policy approach which recognisesindigenous employment needs within deprived areas andalso seeks to connect local people to job opportunities andefficiently; and

2. A safer and less expensive public transport system wouldnot only connect deprived area to places of employmentgrowth but also to other services such as shopping andleisure facilities.

Opportunities exist for policy makers to promote; greater communityintegration by facilitating the removal of existing physical barriersbetween communities, conditional upon local agreement. Landdesignation, the location of employment and investment decisions onsocial, economic and physical infrastructure must respect thesensitivities of the divided and polarised nature of the community,while seeking to contribute to the healing of community divisions.

The “Shirlow et al” study evidence strongly suggests that people fromsegregated and deprived areas will work together if workplaces arelocated within neutral spaces. Particularly so if they can locate aworkplace without having to enter a place "dominated" by the otherreligion. Therefore locating workspaces between adjacentcommunities stimulates greater mixing. The location of employment,in sectarian terms, is more important than the frictional effects ofdistance.

27


Multiple Deprivation Indices (Noble Report)

1 to 6 (Highest)

6 to 11

11 to 16

16 to 21

21 to 26

26 to 31

31 to 36

36 to 40

40 to 44

44 to 48 (Lowest)

Belfast Wards - Rank of Multiple Deprivation

28


New Targeting Social Need (TSN)

The Northern Ireland Government is committed to tackling socialexclusion by targeting efforts and available resources towards peopleand areas defined as being “in social need”. It requires existing andnew spending programmes to identify and effectively addressdeprivation. The Masterplan aims to facilitate this through itsdevelopment framework and focused effort in these multipledeprivation areas. It will deliver promotion of equality of opportunity,good relations between people of different religious belief and politicalopinion or racial group.

Role of the Social Economy

The social economy is an important component of the developmentdynamic in Belfast. The social economy (or third sector) lies betweenthe roles of the private and public sector and has an important role toplay in economic development, social inclusion and the provision ofservices to local communities. Northern Ireland has taken the lead inthe development of social economy policies in the UK and hasestablished a formal Social Economy Forum chaired by the Ministerfor Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

The social economy consists of a number of social enterprises whichundertake economic activity for social, community or philanthropicpurposes. They seek to provide services to their communities and tomake profits which can be re-invested in the further development oftheir communities. The ownership structure of social economyorganisations ensures that the benefits of the business activitiesundertaken are re-invested in the local community - most socialeconomy organisations are structured as companies limited byguarantee. Social economy organisations are very diverse, rangingfrom credit unions, to housing associations, local enterprise agenciesand the trading arms of voluntary and community organisations.

There is no easy way to measure the social and economiccontribution of the social economy - an issue being addressed by anumber of researchers. However, in other urban areas of the UKwhere detailed social economy impact studies have been undertaken,

the social economy has been found to account for between 6 and 8%of total employment. In Belfast that would imply that it accounts forbetween 6,000 and 8,000 jobs. More significantly, surveys have foundthat the employment provided by the social economy is heavilyconcentrated in areas of greatest disadvantage, is taken up by thosewho are disadvantaged and provides a pathway to mainstreamemployment for many people.23

The Reports of the Shankill and West Belfast Employment TaskForces both argued that greater emphasis should be given todevelopment of the social economy in Belfast and that socialeconomy delivery of services to local communities should be givenpriority. In particular, detailed proposals are being implemented nowwhich will enable social economy organisations to offer intermediatelabour market (ILM) employment opportunities to those in innercity areas who find it difficult to access conventional employmentopportunities without significant training and other supportinterventions.

Physical Appraisal

Planning and Environment City Wide

Before moving forward to look closer at the spatial dynamics ofBelfast, and how these can be read in the context of the precedingeconomic analysis, the masterplan needs to review the state of thecity and examine the physical inhibitors to performance andinvestment.

The city of Belfast is emerging from one of the most turbulent periodsin its post-industrial history. Not only does the city carry the scars ofits changing economic fortunes over this period, it also continues tolive with the physical consequences of decades of intense communitydivision and sectarian conflict. Notwithstanding all of this, some partsof the city have faired better than others but overall the city, given itsrelative status as a European regional capital, exhibits a fairlymediocre if not in parts a distinctly poor urban quality.

The city as a product is very poorly presented. Arrivals by road, railand air are marked by poor visual first impressions. The primaryarrival corridors are completely absent of public art, are dominated byheavy engineering (primarily roads) solutions and present almostexpected images of poor and depressed urban fabric. The gatewaysthrough which one enters the city centre and the city neighbourhoods,

from these arrival corridors are no better. The Broadway roundabouton the city's southern entrance has an electricity pylon in the centre ofit. The Grosvenor Road gateway to the city centre is marked by flyposting and advertising hoardings and the entire Westlink corridor isdevoid of public art at any of its interchanges or gateways (which issurprising given the strength of the artistic community within the city).The same can be said of the eastern approaches on the SydenhamBypass from the City Airport and the very uncertain pedestrian routeto the city centre from Central Station.

Under-investment within a number of city neighbourhoods is strikingand the perception of Belfast as a dangerous place is strengthened bythe visual impact of sectarian emblems and dirty streets leaving theimpression of too many no-go areas for the uninitiated, despite theefforts of the Housing Executive to renew the housing stock within thepoorest parts of the city. The arterial routes that serve many of theselocations, are congested and appear to be viewed more as transitcorridors than the focus of community life in certain areas. Interfaceand territorial issues, heavily influence movement and linkagesbetween communities and places of employment.

The quality of contemporary architecture across the city is generallypoor. For a city of its size and considerable built heritage, it has veryfew modern iconic buildings of international design quality. This is astrong indicator of the absence of business confidence in the city andof the dominance of the public sector in the office market driving downrental rates and hence built quality. The city's built environment is stilllargely dominated by its stock of historical buildings and landmarks.The design agenda for Belfast both in terms of its architecture andpublic realm, but also in relation to its cultural and artistic expressionis an area that needs to be given status as part of the quality agendafor the city.

Notwithstanding this overall impression, there has been considerableprogress made by the private sector in the city in lifting the quality ofthe urban environment. There have been bold investments in theevening economy which have helped the city centre develop a muchmore vibrant and secure profile. Confidence has been demonstratedin reviving city centre living through a strong investment in apartmentsand mixed use residential development and in the hotel andhospitality sector. These commercial ventures indicate that a designagenda is emerging for buidings and spaces throughout the city. Thisconfidence is encouraging and must be supported by continuinginvestment in the public realm.

29


The natural environment remains a similarly under-developedresource. The River Lagan is still not the focus of attention it shouldbe, and there is potential to develop the Connswater and Blackstaffcorridors as important amenity features. The dramatic Belfast Hillsremain an untapped resource and have a significant potential tocontribute to the tourist product of Belfast. Air quality across the city isalso an issue and is worst in pockets that lie along the main transportcorridors.

One of the more striking aspects of the physical planning of Belfast isthe apparent abundance of vacant or brownfield land that exists withinand adjacent to its city core through areas or dislocation andunderinvestment. Surface car parking and gap sites in the city centre

area alone account for some 33 hectares of under-utilised space. Addto this extensive reserves at the former Sirocco Works (6.5 ha),Titanic Quarter (80 ha), land between the lower Newtownards Roadand the Sydenham bypass and pockets within the Harbour Estatenorth and south of the river, and the figures amount to approximately100-120 hectares within the central area of the city. This volume ofdevelopment opportunity land is a major challenge to the spatialplanning of the city and will require an agreed approach to be adoptedon phasing, release and implementation. On the one hand it offers anopportunity to build the city from within and to achieve major returnson the brownfield quota for the city. On the other hand, if notadequately addressed, it could represent a threat to the ordered andfocused regeneration of the city core.

Transport and Movement Appraisal

In terms of transport infrastructure, the car is “king” in Belfast despitethe city having the lowest level of car ownership of any of itscomparable UK cities. The dominance of roads infrastructure has hada major effect on the quality of the physical environment of the city,creating areas of severance most notably to the west and east ofthe core. Projected population growth will exacerbate the co-dependency problem further.

Within the central city four lane highways are commonplace in alldirections. These roads are well below capacity except for peakhours, making the city centre a difficult place to walk or cycle. In termsof public transport the city is behind its comparators in the debate onrapid transit, heavy rail, bus services and other sustainable modes oftravel. This deficit affects the economic performance of the city,inhibits the mobility of the labour force and negatively impacts on theattractiveness of the city in terms of quality of life indicators that play amajor role in investment decisions.

Since the M1 Westlink was built, removing north to south throughtraffic from Belfast City Centre, the residual city centre road networknow appears over designed. On entering the city centre there is animmediate impression that a disproportionate amount of space isallocated to private vehicles compared to other modes.

The image of four or more lane roads carrying little traffic is a commonsight during inter peak hours, while observations and statisticssuggest that most of the highway infrastructure operates well withincapacity even at peak times. For the pedestrian, the negative impactsof this are considerable. Those travelling west or north from the citysuffer considerable severance due to the old network which runsalong the inside of the M1 Westlink, while those wishing to access thewaterfront to the east must tackle two major roads. Although facilitiesto cross these highways exist, priority lies with the motorist.

While it would be unreasonable to expect heavy rail to cater forBelfast's urban travel demand, it is essential that it serve the longer

City Presentation

Arrivals by road and rail

Dominance of roads infrastructure/Severance

Sectarian emblems and signage

Under -investment/Dirty streets

Quality of modern architecture

Lack of cohesion- buildings andspaces

Lagan- still a barrier not a focus

Perception as a dangerous place.

City Centre

Road dominance

Retail Product

Works in pockets, not as a whole

Lack of iconic attractions

Nigh-time inactivity

Poor links to Laganside

Lack of town centre housing

Shatter-zones to the west

Poor public realm

Outdated transport connections

Middle City

Years of neglect and under-investment in specific areas

Absence of targetedregeneration strategy

Poor linkages to employmentand training locations andcity centre

Poor urban townscape

Interface blight

Accessibility and trafficmanagement

Litter and upkeep of publicspaces

Emblems and signage

Perceptions of damage

(Area between city centre and adjacent neighbourhoods)

Physical Environment: Negative Drivers

30


trip market providing an attractive alternative to the car. Whilst qualityrolling stock serves the main line to Dublin the service frequency ishalf what may be expected when compared to services incomparative cities. On arrival in Belfast, both stations are slightlydetached from the central core, particularly in the case of CentralStation, and neither offers the sense of arrival, or the onwardtransport opportunities that exist in cities like Newcastle or Edinburgh.

With the exception of a few trips undertaken by rail, the publictransport provision serving the Belfast urban area consists of blacktaxis and buses. The black taxi service provides a relativelyinexpensive form of public transport in the western and northerncorridors, whilst the bus service throughout the city is ineffective. Anaged fleet, poor and irregular service frequencies, and lack of cross-city or radial routes, results in the bus being a mode of necessity notchoice. The token and ineffective provision for bus priority sums upthe attitude to public transport within the city.

Under the current proposals evolving through the BMTP, even thougha variety of initiatives including park and ride, quality bus corridorsand rapid transit are being considered, there remains a sense of the‘do minimum’ approach in public transport planning. With all proposedmeasures implemented, BMTP estimates a 3% reduction in car use inthe centre city by 2020 will be achieved. This appears to be a very lowreturn for such a significant investment, particularly in a city where46% of its population do not have access to a car. The target for asimilar transportation strategy in Edinburgh is 30%.

Belfast City Council Transport Policy 2001

“Cities can not exist without movement. They develop on the back oflarge inflows and outflows of people, goods and the vehicles thatcarry them”.

(Richard Rogers, Urban Taskforce Report).

The aim of the City Council’s transport policy is to provide a consistentapproach to ensure that the city continues to develop and prosper in asustainable manner and avoids the potential problems thatunconstrained traffic growth could bring. As a means of addressingmany of the issues above it contains a number of policy measuresaimed at addressing the following:

An increase in long distance commuting travel patterns

into Belfast, 66% of which are by car

Traffic congestion at peak hours

46% of households in Belfast have no access to a car

Car ownership is growing twice as fast as the rest

of the UK

Growth of traffic levels has an impact on localised air

pollution

Historic under-investment in the rail network

Bus priority is still too low but improvements have taken

place

Black Taxi use in North and West Belfast operates like a

bus service

Provision of cheap and plentiful car parking spaces in the

centre city

Neighbourhood “rat-running” is becoming an issue

Inheritance of car orientated transport policies “Car is king”

Need for transport vision rather than piecemeal approach

Lack of funding for sustainable transport initiatives

The strategic objectives that underly the policy are based on the fiveprinciples of prosperity, social inclusion, safety & security,sustainability and health. Against these headings are a range of policymeasures addressing such issues as road user charges, land useplanning, provision of cycling, public transport, development of HomeZones etc. These policies are valuable in informing the debate on theBMTP and are complimentary to the spatial planning strategy of thismasterplan.

Resolving Uncertainties in the TransportStrategy

The Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS) sets out the transportelements (to 2012) of the Regional Development Strategy (RDS)which in turn provides the spatial development framework up to 2025.The RTS considers transport issues in Northern Ireland under 4spatial headings, one of which is the Belfast Metropolitan Area. TheBelfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP) and the associated BelfastMetropolitan Transport Plan (BMTP) are currently being undertakenby the Department of Environment (DoE) and the Department forRegional Development (DRD) respectively. The BMTP sets out anemerging plan for the year 2015 and a Preferred Strategy for 10 yearshence.

A complication of preparing the transport aspects of the BelfastMaster Plan (BMP) is the difficulty of integration with the emergingBelfast Metropolitan Transport Plan (BMTP). This strategy itselfrequires to be incorporated with the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan(BMAP), which in turn is yet to be completed.

These uncertainties are not fundemental to the process of preparingthe transport aspects of the BMP since all these plans are essentiallystrategic in nature and none of their various authors claims amonopoly of wisdom in such plan preparation. Indeed all are ready todiscuss and debate the key issues in order to achieve a coherent andcost effective strategy.

Despite this harmony over the general approach to the formulation ofthe transport aspects of the Belfast Masterplan, there will inevitably bedifferences that have to be resolved and choices which have to bejustified. On this matter the consultants would suggest a slightdeparture from the DRD approach of following the extensive advice ofGOMMMS. This advice was designed for the UK government's Multi-Modal studies, most of which were concerned with Trunk Roadcorridors where highway proposals had proved contentious.GOMMMS advice regarding the evaluation of schemes and strategieswas itself based on the overlapping and somewhat confused transportobjectives set out in the 1998 Transport White Paper.

In relation to the BMP the consultants would favour simplifying thetransport objectives to:

31


Increase accessibility in terms of reducing journey times

and costs

Reduce accidents

Improve the environment

Achieve the equivalent for freight

Be progressive and contribute to the breakdown of

sectarian divides

Contribute to the BMP planning objectives and in particular

to the opening up of new development areas

Achieve all this at a minimum cost to the public purse

These seven objectives do not contain the over-worked word"integrated". This is deliberate since integration is really a policy ratherthan an objective and there is little value in adopting an integratedapproach to transport problems unless doing so achieves one or moreof the objectives listed. An integrated station car park or businterchange is not of value if no one uses it. Inclusion of integration asan objective therefore merely adds confusion of the sort evident inGOMMMS.

Achievement of the seven objectives provides a sound basis forassessing the likely contribution of particular transport policies to theBMP and hence to decisions as to which policies should be included.In making such judgements many policies can and should beassessed in financial terms either as costs (e.g. capital investments)or benefits (e.g. time savings or accident reductions expressed inmonetary figures). Where this is possible the GOMMMS advice isvery helpful and should be followed. Where such evaluation is notpossible, for example in assessing environmental impacts, it isproposed the effects should be quantified as far as possible and thenjudged against the monetary figures summarising other aspects of theschemes or policies.

This it is considered should be the way in which the componenttransport policies should be assessed in terms of their contribution toBMP and hence their importance as part of BMP. It is the way in which

any emerging differences between BMP and BMTP should in duecourse be resolved. The adoption of such a procedure is importantnot only to resolve any differences but also to ensure that the BMPand BMTP are as cost-effective and integrated as possible and do notcontain wasteful or ineffective policies, one alone of which (forexample slack parking control or an extravagant, but unjustifiable newpublic transport system) can seriously undermine a whole transportstrategy.

Addressing the Planning Objectives

Both the BMAP and Belfast Masterplan are development plans withimportant planning objectives. Transport investment may be essentialto the achievement of some of these objectives even though it mayitself appear to be of doubtful value as a transport investment. Forexample a new access road to a development site may be expensivebut carry little traffic, yet without it a whole development strategy maybe impossible. Some elements of the transport strategy may thus bejustifiable in planning terms alone with the onus being placed on theplanners to justify this rather than an alternative site or plan.

Performance of BMTP Draft Preferred Strategyfor 2025

An indication of the performance of the Draft Preferred BMTPStrategy for 2025 was provided in the BMTP conference paper,February 2003. No such information was provided for the 2015Emerging Plan. Compared to the do-minimum, or without strategyscenario, it is forecast that introduction of the BMTP will reduce thenumber of car trips in the Metropolitan Area by 3% to 4% in 2025, withan associated increase in public transport trips of 30%.

Whilst more information is required to comment fully on theperformance of the Strategy (for example, what is the reduction in carusage in Belfast City alone? Were any traffic management measuresincluded in the do-something scenario?) a 3% to 4% reduction inprivate car based trips seems a modest goal and a minimal benefitfrom such a considerable investment in infrastructure. Compared toother cities the target set in Edinburgh for example is to reduce trafficlevels by 30% by the year 2010.

Opening up the Titanic Quarter

The opening up and redevelopment of the Titanic Quarter is perhapsthe largest and most striking planning objective in the BMP. Itsomission as yet from BMAP is perhaps the largest discrepancybetween the two plans and one which will need early resolution.

In planning terms the Titanic Quarter offers an opportunity tointroduce a major new tranche of population, jobs and economicactivity adjacent to the city centre. This will not only help to revitalisethe city centre itself, it will also redevelop the largest "brownfield site"in Belfast and reduce the pressure for other more remotedevelopments.

In transport terms the opening up of the Titanic Quarter presentsparticular challenges and opportunities. Its location, adjacent to thecity centre, offers the opportunity to minimise reliance on the privatecar for travel to work and comparison shopping. Its design and layoutoffer the opportunity to create a new and sustainable development inwhich car ownership may be held at a low level, new forms of publictransport may be introduced and ideas such as car-pooling may beexperimented with. All these opportunities are in addition to theplanning opportunities discussed elsewhere in the document.

Organisation of Public Transport in Belfast

It seems that both Ulsterbus and Citybus are poor relations toNorthern Ireland Railways are very hungry of both finances andmanagement time. (Note that at the creation of Translink, it was adeliberate policy that nearly all individual managers would combineboth rail and bus roles.)

Greater Belfast would be served better if public transport in the citywere the responsibility of a separate organisation, with no othertransport responsibilities to distract it from the job in hand. Such abody could be responsible to the City Council itself, or a joint board ofthe six councils covering the Metropolitan Area. Providing or procuringbus services should be the main job of this organisation, along with

32


This diagram gives an indication of how people at present move around Belfast using their cars (red bands) and correlates this with the proposed rapid transitcorridors suggested in the BMTP. There are clearly strong movement corridors that to date have not received a significant public transport response – north tosouth Belfast crossing the city centre, south west Belfast to north Belfast on a western route, and east Belfast to south Belfast.

City Movement Analysis (by car) and BMTP Rapid Transit Corridors

1. Northforeshore

2. Shore Rd/York Street

3. Great Patrick St /Gamble St /Dunbar Link

4. Crumlin Rd Gaot & Courthouse complex

5. Brookfield/Rosemount Mill, Crumlin Rd

6. Ballysillan Industrial Estate

7. Hicks / Bullick Site, Ligonell

8. Hillview enterprise park

9. Ballygomartin Industrial Estate

10. Springvale/Mackies

11. Former St. Patrick Site, Monagh By-Pass

12. Glen Road Industrial Estate, Hannahstown

13. Suffolk Rd, Former Hill

14. Stockmans Lane

15. Titanic Quarter

16. Ravenhill Road

17. Ravenhill Rd, Ravenhill Ave, London Road

18. Castlereagh Mill, Creagh Road

19. Connswater

20. Ballygomartin Indust. Estate

33


LRT if appropriate. It should also have powers of co-ordination inrespect of suburban rail services.

Whether this body should actually run the bus services itself isanother matter. The preference would be for a franchisingarrangement, with perhaps three geographical franchises covering thecity. The franchises should have a certain amount of freedom indetermining their own routes and timetables subject to a minimumthreshold determined by the procuring body.

Transport Commentary – Appendix 2

The transport aspects of the masterplan must address a wide rangeof initiatives that will inevitably require extensive further investigationand research as part of the ongoing BMTP/BMAP debate. Parking,QBC’s and the bus network, black taxi’s, park and ride, the railnetwork, additions to the highway network etc are critically importantelements which the masterplan must consider. Appendix 2 contains acommentary on these aspects as they relate to the debate on theintegration of the masterplan with emerging thinking on the BMTP.The themes contained in this commentary are followed through in thephysical strategy where they can be addressed, by the masterplan.Otherwise they are there to inform the next review of the City CouncilsTransport Policy and influence the debate on how these issues mightbe tackled by other stakeholders and lead agencies.

Existing City Movement Analysis

An assessment of the BMTP 2001 base year travel demand wasundertaken in order to identify the transport needs of Belfast City. Trippatterns are shown on page 34 for private vehicles (left) and publictransport person trips (right) for trips both originating and terminatingin Belfast City only. The public transport trips include those made byblack taxis.

Of the 30,000 car trips taking place within Belfast City during the AMpeak hour, the main origin-destination pairs were found to bebetween:

South Belfast and South City Centre (13% or 3,900 2-way

trips)

Internal to East Belfast, 12% or 3,700 2-way trips)

North Belfast and South West Belfast (8% or 2,200 2-way

trips)

North Belfast and South Belfast (7% or 2,100 2-way trips)

Similarly, of the 6,300 public transport trips (buses andblack taxis) undertaken during the AM peak hour, the majortrip patterns were found to be between:

North Belfast and the City Centre (12% or 800 2-way trips)

East Belfast and the City Centre (10% or 600 2-way trips)

South City Centre and East Belfast (10% or 600

2-way trips)

South West Belfast and South West Belfast (ie or internal

to South West Belfast, 8% or 500 2-way trips)


The Rail Network

- Conversion to light rail

- The potential for new rail technology

- The LRT/E-Way Proposals

Ultra

QBC’s and the Bus Network

Parking Policy and Highway Capacity

Reclaiming road space

City centre circulation

Expanding the Highway Network

The Black Taxis

Park and Ride

Transport Commentary – Appendix 2

34


Public Transport Movement

Private Vehicle Movement

35


Footnotes

1 & 2 2001 Census

3 & 4 Belfast City Centre Healthcheak and Benchmarking 2002 -Belfast City Centre Management

5 Report reference - NUTS research

6 & 7 DETI Census of Employment 2001

8 NITB website

9 2001 Census

10 Residential Property Magazine, July 2003

11 The results of the 2001 Census showed that previous estimatesof the UK population were around one million too high. ONS haspublished interim revised national mid-year population estimatesconsistent with the 2001 Census for the 1991 Census. As thereare no mid year estimates for 2001, the Census figures will beused instead.

12 Compiled by the Consultant team on the basis of comparableUK data supplied by others. Note that NI regenerationprogrammes differ from those delivered in the rest of the UK,therefore the team has endeavoured to provide a most equitablematch where possible.

13 Belfast City Centre Healthcheck and Benchmarking Report, 2002

14 Belfast City Centre Healthcheck and Benchmarking, 2002 –Belfast City Centre Management

15 Verdict Research Survey, BCCM, 2002

16 Aspects of the 2001 Census in the have been challengedbycertain major cities and in some cases the basis of data variesbetween Belfast and other U.K. Cities, however, any such

differences are not likely to have any significant impact upon thecomparisons made.

17 Censuses of Employment 1995 -1999, DETI Statistics ResearchBranch

18 Relocation of Government Consultation Document, DFP.

19 Benchmarking Innovation Performance in Ireland's Three NUTS 2Regions, October 2002 - InnovationLab, Northern Ireland EconomicResearch Centre.

20 Census of Employment 2001

21 Employment Bulletin, DEL

22 Measuring and Visualising Labour Market and CommunitySegregation: A Pilot Study by Dr P Shirlow, Dr B Murtagh, Dr V Mesevand A Mc Mullan

23 www.colinstutt.com/social - economy.htm

The simple analysis of base 2001 travel patterns

indicates the following:

There is demand for a quality public transport provision

between South Belfast and the South Social appraisal

which corresponds with the Super Route Rapid Transit

corridor, and between East Belfast and the South City

Centre which corresponds with the EWAY corridor.

There is little demand for travel between West or South

West Belfast and the City Centre. The public transport

trips that are currently made between South West Belfast

and the City Centre are predominantly made by black taxi.

Based on 2001 travel patterns the figures suggest that

unless travel patterns change dramatically in the future the

WWAY Rapid Transit proposal would be difficult to justify

on these grounds alone. However on regeneration

potential, the case may be stronger.

There is a reasonable demand for travel between North

Belfast and the City Centre although no Rapid Transit

Route is proposed on this corridor.

There is significant demand for a cross city public transport

route linking North Belfast and South Belfast and other

cross routes. There is very little existing cross route public

transport demand due to services terminating in the city

centre.

There appears to be considerable demand for an orbital

public transport route linking South Belfast - South West

Belfast - North Belfast - East Belfast. Again there is no

existing orbital public transport demand due to lack of

service.

36


Drivers

Inhibitors

37


Chapter 4Drivers & Inhibitors

38


Capital City Document

Belfast City Council launched an earlier document in 2003, entitled"Capital City - Development Agenda" which sets out the priorities forthe Council's Development Department by reasserting the city's roleas the powerhouse for Northern Ireland's economy. The documentuses the "force-field analysis" as a useful tool to find solutions tocomplex problems.

We have applied this approach to carrying out qualitative researchwith key stakeholders. Through this we have identified a number ofdrivers and inhibitors currently affecting Belfast and it's potential. Thisgives a solid platform on which to exploit the opportunities, which aremany. These are explored in the next chapter.

Drivers

Governance

Devolution

Increasing civic role of BelfastCity Council

Strong Civic and other NorthAmerica and Core Cities links

City Wide Partnership

Other Partnerships

Civic accountability

Reform of Local Government

Programme for Government

Market

A young, educated and willingworkforce

Sectoral strengths in Universitiesand Health Services(world class)

Bright young companies andwealth of creative skills

A workforce suited to knowledge-based industries

A.M Development retail catalyst

Site availability (serviced)

Office Sector

Port

Airport

Attitudes

Beginning of a city centre with buzz

Belfast City Council World TradeCentre/A M Development sharedlicense

Core City learning Best Practice

Desire for change

More dynamic organisations

Physical

Titanic Quarter opportunity

Quality of Life

Role of river/environment assets

Northern Ireland Science Parkability to employ 4000 over10 year period (knowledge basedindustries)

Arterial routes

Setting of the City Lagan

39


Inhibitors

Governance

Competing and confusing number ofbodies with no common vision forBelfast;

Uncertainty regarding roles ofLaganside Corporation and BelfastLocal Strategy Partnership oncefunding depleted;

Gap in physical regeneration functionat strategic level - equivalent ofRegional Development Agencies inUK. Falls between INI and DSD;

Central government lack commitmentculture;

Uncertainty over timescale andconsistency of decision making inplanning process;

Ineffective town centre managementdue to competing interests;

Absence of business support structure;

Absence of knowledge industriesdevelopment forum; and

Assembly stability issue.

Market

Lack of development phasingapproach leads to marketsuppression;

Low rents and oversupply ofoffice space;

Lack factory/workspaceaccommodation for localindigenous business;

Mismatch of investment landversus locational needs;

Sectarian labour marketboundaries reinforce adisinclination to travel to workoutside comfort zones;

Polarised City; and

Individual Sector appraisal.

Attitudes

Perceptions of the Troubles;

Lack of profiling success stories;

Absence of Big Ideas;

Suburban living versus city livingfor all;

Mr Average;

Avoidance of risk by publicsector; and

Benefit dependency culture.

Physical

Lack of Brownfield in neutral areas

Mismatch of residential land versussupply in North, West and EastBelfast;

Blighted land along the proposedInner Ring Road;

Lack linkages between city centre andneighbourhoods;

Shatter/fracture zones between citycentre and middle cityneighbourhoods;

Poor image, low quality designstandards;

Traffic congestion, subsidised carpark spaces and dominance of roadsinfrastructure;

Lack of public transport choice andinvestment;

Lack of access to assets;

Lack of integration of resources; and

Lagan a barrier rather than a focus.

Social

Divided and polarisedcommunity;

Benefit dependencyculture;

Difficult access to jobs;

Social housingprovision/demand; and

Quality of life.

40


Grow the City

Develop the City Centre

Develop the New Industries

Provide Land for Employment, and

Simplify City Governance

41


Masterplan Strategy

Chapter 5

42


Masterplan Strategy

Having established the need for change and development in Belfastand carried out a detailed analysis of the competitive position ofBelfast, this section sets out the recommended strategy. The strategyis based around economic, social and community imperatives, whichare translated into 5 themed objectives for the spatial planning of theCity as set out in chapter six.

The Economic Strategy

The imperatives are (priorities for change);

Grow the City;

Develop the City Centre;

Develop the New Industries;

Provide Land for Employment; and

Simplify City Governance.

Grow the City

The growth or decline of the population of a city is a primary indicatorof its economic and urban health. A growing city is one in whichpeople have the opportunity and desire to live and work; conversely adeclining city is one which people choose to leaveeither voluntarily or because of the absence of opportunities.

Belfast's population has fallen dramatically in recent years. In part thishas reflected suburbanisation trends that have affected other cities, inpart it was public policy to move people out of Belfast to other urbancentres in Northern Ireland. However, a major contributor to Belfast'spopulation decline was the impact of the Troubles on the City. This isreflected in the 25% fall in the City's population in the 1970s.

Northern Ireland's population is growing. The region now receives anet inflow of immigrants after decades of strong net emigration fromNorthern Ireland. This is a sign of regional economic health andgreater political stability. However the City Council area when viewedagainst other District Council areas in terms of population changeover the last ten years exhibits a contrasting continuing decline.

The major challenge facing Belfast is to reverse the 50 year spiral ofdecline, in particular the loss of population. Belfast requires to makeitself an attractive and prosperous city in which to live and work. Themeasurement of success being to increase the City's populationwithin its existing boundaries. Belfast City Council would requiresetting a stretching population target for the City, within its existingboundaries. The target suggested being to increase the populationfrom 277,000 in 2001 to 400,000 in 2025.

Belfast Population Decline - by decade 1821 to 2001

43


This would necessitate a higher proportion of people living andworking in the City, a denser mode of development, much fuller use ofcity-centre living, an emphasis on the residential use of TitanicQuarter and other strategic sites and use of the very large amount ofderelict or semi-derelict land for residential development.

Such an approach needs to be balanced and sustainable, it needs totake into account the differing housing needs of single personhouseholds, households including young children and otherhousehold types, an appropriate mix of social and private housing andof other tenancy types. This will require the type of policy change anddevelopment which other European and UK cities have undertaken -for example to ensure that appropriate social housing is part of thecity centre residential mix.

One of the sources for growth of the resident population is the largenumber of people who commute to work in the City. The latest data istaken from the 1991 Census of Population, (with traffic flows preparedby the Economics Branch of The Department for Employment andLearning). This showed that while 72% of those resident in Belfastworked in the City, less than half (47%) of those who worked in theCity were resident in Belfast, with 53% of workers in the City travellinginto it from other District Council areas. In 1991 the number ofworkers commuting from other District Council areas to work inBelfast was almost 78,000. This daily tidal flow of commutersaccounts for much of the traffic congestion experienced in and aroundBelfast which could be much reduced if many were to migrate to theCity were they could be served by sustainable public transportsystems.

Achievement of this key target would require an average rate ofgrowth of just less than 1.8% per annum over the period 2004 - 2025.This would represent an increase in the City's population ofapproximately 5,000 per annum at the start of the period rising toalmost 7,000 per annum at the end of the period. This rate of growthhas been achieved by many UK cities experiencing urbanrenaissance.

Achievement of this rate of growth would result in the intermediateyear population figures shown in the adjoining chart. These figureswould require to be monitored as a primary indicator of the urbanhealth of the City. The following section explains how thesepopulation increase projections can be accommodated within theoverall strategy. In essence they will require the development ofBelfast as a more compact and sustainable city.

Percentage Change for each District Council Area 1995-2001

35%

28%

21%

14%

7%

0%

-7%

Northern Ireland %

Ands

Bally

mon

ey

Larn

e

Stra

bane

Der

ry

Belfa

st

Cra

igav

ion

Nor

th D

own

Banb

ridge

Om

agh

NI

Col

erai

ne

Ferm

anga

h

Lisb

urn

Dow

n

Moy

le

Antri

m

Car

rickf

ergu

s

Lim

avad

y

Mag

hera

felt

Arm

agh

Bally

men

a

Cas

tlere

agh

New

ry &

Mou

rne

Dun

gann

on

New

tow

nabb

ey

Coo

ksto

wn

44


2021 Belfast Target Population

Indicative Future Population Targets for Belfast

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0

2001 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025400,000366,000336,000308,000282,000277,000

Popu

latio

n

45



Belfast's City Centre is a key regional asset, but one which hasdeclined in effectiveness in recent years.

Belfast City Centre is Northern Ireland's prime retail market but alsocontains key cultural, leisure and tourism facilities. The City Centrehas an increasing residential population and is also Northern Ireland'smain prestige office location. It is an area considered neutral betweenthe communities, a place where both can meet, relax and dobusiness. However, the role of the City Centre goes beyond thesetraditional functions.

Increasingly, vibrant city centres with a good quality of life are thelocations sought for inward investment. In particular the fast movingknowledge-based and creative industries which are the key to futuregrowth of export-led employment in Belfast. Indeed, many suchinvestment decisions are taken on the basis of the ability of theinvesting firm to assemble a young, committed workforce in a centralbusiness area which is safe, accessible and cosmopolitan in itsnature. Such investors will not consider traditional industrial estatesbut require city centre locations of quality.

The International Economic Development Council in its' EconomicDevelopment Reference Guide2 expresses the needs of suchcompanies as follows:

'Talented youth, the new key to any truly successful economy, look forhigh-grade natural environments and places with real urban charm,sociable and walkable places with restaurants, cafés, bars, night-clubs, health clubs and public spaces.

Businesses migrate to areas where the quality of life matches thegroup of employees they are trying to attract . . . urban lifestyles caterfor young professionals and start up businesses.

Many factors influence the decision of a company or an individual tomove into or out of a city, with a major consideration being the city'squality of life. Improving the quality of life through the enhancementand expansion of public open space is a key initiative of many urbanareas.''

If Belfast is to begin the process of growing again, the seeds of growthwill be found in a more successful City Centre. This will also contributeconsiderably to Northern Ireland's ability to attract inward investment inthe knowledge-based and creative industries.

Belfast City Centre has already successfully attracted a number of suchinward investments, hosting companies such as Fujitsu, Halifax, AbbeyNational, Northbrook Technologies and Liberty Mutual. It has begun todevelop a better lifestyle mix, particularly in the area to the south of theCity Hall where health clubs and new restaurants and other facilitiesare located alongside new companies. In addition it is hoped thatBelfast's retail offering will be transformed by A M Development(formerly MDC) through the Victoria Square development. There maybe opportunities to develop further the partnership with the privatesector which is represented by Belfast City Centre Management Ltd.and the Belfast Chamber of Trade, possibly by replicating the BusinessImprovement District approach to city centre development which hasbeen extensively tested in the USA and is now receiving increasingpolicy attention in a UK context.

But there is still much to be done to enhance the wider retail offering ofthe City and to improve its tourism, leisure and cultural attractions.There is the need to promote high quality office provision (noting anover-supply of mid-range office accommodation) and to promote betterquality open space within Belfast City Centre. Given that there is somedegree of surplus of office accommodation in the City Centre, there isan opportunity to diversify the economic and social mix of the area byconsidering adapting some existing office accommodation to residentialor mixed-use developments. This might include some of the Victorianand Edwardian office blocks located around the City Hall. Thesuccessful and sensitive redevelopment of former officeaccommodation at the junction of Donegall Square and Linenhall Streetinto the TENsq Hotel, is an example of what can be achieved.

Horizons are beginning to be expanded e.g. Belfast City CentreManagement Ltd. is working to enhance the perception of safety in theCity Centre. It has also proposed a number of initiatives such asregular free ‘trolley’ services (based on a replica of a Belfast tram)through the City Centre, as seen in many North American cities e.g.Portland, Oregon.

46



Belfast's 19th and early 20th Century prosperity and growth wasbased on leading-edge, innovative companies which sold theirproducts competitively on world markets. In the future such productswill not be ships, linen or textile machinery but are more likely to beideas, embedded in software, know-how or innovation. Such newproducts come from the fusion of academic research and commercialknow-how. Belfast has considerable strengths arising from the work ofthe two Universities and, increasingly Belfast Institute but also throughthe tradition of engagement between the academic and commercialsectors in the City. QUBIS, the technology commercialisationcompany of Queen's University is one of the most long-establishedcompanies in the UK. Another strength is the Northern Ireland SciencePark Foundation, established to promote new business incubationfacilities at Titanic Quarter. Further to this, Queen's University ofBelfast has begun building its new Electronic Commerce andInformation Technology (ECIT) Institute on the same site and newincubators have opened at the University of Ulster's JordanstownCampus just to the North of the City Boundary.

These new industries are broadly designated as the knowledge-basedindustries. They are characterised by commercialisation of intellectualproperty developed in or around University or other academicinstitutions. As Belfast has the highest concentration of academicinstitutions in Northern Ireland, it is the natural focus for theseindustries. In a recent survey by the think-tank Demos Belfast ranked14th out of 40 UK cities in terms of the number of patents sought.3

Investment Belfast Ltd. has done much to stimulate awareness ofthese industries in Belfast e.g. through its Boston Lunches and £20kawards. Investment Belfast has also worked to create a forum for thecommon issues they face to be addressed.

Within the broad definition of the knowledge based industries, the'creative industries' form a distinctive sub-set based around thedesign related sectors (architecture, craft, design etc.), the expressiveindustries (music, performing arts etc.) and media and informationindustries (advertising, film, broadcast etc.) These industries accountfor 4% of total employment in Belfast according to estimates producedby QUB.4 This is approximately equivalent to employment in the hotelor transport sectors. Some 60% of the creative industries employmentin Northern Ireland is in Belfast, located mainly in BT1, 7 & 9. There isa commitment in the Council's Local Economic Development Strategyto establish a series of creative industry hubs across the city,including the Brookfield Mill, Cathedral Quarter, Springvale and EastBelfast. The Cathedral Quarter has been identified as a major locationfor the creative and cultural industries in Belfast, making a particularcontribution to urban vitality, diversity and cultural tourism in the City.

In a recent workshop, the key need that emerged was that of a clean,safe, attractive city centre in which to assemble a skilled, high incomeworkforce. While acknowledging that much had been done, thoseworking in the sector felt that more was needed and that the currentposition of the city centre at times undermined the development oflocal businesses and of inward investment.

While new incubation premises now exist at the Science Park, there isthe perception that many knowledge based businesses work, at leastinitially, operate from inappropriate premises.

Develop Land for Employment

Belfast was once one of the world's great manufacturing cities. Todaymanufacturing plays a much less significant role in employment inBelfast than in the rest of Northern Ireland. The following table(page. 47) shows the latest available data about employment inselected District Council areas in 1999 and the change in employmentshare between 1995 and 1999.

It can be seen that, except for Moyle, Belfast has the lowestpercentage of employment in manufacturing - well under 50% of theshare of the surrounding District Council areas.

The chart shows the percentage of total employment in manufacturingin Belfast, Northern Ireland as a whole and the District Council areassurrounding Belfast.

This shortage of suitably packaged land reduces employmentopportunities for residents of Belfast within the City and conflicts withthe fact that Belfast has an unusually large amount of vacant orderelict land within the City.

The opportunity arises to use vacant or derelict land to create newemployment zones around the City Centre, to accommodatemanufacturing and other traditional industries such as transport anddistribution as a complement to the focus on knowledge-basedindustries in the Centre City corridor.

The vacant and derelict land around the City Centre is associated withdisadvantaged communities and interfaces. The opportunity,therefore, arises to offer employment to those communities and tocreate new, neutral workplaces. This can also be combined with thephysical regeneration of a number of the arterial routes into the City tolink the City Centre with the Middle City communities andneighbourhoods.

This approach will need to be marked by a high level of urban designto ensure that the resulting areas are liveable and walkable and formeffective and secure means of reaching the City Centre from thesurrounding communities.

In addition to the creation of employment zones adjacent to the maincentres of disadvantage in the middle city areas, there is scope forBelfast City Council to act to increase the supply of land for businessand, therefore, the volume of employment opportunities arising.Actions which Belfast City Council could consider include:

Reviewing its own land-holdings to see if there are areas

which are suitable for business development and which

are not essential to the Council's operations;

Using its new powers to assemble and develop

land for business uses;

Working with the private sector, the local enterprise

agencies and other components of the social economy

sector to identify ways of meeting the needs of local

businesses;

47


Ensuring that planning policies arising from BMAP and

other processes provide a sufficient priority on land for

local and smaller businesses, appropriately developed;

Lobbying the Belfast Regeneration Office and Invest

Northern Ireland to ensure that sufficient land is developed

for local businesses; and

Where the City Council itself is developing sites, ensuring

that smaller businesses are specifically catered for and

that the premises provided are affordable - this may

require the Council to forego some of the development

gain to allow savings to be passed on to the small

business tenants.

These opportunities merit careful consideration, but they also need tobe set in the context of Belfast City Council's wider policies and torecognise the legal and other constraints under which the Council hasto work. It is recommended that the Council should commission aspecific study of these issues before implementing an importantstrategic component of the overall Masterplan. The study could becombined with an examination in the City Centre area of the scope forconverting some of the existing office accommodation into residentialor mixed use accommodation and with an examination of the propertyneeds of knowledge based businesses in Belfast - the study would, ineffect, develop an implementation strategy for the main propertycomponents of the Masterplan.

Northern Ireland

Belfast

Carrickfergus

Castlereagh

Lisburn

Newtownabbey

Craigavon

Moyle

Limavady

Ards

Cookstown

16%

9%

20%

14%

20%

19%

28%

8%

22%

19%

23%

Area Manufacturing as %of Total Jobs 2001

Manufacturing

-4%

-13%

12%

16%

35%

11%

-19%

-12%

8%

-19%

24%

Services

18%

14%

27%

21%

11%

30%

27%

16%

22%

1%

31%

Total

14%

11%

20%

22%

16%

28%

11%

19%

21%

-2%

33%

% Change in Number of Jobs 1995 – 2001* (Censuses)

* Relatively small ‘construction and ‘other’ categories have notbeen presented separately but included in total employmentchange column. Manufacturing and services accounted for 93%of all employee jobs in Northern Ireland 2001

48



Effective implementation of a 15-year strategy for Belfast requireseffective City governance.

At present Belfast suffers from over-governance, yet there aresignificant gaps in the strategic mesh of governance responsibilities.

Whilst Belfast City Council is the sole political authority withresponsibility for Belfast alone and has a significant developmentalcapacity, the Council's responsibilities and powers are very limitedcompared to those Councils responsible for similarly sized citieselsewhere in the UK and Ireland.

In brief, responsibility for strategic planning falls to the Department forRegional Development (DRD), the Department of the Environment(DOE) is the planning authority for Belfast and the Department for

Social Development (DSD) (through the Belfast Regeneration Office(BRO) is responsible for regeneration policy and its implementation.The DRD is also responsible for roads and public transport policies.

Invest Northern Ireland (INI), through its Belfast Local Office, isresponsible for business support in the City and liaison with BelfastCity Council (BCC) on Local Economic Development issues, on whichit reports to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment(DETI). DETI is responsible for the distribution of much of the EUfunding for Belfast, apart from the URBAN II Programme which isadministered by the Belfast Regeneration Office, although day to dayadministration has been contracted to the North Belfast Partnership(NBP).

The North Belfast Partnership is one of 5 Area Based Partnerships(ABPs) in Belfast which relate both to the Belfast Regeneration Office

and Belfast City Council and seek to form a communications bridgebetween their local communities and city-wide issues. The area basedpartnerships are also forming a relationship with the Belfast LocalStrategy Partnership (BLSP) which has responsibility foradministering support to the social economy in Belfast underMeasures 3.1 and 3.2 of the Peace II Programme. Local StrategyPartnerships across Northern Ireland are intended also to play a widerpart in the civic governance of their areas, although this role is atpresent not well defined.

Belfast City Council has formed four arms-length companies topursue aspects of economic development in the City. Belfast FirstStop Business Shop Ltd (BFSBS) provides information andsignposting to new businesses, Investment Belfast Ltd (IBL)investment in the city internationally and has been active in promotingawareness of the knowledge-based industries, Belfast City CentreManagement Ltd (BCCM) takes a lead on city centre managementissues working in association with the Belfast Chamber of Trade(BCT) and the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau (BVCB)promotes tourism in the City and the use of Belfast by internationallymobile conferences and conventions.

This 'alphabet soup' of organisations does not promote strategicgovernance of the City and provides a poor foundation forimplementation of this Masterplan. There is an absence of an agreedoverall strategy for the City (which this Masterplan is intended toaddress) and a lack of implementation capacity, except in theLaganside area where the Laganside Development Corporation hasshown what can be achieved by strategic planning and a focus onimplementation. There is a lack of clarity about who is responsible forwhat and certain tasks appear to fall between the organisationalcracks. The system is marked by a lack of co-ordination, co-operationor consultation and the result is confusion, duplication andineffectiveness accompanied by a wasting of organisational resourcesin competing overhead structures which contribute little toimplementation.

There is universal acknowledgement of the need for change, yet nochange has occurred. In part this is due to the acknowledged need forchange in central government in Northern Ireland and the associatedReview of Public Administration in Northern Ireland. The lack ofchange is also due to the complexity of decision-making structuresand the need for a consensus approach. It is vital for the effective

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

Percentage of Total Employment in Manufacturing (Census of Employment 2001)

Carrickfergus Lisburn N IBelfast Castlereagh Newtownabbey

49


implementation of this Masterplan that this problem is addressedeffectively.

This is particularly important because of two strategic gaps in currentprovision:

There is a structural gap due to the diffusion of

responsibility for strategic regeneration in Belfast. In

English cities the Regional Development Agency (RDA) is

responsible for business support and strategic

regeneration and draws funds from the Single

Regeneration Budget (SRB) to address both functions in

an integrated and strategic manner. In Belfast statutory

responsibility for the provision of industrial land falls to

Invest Northern Ireland and the regeneration function to

the Belfast Regeneration Office of the DSD, which has

Comprehensive Development powers. This structural

division of responsibility means that the two issues have

not been addressed in an integrated and strategic manner.

Instead each has been pursued as an end in its own right

and as a result important opportunities for strategic

regeneration appear to us to have been missed; and

Other than in the Laganside area, Belfast has not had the

benefit of a dedicated development agency. Learning from

the Laganside approach and recent regeneration

experience in the UK, there is merit for the creation of

some form of single development agency for Belfast

particularly as it is currently proposed that the Laganside

Corporation will be de-designated by 2006/07;

Belfast City Council must pursue the creation of a single developmentagency for Belfast by 2006/07 to replace the Laganside Corporationbut acting for the City as a whole. The precise model to be adoptedwill need to be the subject of further discussion, research and debate

Footnotes

1 Census of Employment 1995 - 2001

2 See www.iedconline.org

3 see www.demos.co.uk

4 ‘Investigating the Creative Industries in Belfast’, Centre fromCreative Industry, Queen’s University Belfast, January 2003

between the City Council and the other organisations concerned withregeneration in Belfast.

Northern Ireland Regeneration Loan Fund

In part as a result of the Masterplan process, the Belfast LocalStrategy Partnership is currently leading an examination of theopportunity for a sustainable Northern Ireland Regeneration LoanFund. The Loan Fund would support SMEs and social economyorganisations to implement projects which contribute to theregeneration strategy for Belfast. Initial proposals are beingdeveloped for a £20 - 30 million loan fund which would drawcontributions from the EU, Belfast City Council and the private sector.It would be expected that the Northern Ireland Fund would increaseconsiderably due to further contributions from public and privatesector investors and repayment of principle and interest frominvestments in supported projects.

The consultations on the development of the Northern IrelandRegeneration Loan Fund have involved Belfast City Council, theBelfast Regeneration Office, Invest Northern Ireland and theDepartment of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. A crucialconsideration will be the ability of the Fund to meet EU State Aidrequirements and a decision on whether to proceed with the formationof the Fund is expected to be taken in the context of decisions aboutthe possible extension of the period of the Peace II Programme to end2006.

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A New Spatial Understanding of Belfast - A Compact City Approach

The Spatial Plan:

1. An Energised Core

2. A Connected Middle City

3. Integrated Neighbourhood Renewal

4. Released Environmental Assets

5. Enhanced Presentation of the City

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The Spatial Plan

Chapter 6

52


A New Spatial Understanding of Belfast

The five economic, social and community imperatives as detailed inthe previous section, particularly growing the city and developing thecity centre requires a new way of assessing, viewing andunderstanding the city of Belfast. It is argued that the city of Belfast iscity-centric and not polycentric as promoted in the RDS andsupported in BMAP. Belfast has a pivotal role as a regional capitalwith potential to develop as a major European Capital of internationalstanding. This can only be achieved if Belfast is prioritised as theregion's key economic crucible, providing a full range of major cityassets, supported by a distinctive yet mutually interdependenthierarchy of settlements with their own roles and functions. Viewed inthese terms, Belfast does not have a competitor, but stands in aleague of its own driving not only its own economy but also supportingother settlements and the wider region.

Urban models have traditionally sought to examine and understandthe urban structure of Belfast, defining a Central Business District(CBD- a very traditional understanding of a city centre) with the citygrowing outwards in either concentric rings or wedge patterns.Although the health and vibrancy of Belfast's core was weakenedduring the 'troubles', (with the erection of security gates and thedevelopment of out of town shopping centres such as Abbeycentreand Sprucefield), it has traditionally been described as the heart of thecity, the vibrant retail and commercial core to which all of theneighbourhoods and urban villages within the city connect and rely.Whilst a defined CBD approach to urban development andcontainment is still relevant, the dynamics of the urban core in Belfastare much wider than this and an appreciation of the spatial activitieswithin the central core area necessitates a broader approach andunderstanding of activities outside of and adjoining this area.

This masterplan seeks to create a new understanding of the city bydefining a centre city, a corridor extending from the harbour lands inthe north, to the University Complex in the south, bound by the RiverLagan to the east and the Westlink to the West. This centre city zoneis the most dynamic economic space in the region.

The harbour lands to the north of the centre city are in a transitionalstate offering tremendous opportunities for residential and commercialdevelopment and the opportunity to build on the industrial heritage ofthe city. Their integration with the central core of the city willpreoccupy the physical planning of the city for years to come. Theeastern fringe contains a number of important key strategic sites,including the Gasworks, Waterfront, Sirocco and East Bank, some ofwhich have recently been developed, others awaiting development.The southern section of the corridor accommodates possibly some ofthe strongest economic drivers in the region in the form of Queen'sUniversity and the bio-sciences centres of excellence at the City andRoyal Victoria Hospitals.

Extending from the Harbour Estate to the University and hospitalarea, the corridor fuses the regions leading academic institutions, itsprime retail centre, its prime office location, its traditionalmanufacturing heartland, its cultural focus, its international port andarguably its most promising international tourist product at TitanicQuarter. This corridor is the single most preferred location for foreigndirect investment in Northern Ireland. It represents, Northern Ireland'swindow on the global economy. It should be planned as such.

Like any other city, the defined centre city corridor has a core vibrantarea of which shopping provision is a key component, contributing tothe vitality and viability of the area. This area known as thepedestrian retail area, is defined as the heart of the centre city andallows for a combination of retail and non-retail uses. As the primeshopping area of Belfast, it also accommodates prime office spaceand has the potential to become a thriving area, although it isnecessary that a proactive role is taken in enhancing and sustainingthis core space.

Unlike other cities, Belfast does not have an outer city - a product ofthe physical constraints of its position with the Antrim Plateau to thenorth and the Castlereagh and Holywood hills to the south,constraining the city within the Lagan Valley. In fact the surroundingboroughs of Lisburn, Castlereagh and Newtownabbey could bedescribed as Belfast's outer city. However, it does have a middle city,located just beyond the centre city, traditionally dominated byresidential development which bears the scars of years of communityconflict as well as economic change. The middle city is where thesocial and community agenda of the masterplan will focus. This areais where the regeneration strategy for the city must have its mostmeaningful impact - on the quality of life of its residents.

In order to understand the complexities of the middle city, it isanalysed around five unique sectors, including North, South, East,West and Shankill sectors. These sectors are based on the fiveexisting Area Based Partnerships and are used for analysis purposes,providing necessary social, economic and cultural data. The middlecity contains a number of strategic sites, either vacant or derelict,located between the centre city and the middle city and associatedwith disadvantaged communities and interfaces. The opportunityexists to transform this land into new employment zones as acomplement to the focus on knowledge based industries in the centrecity corridor, offering neutral employment workplaces.

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Three zones of economic activity exist incentral Belfast

Linked together they form adynamic Centre City zone

54


Key economic development locations linking the Centre City Fracture zones, barriers and gateways to the Middle City

Note: Areas highlighted areconsidered in detail in later chapter.

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Linking Centre and Middle City :A Compact City Approach

Thus, the challenge of this masterplan is to effectively link the middlecity to the 'neutral' centre city and to facilitate the gradual change froma fragmented city to a holistic, regenerated urban core of internationalstature. This will require a dual strategy approach of neighbourhoodregeneration and compact city development, assembling land withinthe city to accommodate the population target of 400,000 people.There is a need to refocus the city to develop inwards, enhancing thecarrying capacity of the centre city to create a dynamic and vibranturban focus capable of attracting people and employment and adiverse range of supporting services.

The compact city model is a spatial concept, which intensifies the useof urban space by seizing opportunities to redevelop large parcels ofland in the centre city and promote balanced development therebyimproving the quality of urban life. The policy is based on a number ofessential components, including minimum densities; mixed use andintegration of land uses; a hierarchical concentration of developmentin nodes within the centre city; transformation of urban mobility andorientation of future urban development around existing transportroutes.

Revitalisation of the pedestrian retail area in Belfast is an essentialfirst step towards a compact and sustainable city with thestrengthening of both the residential and office components anecessity, to attract people back into city living. This has traditionallybeen achieved through integration of land uses, intensification anddevelopment of brownfield sites. Whilst urban intensificationrepresents the most sustainable use of land, the compact city modelhas been criticised, as the link between density and potential loss ofgreenery and open space, poor quality built environment andgentrification can, in general, be largely negative and has impacted oncommunities in other cities.

However, it is argued that the scenario in Belfast is somewhatdifferent. Notwithstanding increased densities, the identification andsignificant availability of brownfield land1, (an estimated 80-100hectares, suitable for development in the centre city area alone),enhances resilience and immediately increases the carrying capacityof the city to accommodate and support additional population. Unlike

other divided and segregated communities in Belfast, the pedestrianretail area of the centre city has traditionally been considered a'neutral area' and immediately this creates opportunities to integratenew developments harmoniously within the existing urban fabric andto develop better linkages between the pedestrian retail area and thewider centre city. Of course the nature of intensification is alsoimportant, particularly in relation to quality of life and will require highdesign standards, significant landscaping and urban designimprovements.

The compact city is envisioned as hierarchical and monocentric withconcentration of development in the centre city focused on a numberof central nodes, which are key strategic and accessible sites.Development on these nodes will include a balance of housing,employment and subsidiary functions to maximise the share ofactivities that can be pursued locally both day and night. Belfast hasa number of important key strategic sites, including the TitanicQuarter, Cathedral Quarter, Gasworks and the Press Quarter, locatedon existing transport routes and which can be appropriatelydeveloped as central nodes, accommodating future urbandevelopment. Development of such central nodes has the potential tocontribute to and evolve richer linkages between the centre city andthe middle city, attracting knowledge-based industries therebyenhancing Belfast's competitiveness and facilitating its flagship role asa major European Capital City.

The middle city contains a number of neighbourhood retail serviceareas, which are currently dominated by shopping with limitedcommunity services. These facilities are especially important forresidents without access to a car, or otherwise with limited mobilityand play an important role both economically and socially in the localcommunity. Intensification of these areas as Neighbourhood ActivityCentres, broadening the base of activity and increasing the range ofservices over longer hours, will form an essential component in theregeneration of the middle city. The special needs of distinctgeographical areas in the middle city also need to be addressed andthere is a need to focus on areas in special need of economic andphysical revitalisation in which assistance programmes anddevelopment initiatives can be concentrated. These could focus onspecific areas within each of the five city sectors and could includeInterface Areas and key strategic sites such as Crumlin Road.

Before urban compactness can be physically achieved, the currentlevels of car ownership and use, the severance effect of highlytrafficked roads and the spatial demand of parked vehicles must beaddressed. Currently, the M3 and associated road infrastructure onthe Lower Newtownards Road provides a significant physical andperceptual divide between the pedestrian retail area and the northernsection of the centre city. Thus, whilst a compact city may notnecessarily reduce the need to travel, developing Belfast as acompact city will address existing transport barriers and restrictionsand seek to enhance linkages between the centre city and middle city.

Whilst the strategy of this masterplan seeks to achieve importantlong-term, physical regeneration and economic advancement of thecentre and middle city, it is also necessary to derive social inclusion,although workable solutions are as divergent as the market-place andmust be tailored to local opportunities. A new approach is required toovercome the historically embedded and generational cycle ofdeprivation in Belfast. Overall, better co-ordinated and targetedcommunity action is required in Belfast to counteract past actions,including demand-led and fragmented responses to social andeconomic deprivation.

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The Spatial Plan

The masterplan has evolved five themed objectives which aredesigned to illustrate, through exemplar projects, new approaches tocreating a more dynamic and competitive urban entity.

These themes demonstrate ways in which we can reconstruct Belfast,rebuilding its core area and residential neighbourhoods, establishingmuch better connections and linkages between its sectors, andimproving its presentation and environmental quality as befits a firstclass European city.

The themed objectives are:

1. An energised core

2. A connected middle city

3. Integrated Neighbourhood Renewal

4. Released Environmental Assets

5. Enhanced presentation of the city

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58


Energised core

Why ?

The Energised Core comprises an area that includes Belfast's coreeconomic drivers. It is important to recognise, plan and develop theEnergised Core as a unit in order to create something that is biggerthan the sum of its parts. The juxtaposition of investment and activityin each of the core drivers is crucial in the development of Belfast as aworld class city.

Where ?

The 'Energised Core' is loosely defined as the area between QueensUniversity in the south to Belfast Harbour in the north, the Westlink inthe west and the A2 / edge of the residential development in the east.The area is generally seen as 'neutral' territory and includes most ofBelfast's existing and potential economic drivers such as:

Belfast City Centre, including the city's shopping and

commercial core;

Laganside and Cathedral Quarter;

Belfast City Airport;

The working port;

Titanic Quarter and other areas in the harbour that have

recently been redeveloped or are likely to be redeveloped

in the near future (Odyssey, Clarendon Dock, Harland and

Wolff);

North Foreshore;

The Sirocco site;

Central Station and the Maysfield area;

The Gas Works;

The Golden Mile and Great Victoria Street;

An Energised Core: A range of projects that will serve to increase the vitality, connectivityand attraction of the city core.

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Queen’s University and surrounding café / nightlife

quarter; and

Botanic Gardens and Ulster Museum.

How ?

The delivery of a vital, attractive and easily accessible Energised Corewill depend on a wide variety of projects. These include:

Improving and widening the offer in the core zone on all

fronts (cultural, residential, commercial, retail etc) and at all

times of the day and week;

The redevelopment of city quarters and sites in a way that

not only serves that particular area itself, but also makes a

valuable contribution to the attraction and vitality of the

core zone as a whole. The development of an urban

design framework will serve to identify the role and

character (i.e. ‘vision’) for each city quarter and defines

how each of the quarters are linked and interact;

The introduction of high quality hard and soft landscaping

throughout the city centre, but in particular in the areas

around landmark buildings (Donegall Square, Custom

House Square etc.) and on important routes between

quarters;

The introduction of new (public) uses in existing, vacant

yet attractive historic buildings;

The introduction of high quality architecture, in particular

on highly visible, ‘landmark sites’ and for buildings with an

important social, civic or cultural function;

Reclamation of the road space from use by private

vehicles to provide better conditions for pedestrians and

cyclists, an improved urban environment and priority for

public transport;

The introduction of a high quality, quick and convenient

public transport system throughout the core zone, that

provides an attractive alternative to the car; and

Creation of the right conditions for an animated public

realm to develop. This may include design guidance on

the way buildings should interact with the public domain

(ground floor activity, access points, windows overlooking

spaces etc); creating an attractive micro-climate; reducing

traffic noise and pollution; ease legislation on pavement

cafes, busking and other street activities; introduce

temporary / seasonal activities (ice skating rink, mobile

cafes, urban beach); organise events etc.

Preliminary Development Framework

The following pages serve to illustrate how different quarters in thecore zone may be developed, and how they relate to each other tomake a vital, varied and attractive city.

Seven quarters are identified on the basis of existing character anddevelopment potential. They include the:

Retail Core (1)

Cathedral Quarter (2)

Historic Harbour (3)

Urban Waterfront (4)

Northern Gateway (5)

Titanic Quarter (6)

Golden Mile (7)

The seven quarters

The landuse and character for each of the quarter has been describedin turn, as well as the key elements and linkages to be developed /enhanced in each of the quarters.

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Retail Core - Quarter 1

Use and character

It is proposed that this area should retain its primary function as ashopping destination. The introduction of additional retaildevelopment will strengthen the product offer.

The retail core should be a pedestrian priority zone from whichthrough traffic is excluded. The existing pedestrianised or pedestrianpriority zone extended and new street surfacing and street furnitureintroduced. Access for public transport and services will require to becarefully integrated to avoid compromising the quality of thepedestrian environment. Car parks will be located on the edge of thezone, with high quality pedestrian links leading to the shoppingstreets.

New development within the core should increase the connectivityand permeability of the area, with streets and spaces that areaccessible, attractive and safe 24 hours a day. The development oflarge monolithic structures with lengthy 'blind' facades should beavoided. The interface of new developments with the public domainwill require to be carefully considered to ensure an interesting andvaried streetscape that is overlooked, safe and encourages activity to'spill out' on the street.

Landmarks and key links

The core anchors of the area include Donegall Square, Castle Courtand the proposed Victoria Square Shopping Centre. Buses willrequire to be moved from Donegall Square and the space developedas a 'world class square'. A pedestrianised High Street and theVictoria Square development will serve to form a link between theretail core and the waterfront (Quarters 3 and 4). Bridge Street andthe area to the north east of Castle Court will form an important link toCathedral Quarter (Quarter 2).

High quality shopping environments( London, Freiburg, Rotterdam)

Donegall Square: Need to create a worldclass setting for a world class building(Lyon)

The Retail Core

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Cathedral - Quarter 2

Use and character

A mixed-use area with a vibrant night-time economy, a high proportionof cafes and restaurants and workspace aimed at the creativeindustries, and a public realm that is characterised by its historic fabricof red-bricked buildings, cobbled streets and an attractive andintimate network of streets and alleyways.

It is proposed that the Dunbar Link shall be realigned (straightened)between Nelson Street and Corporation Street. This will serve to:

Establish an urban structure and form that is more

sympathetic to the original pattern of streets and serves to

create a sense of place;

Creates development land within the Cathedral Quarter

that can accommodate an attractive development frontage

on the Dunbar Link;

Improves pedestrian connectivity between Cathedral

Quarter and the 'Old Harbour' (Quarter 3).


The Cathedral will form the heart of the new quarter with a newsquare created around the building. This square will also form a goodlocation for a new Arts Gallery or alternative cultural venue. Byrealigning Dunbar Link, Talbot Street can be extended and will formthe key link with Quarter 3. The view of the Cathedral from NelsonStreet will be retained and enhanced. Thus this attractive andsignificant building will form an important gateway feature for peoplearriving in the city from the north (see also 'Presentation of the City').

Cathedral Quarter

Open air cinema in cultural complex (Dublin)

Creating spaces for cultural events and ‘peoplewatching’ (Dublin, Copenhagen)

Belfast Cathedral: Create a high quality squarearound a landmark building

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Historic Port - Quarter 3

Use and character

This quarter comprises a mixed-use area including offices, housingand new visitor attractions in Custom House and the Harbour Office,as well as around the Titanic Slipway. A 'discovery trail' could beintroduced between these significant historic attractions. Theintroduction of a series of night-time activities on the route betweenCathedral Quarter and the Odyssey will serve to create an attractivenight-time route. A new station at Gamble Street could act as animportant catalyst for the regeneration of this area, as well as for theCathedral Quarter to the south.

New development should be introduced in a traditional block structurewith new development on the waterfront. The area underneath themotorway viaduct may in part be developed with one-storeyworkspace (subject to demand), or alternatively as an 'urban park' i.e.accommodating skateboarding, wall climbing, public art, exhibitionspace etc.


The area in front of the Harbour Office should be developed as apublic square linking this landmark building with the Cathedral Quarterat the other side of the motorway. The square will also function as astation square when Gamble Street Station is built. An avenue oftrees would provide a visual continuation of the Dunbar Link acrossthe Station Square to the waterfront. A pedestrian bridge could besuspended from the existing motorway viaduct to create a newpedestrian route from Cathedral Quarter to the Odyssey Centre.

The Historic Harbour

Eating and drinking on the waterfront(Rotterdam)

Fine grained development sympatheticto its historic environment (York,Nottingham, Rotterdam)

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Urban Waterfront - Quarter 4

This quarter straddles the river Lagan to include the Bridge End /East Bank area and is capable of accommodating a major newdevelopment, including uses which seek high levels of exposure,such as conference facilities as well as high quality residentialdevelopment.

New development on the waterfront should be of the highestarchitectural quality to create a 'world class' waterfront. TheWaterfront Boulevard is already established and benefits from highquality landscape design. However, public activity in the area islimited, as there are few destinations and/or attractions, which cangenerate this. The development of the Public Realm 5 associatedscheme may serve to accomplish this. In addition, opportunities tointroduce seasonal / temporary attractions such as open-air cinemas,'beach cafes' and kiosks should be considered.

A dramatic reduction and rationalisation of road infrastructure on theEast Bank will serve to create extensive new developable land,greatly improved urban environment and better links with the EastBelfast Communities (see 'Connected Middle City'). Newdevelopment on the Sirocco site will include high quality design alongthe waterfront. South of the Central Station the Maysfield site offers asuperb mixed use development potential integrated with the rest ofLaganside.


The River Lagan and a high quality, public 'boulevard' on both bankswill form the spine of the Urban Waterfront. New development of theriver shall be permeable, with a large number of (pedestrian) routeslinking with the Retail Quarter, East Belfast, and Titanic Quarter.Particular care shall be taken to ensure that these routes have anattractive and varied frontage with public uses on the ground floor.The public realm and pedestrian and vehicle circulation around theCentral Station will be transformed and new pedestrian routes to thecity centre developed (see also 'Enhanced Presentation of the City').

The Urban Waterfront

Development edge with activities atground floor level (Oslo)

High quality bridges across the river(London)

A memorable skyline (Dusseldorf)

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Northern Gateway - Quarter 5

Land use and character

The area around York Street, to the north of Cathedral Quarter couldbe redeveloped as a prime office and residential quarter.

High quality architecture and a consolidated urban form will serve toprovide a high quality impression to visitors and an attractive gatewayinto the city centre - both for visitors from the Motorway as the localcommunities in North Belfast. This should include an attractive, safeand well-overlooked street frontage at ground floor level, and adynamic, forward-looking skyline to drivers on the M2/M3.


Changes to the alignment, width, pedestrian crossing facilities, urbanform and quality of the Dunbar Link shall serve to 'knit' this part ofBelfast back into the urban structure of the city (see sample project'Dunbar Link and surrounds').

The Northern Gateway

Redevelopment of the Dunbar Link toa high quality boulevard (Maastricht)

Landmark development addressingthe motorway (USA, Den Hague)

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Titanic Quarter - Quarter 6


It is essential that a comprehesive Masterplan is produced for TitanicQuarter and adhered to, so avoiding piecemeal development. Theredevelopment of the area that includes Queens Island, East TwinIsland and other sites in the area that may become surplus to currentshipbuilding / port requirements, should be residential-driven. TitanicQuarter could provide high quality, high-density and affordablehousing in 'neutral' territory close to the city centre.

A mixture of apartment buildings and single family housing should bedeveloped to a density of approximately 100 dwellings per hectare(gross). Schools, shopping and public space facilities should beaccommodated within the development, as with the Science Centreand a visitor attraction around the Titanic Slipway (see also 'TheHistoric Port'). Office development should be limited to the areasadjacent to the M3.


A public walkway along the River Lagan and the docks should form anintegrated part of all new development, and be bounded by blockswith activity on the ground floor (entrance halls, residential, A3 uses).On the tip of East Twin Island a public park / square with landmarkbuilding or public art object should be introduced. This will provide agateway feature to ferries and cruise liners destined for the city (seePresentation of the City).

ULTRA2 or similar system could provide quick and convenient accessto the city centre (see 'Towards a City Core Transport Strategy').

A new boulevard could link Titanic Quarter with the East Bank / UrbanWaterfront area. This boulevard will make a strong physicalstatement about the relation between the Titanic Quarter and the restof the city core, and possibly build on the existing visual linksestablished by the Harland and Wolff cranes.

The Titanic Quarter

Creating a high quality, water-orientatedliving environment (Amsterdam,Rotterdam, Stockholm)

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Golden Mile - Quarter 7


The linear 'Golden Mile' should be reinforced as Belfast's leisure andnight-life strip that links the city centre with the University area. Newcafes, restaurant and clubs could be introduced. Public art, lighting,hard and soft landscaping in the corridor should serve to enhance thecohesion of the zone.


Shaftesbury Square / Bradbury Place could be transformed from amajor barrier to pedestrian movement, to the focal point of pedestrian/ people activity in the Golden Mile.

The Golden Mile

Introducing dramatic lighting toenhance the night time environment(Lyon)

Creating an attractive environment forpavement cafes (Barcelona, Belfast)

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Preliminary Transport Strategy within theEnergised Core

Ultra

The development of the 'Energised Core' reinforces the case for anew distribution system capable of linking all the nodes of entry tothe key destinations. An alternative to an improved and expandedbus network, and one which could additionally give the city centrea new image, is to look forward at the new public transporttechnologies now becoming available. The most promising ofthese is a system of the Ultra type, offering point to point traveland capable of penetrating new and old developments and ofhaving stations located within such developments as well as onstreet.

The practicalities of introducing such a system would clearly needto be the subject of a detailed feasibility assessment. Seriousconsideration shall be given to the pros and cons of Ultra inBelfast - not in the least the impact the system may have on theurban fabric and other users of the city and would require carefuldesign in order to minimise the impact on other users.

It may prove to be the case that new systems will rapidly bedeveloped along the lines of Ultra that would be better suited, andso at this point the concept is perhaps of more importance thanthe Ultra system in particular. The system is neverthelessreferred to as Ultra in the following descriptions of the base andextended networks which are proposed.

The network aims to connect all of the major activity nodes withinthe centre city, with the first phase linking the existing city core to:

The Titanic Quarter and Belfast City Airport east of the

River Lagan

Queens University and Belfast City Hospital in the

south of Belfast

Belfast Institute of Further Education

The Cathedral Quarter and Clarendon Dock in the

north of the city centre The base network also

encompasses all existing and proposed public

transport nodes including:

Existing Central and Great Victoria Street Rail

Stations

Proposed Gamble Street Rail Station

Great Victoria Street and Laganside Bus Stations

Black Taxi stands at Castle Street, Peters Hill and

the High Street

It is suggested that further expansion of the system should beconsidered in order to provide access to Laganside in the eastand the "Northern Gateway" to the north of the existing centre.

Parking policy and highway capacity

The future of Belfast as a more prosperous, busier, vibrantand attractive city centre has to be built around publictransport. In addition to the provision of a high quality publictransport network, limits will have to be placed on the use ofthe car for journeys that could easily be made by publictransport. In first instance this should include:

Control of on-street parking;

Limit the provision of off-streets parking;

Reclaim road space from the private car forpedestrians, cyclists, public transport. This wouldfurther serve to create a more attractive urbanenvironment and release land for newdevelopment.

Preliminary Ultra Network

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Traffic Circulation within the Energised Core

The urban environment and movement for all modes of transport, suffer inBelfast City Centre due to:

Over provision of space allocated to the private car

Complicated, disjointed and infrequent pedestrian crossing

facilities

Circuitous one way systems resulting in confusion for

unfamiliar drivers

Inappropriate locations for bus layover space

The primary goals of the proposed strategy are:

To address the current imbalance with respect to the

existing dominance of the private car in Belfast City Centre

To channel traffic passing through the city onto designated

routes, providing relief to traffic sensitive streets

To significantly reduce severance between the city centre

and the waterfront

To connect the port and improve the permeability of the

Harbour Estate

To permit pedestrianisation of Donegall Place, Donegall

Square (N) and Chichester Street

To allow traffic calming of Donegall Square, Wellington

Place, Linenhall Street, Castle Street/Castle Place/High

Street

To improve pedestrian linkage to, and through,

Shaftesbury Square

To improve pedestrian/cycle crossing facilities to minimise

severance created by the "Main traffic Route" (Great

Victoria Street, College Square (E), Carrick Hill, Fredrick

Street and Cromac Street)

To remove traffic from the "Press Quarter" and the

"Cathedral Quarter"

The proposed improvements to the city centre (to be the subject ofnetwork capacity tests) include:

Creation of 2-way "inner circular route" to provide for cross

river trips travelling through Belfast

Provision of 2-way "calmed" streets on Howard Street/

Donegall Square South/May Street and Victoria Street to

provide for necessary east-west and north-south trips

respectively

The re-routing of the Dunbar Link to Great Patrick Street

Removal of all private vehicles (except service vehicles)

from Donegall Place, north side of Donegall Square,

Chichester Street, and Oxford Street

Removal of bus layover from the west side of Donegall

Square

Improved pedestrian facilities, particularly on the main

inner circular route to minimise severance

Redesign of Shaftesbury Square to rationalise pedestrian

movements

Preliminary traffic management system

69


Dunbar Link and Surrounds

The redevelopment of this area would have a positive effect on thepromotion and redevelopment of 'Cathedral Quarter', 'HistoricHarbour' and 'Northern Gateway'. It would serve to:

Bring new activities / life to this derelict part of the

city centre;

Reposition Cathedral Quarter more centrally in the city

centre (by moving new land uses and activities to the north

of the area);

Link Cathedral Quarter with the waterfront;

Link Clarence Dock area with the City Centre;

Create a high quality image of / gateway to the city centre

from M2 / the north / International Airport (see also

'Enhanced Presentation of the City);

Improve links with the North Belfast area (See also

'Connected Middle City')

Key components of the illustrative scheme include:

Realignment and narrowing of the Dunbar Link.

Cathedral Quarter expanded to the edge of Dunbar Link in

traditional block structure sympathetic to existing

development form;

Talbot Street continued to new Dunbar Link as central

spine through quarter and principal link to 'The Historic

Harbour';

A new square behind the Cathedral to improve setting of

building and 'capture' the views towards the Cathedral

from the M2 / Nelson Street. Floodlit at night, the

Cathedral will form an important gateway feature for

people arriving in the city from the north;

A new public space under the M2 as connector between

Cathedral and the waterfront, an attractive setting for

Harbour Office, and station square for Gamble Street;

New development between Nelson and Corporation Street

on either side (and underneath M2).

Indicative view of the redevelopment area surrounding DunbarLink (above). The realignment of the road will serve to:

1. Create space for Cathedral Quarter to expand in an attractiveand traditional block structure;

2. Release land to develop an positive and welcoming frontageenvironment on Dunbar Link;

3. Improve pedestrian connectivity between Cathedral Quarterand the ‘Old Harbour Quarter’.

Development on Nelson Street may includeresidential or commercial ‘towers’ of variousheights on ‘plinth’ of commercialdevelopment (left: Den Hague, Paris). OnCorporation Street an intimate, fine grainedresidential or commercial development ofvarious heights and plot widths would beappropriate (right: Amsterdam).

Public art, lighting and water features may be introduced inthe new square under the motorway (Amsterdam; Sydney;Malmo)

Odysse

y

Clarendon

Dock M3

Custom HouseLagan Weir

70


Maysfield/Albert Bridge and Sirocco

The redevelopment of the Maysfield / Albert Bridge / Sirocco area willserve to strengthen / establish the south-eastern section of the 'UrbanWaterfront'. This sample project illustrates proposals for a highdensity, mixed-use development with a strong urban form.

Key components include:

Public space focused around harbour to the back of

Central Station;

Mixed use leisure/retail/residential and station car park

New leisure facility and station car park integrated in

development;

New station square to west of Central Station (see also

'presentation of the City);

Closure of Albert Bridge slip roads and introduction of

gateway development (see also 'Linking Neighbourhoods);

Landscaping of Short Strand and realignment of northern

section to introduce new residential edge (see also 'Linking

Neighbourhoods');

Pedestrian-only, public waterfront

on the east bank of the Lagan;

Landmark and public building on

Sirocco site with associated high

quality public space.

Sirocco waterfront: A public walkway and landmark building in walking distance of Central Station (Left toright: Stockholm, Maastricht, Amsterdam)

High density residential development on thewaterfront and commercial development nearthe station

71


Shaftesbury Square

In its current form, Shaftesbury Square is a major barrier between thenorthern and southern section of the Golden Mile, the city centre andthe university area.

This sample project illustrates how Shaftesbury Square may betransformed from a busy traffic junction, to a focal point of public life inthe Golden Mile, and gateway to the city centre.

Indicative skecthes of a new Shaftesbury Square

Place Charles Hernu: A junction in Lyon, similar in size and configuration to Shaftesbury Square,given a high quality design treatment

Sculpture light colums (Lyon)

Key components of the illustrative scheme include:

A redesign of the multiple junctions

Rationalisation of the existing disjointed and multiple

pedestrian crossings (pelican and zebra) particularly for

pedestrians walking on the north-south axis

Re-design and upgrade of the public realm of the square,

rationalising the multitude of sign posts and directional

information

Introduction of public art and new

lighting to upgrade the status of the square

and one of the premier gateways to the centre city

Preparation of design briefs for the introduction of new

buildings to the square and the refurbishment of existing

ones, restricting ground floor frontages to retail and

evening economy uses only

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A Connected Middle City: A range of projects that will serve to give communities access to jobs and facilities in theEnergised Core.

Westlink - a barrier between theEnergised Core and thecommunities to the West

East Bank ‘shatter zone’ betweenthe city centre and Belfast East

Poor quality developmentfrontages where the radialroutes meet the city centre

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Connected Middle City

Why?

The economic opportunities, cultural, social and retail facilities in the'Energised Core' need to be easily accessible to all communities ofBelfast. Without access to the facilities in the Energised Core, thequality of life within the surrounding neighbourhoods will be severelycompromised. And without the support and patronage of local people,the Energised Core will not be able to sustain itself.

Where?

Belfast is a radial city, with radial roads linking neighbourhoods withthe city centre and 'Energised Core'. Public transport services alsofollow these radial routes, with services generally terminating in thecity centre. With regard to the provision of public transport facilities,projects should initially be concentrated in areas where travel patternanalysis indicates a demand. This includes journeys between:

South Belfast and South City Centre;

East Belfast and South City Centre;

North Belfast and City Centre;

North and South Belfast;

South West Belfast - South Belfast - East Belfast and

North Belfast.

Projects that seek to reduce the physical severance between the'Energised Core' and the surrounding residential areas shouldconcentrate on the “shatter zones” surrounding the Core to the West,North and East. This includes:

The intersection connecting the radial routes from the

north and west and the West Link;

The Bridge End / East Bank area;

Albert Bridge.

How?

Two broad types of projects can be identified:

Transport projects that seek to improve accessibility for all;

Development (in particular those associated with local

indigenous job creation) and environmental improvement

projects that address the severance caused by road

barriers and a fragmented, unattractive and 'hostile' urban

form.

Transportation projects must focus on the improvement of the publictransport network and include:

High quality public transport in high-demand corridors

Increase cross-city bus services;

Introduce orbital bus services;

Update the existing bus fleet.

Development and environmental projects shall focus on the creationof an attractive, easy and welcoming journey experience from leavingthe neighbourhood to arrival in the Energised Core. This will include:

The redevelopment of vacant, derelict or under-utilised

sites and the introduction of attractive development

frontages and a mixture of activities along the route;

The introduction of high quality hard and soft landscaping

and public art along the route;

The reduction of road and junction widths and

simplification of pedestrian crossing facilities.

Creation of a welcoming frontage environment, threshold

or gateway to the city centre at key entry points;

A welcoming frontage environment, threshold or gateway

to the neighbourhoods at the key entry points.

South Link - Lower Ormeau Road

North and Shankill

East Link

West

74


East bank/bridge end

East Bank / Bridge End 'shatter-zone' forms a barrier between EastBelfast and the Energised Core. This sample project illustrates howthe area may be restructured through the transformation of thehighway network and development of released land. This wouldserve to:

Improve links to the East Belfast communities;

Consolidate the Energised Core by strengthening the link

between Titanic Quarter and the city centre (see also

'Energised Core');

Improve the quality of this important arrival point (route

from City Airport and A2 corridor) (see also 'Presentation of

the City');

Key elements of the illustrated scheme include:

An urban form that on one hand addresses the scale of the

pedestrian / cyclist / slow moving traffic at ground floor

level, and on the other represents an image of a dynamic,

modern and vital city to the traffic on the M3;

A strong visual and physical link with the Titanic Quarter

and East Belfast through the transformation of roads to

boulevards;

Introduction of new attractive edges / thresholds to existing

residential areas;

A highway / movement network that is easy to understand

and negotiate for all modes (see also 'Enhanced

Presentation of the City').

Indicative illustration of a redeveloped East Bank / Middle Bridge area

Creating tree-lined boulevard (Paris)

Development frontages ofappropriate scale and integratedpublic transport (Stockholm)

Commercial development to addressthe motorway (Lille)

Residential development to form attractive edge to the radial routes, stepping down in scaleto link in with existing neighbourhoods (left: Stockholm; right: Rotterdam)

Rail Brid

ge

Waterfront Hall

River Lagan

75


Westlink/divis street

The Westlink forms a barrier between the Energised Core and thecommunities to the west. This is not only caused by the road itself,which is located in a cutting, but also by the poor development form inthe areas surrounding the Westlink, and the barrier formed by theCarrick Hill / Millfield / College Avenue road corridor (and associatedjunctions).

This sample project illustrates how the barrier caused by the Westlink'shatter zone' may be overcome through:

The development of the surface car parks on Millfield

introducing a welcoming gateway to the city centre;

Consolidation of urban form of Divis Street on either side

of the Westlink;

Art project on Westlink, possibly reflecting identities of city

centre and West Belfast communities (see also

'Presentation of the City').

Scheme concept and twopossible developmentoptions

Option 1: Consolidated development form and landmark buildings to mark the citycentre entrance

Art project on the Westlink, possibly reflecting identity ofsurrounding areas

Entrance to the city - sketch perspective

76


Neighbourhood renewal

Whilst long-term physical regeneration and economic advancement ofthe centre and middle city, is necessary so too is social inclusion.However, a better co-ordinated and targeted community approach isrequired in Belfast to counteract past actions, including demand-ledand fragmented responses linking social and economic deprivation.Belfast is unique and distinct from other major cities in that individualsocial, economic and physical attributes are exhibited not onlybetween different areas but also within the areas themselves. Thus, itis very difficult to define individual neighbourhoods in Belfast, althoughit is recognised that neighbourhoods are evolving units, incorporatingreligious, cultural and historical dimensions as well as physicaldelineation of boundaries.

In an attempt to understand the dynamics of each recognisable andidentifiable area of the city and understand its role within a morestrategic city-wide context, the city has been analysed on a sectorwide basis. Outside of the centre city are five sectoral areas, eachwith an established Partnership Board, co-ordinated via the BelfastArea Partnership Board Forum, with responsibility for area-basedregeneration and neighbourhood renewal initiatives. The benefits arequantifiable. The movement and function of each sector within itself,between the city centre and other sectors of the city are identifiedtaking into consideration existing economic drivers and examiningpotential new opportunities for economic, social, physical andenvironmental regeneration.

In an attempt to define a regeneration strategy, which directlyaddresses multiple disadvantage and social exclusion, a number ofstrategic actions in each sector are prioritised. These prioritisedactions have been developed from an understanding of the economic,social, physical and environmental issues that are being experiencedwithin each sector. Issues of social inclusion, education, housing,community health and welfare and equality need to be assessed inparallel in order to achieve an integrated strategy for each sector andfor the city as a whole. It is acknowledged that some sectorsexperience linked problems such as high unemployment, low incomesand poor environment and thus the actions are not intended to be apanacea solution for all issues but rather an overall strategicapproach for the benefit of each city-sector in the context of itscontribution to the wider city model. Future area and orneighbourhood renewal programmes within each city-sector shouldhave due regard to the prioritised actions as defined.

Integrated Neighbourhood Renewal

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North city sector

North Belfast city-sector is defined as that area lying between BelfastLough to the east, Crumlin Road to the west, and contained by theBelfast Hills to the North. The Cavehill containing Belfast Castle andassociated Country Park frames north Belfast presenting a uniquephysical setting for the city while providing a significant amenityresource not only to this sector but for the whole city.

The local road network, the Westlink, the M1, M2 and M5 providegood access and linkages to the city centre, the south and west citysectors, and the wider region. The provision of the cross harbour M3link has enhanced the linkages with the east city-sector and NorthDown.

The sector also provides a number of secondary access routesthrough the northern/western side of the city and access corridors tothe city from the satellite towns of Glengormley, Antrim, and Crumlin.

One third of the city's population (just under 75,000), live within the14 electoral wards of the north-city sector within a multitude of sociallyand religiously diverse, overlapping, interconnecting, and separatedneighbourhoods.

While the overall population has increased slightly since 1991, 50% ofthe wards have experienced a population decline over the sameperiod. Six of the wards are within the top 3.5% of the most deprivedwards in Northern Ireland.

Home ownership is low with 44% of the stock provided by housingbodies and higher levels of multiple deprivation can be found in innerlying areas adjacent to the city-centre.

The Port and associated activities are located within the north city-sector and contains a significant area of economic activity for the cityas a whole. Regardless, the north city-sector still contains a highlevel of long-term unemployment (higher than the regional average), alack of employment skills and employment opportunities.

Views from the North Linkage from the North Economic DevelopmentOpportunity

North Belfast Interface

North Sector Map

1 Northforeshore2 Shore Rd/York Street3 Great Patrick St /Gamble St/ DunbarLink4 Crumlin Rd Gaol & Courthouse complex5 Brookfiled/Rosemount Mill, Crumlin Rd6 Ballysillan Industrial Estate7 Hicks / Bullick Site, Ligoneil8 Hillview enterprise park

Strategic Road NetworkMovement CorridorsStrategic Rail RoutesCity-Centre GatewayLinkagesLocal Access/GatewaysEconomic DriversEconomic/Employment/NeighbourhoodDevelopment OpportunitiesArterial Route StudyViews & ProspectsMountain TopsGreen BeltGreenwaysAccess to the HillsLandmark FeaturesShatter ZonesRetail

78


The interconnection between the north city-sector and the city centreconverges in an arc between Carlisle Circus and the Yorkgatecomplex and includes a number of arterial routes into the city-centre.

The decline of traditional retailing and commercial activities alongparts of these arterial routes together with physical divisions createdby new road infrastructure, have reduced the interactive relationshipwith the city centre. This has resulted in poor social, economic andphysical environment of inner areas of the north sector that adjoin thecity centre reinforced by a lack of activities, poor urban form, fracturezones and the under-utilisation of available land.

North city-sector is characterised by a diversity of residentialenvironments comprising dense residential areas and more spacious'leafy' suburban areas. Sectarian divisions have created a catalogueof defensive interfaces and 'shatter-zones' characterised by derelictionand poor urban form throughout many parts of the sector and alongthe primary access corridors with the Shankill city-sector.

There are a number of landmark buildings, features and diverse socialand economic development opportunities throughout the area. Theseinclude; Cathedral Quarter, North-Foreshore, Shore Road, DuncairnGardens, and Crumlin Road Court House and Goal (located on theboundary with the Shankill Partnership).

Actions:

Re-establish physical and visual connection with the

city-centre

Attempt to provide a gradual complementary transition between thecentre-city and city-sector uses will require an appreciation of theimportance of the arterial routes as visual and functional gatewaysbetween the city-centre and the city-sector. This includes identificationof vacant/derelict and or under utilised land along Carlisle Circus/Clifton Street, lower Antrim Road, Shore Road, North Queen Street,Shore Road and York Street.

Link Development Opportunities

Identification of site specific and inter-active developmentopportunities that will not only contribute to city-sector renewal and/or improved linkages with the centre-city, but that may also haveeconomic, social and cultural benefits to adjacent city-sectors andthe wider city model. Such opportunities include North Foreshore,Cathedral Quarter, Crumlin Road Courthouse and Goal complex,potential expansion of enterprise activities at Duncairn Gardensand Brookfield and Rosemount Mills, and new commercialenterprises on Hillview/Crumlin Roads.

Build on Port and Infrastructure advantages

Former industrial sites and under-utilised land on the Shore andYork Roads should examine the potential for accommodating smallbusiness and incubator port/ distribution related activities havingregard to the proximity of the port and excellent access to strategictransport infrastructure (road, rail and sea).

Address diversity

Recognise the economic, social, physical, and cultural differencesthat have contributed to the breakdown in urban form betweenvarious residential neighbourhoods and seek to identify a variety ofappropriate uses that are acceptable in such locations. Notintended to be a universal solution for every shatter-zonethroughout the sector, but this method should be adopted onsignificant sized parcels of land and at primary gateways with theShankill sector.

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Five Neighbourhood Sectors

80


Shankill city sector

Shankill city-sector is defined as the area located between CrumlinRoad and the Springfield Road. This sector focuses around theShankill Road which traverses the core from Peters Hill adjacent tothe City Centre, to Ballygomartin and Glencairn at the foot of Blackmountain and Divis mountain, framing the west of the city.

This city-sector is highly accessible to the city centre via theShankill Road, which is the primary arterial corridor, and the northand west city-sectors via the local road network and contains animportant link of the 'outer-ring' between the North and west/southof the city.

The population of the seven electoral wards comprising the Shankillcity-sector was estimated at just over 30,000. Although somewards are indicating a population increase since 1991, the overallpopulation has decreased by 2%. In terms of multiple deprivation,this city-sector falls within the top 15% most deprived in NorthernIreland with Crumlin ward recorded as the most deprived ward inNorthern Ireland.

Four of the seven wards are recorded within the top ten in theregion. Higher levels of multiple deprivation are more evident withininner wards along the middle to lower Shankill Road areas.

Other than the Ballygomartin Industrial Estate (which currentlycomprises only a small number of enterprises), there are no majoremployment opportunities within this city-sector.

However, the sector is strategically positioned to avail of a numberof potential economic, employment and neighbourhooddevelopment opportunities located in close proximity to and withinthe north and west city sectors including Brookfield Mill, CrumlinRoad Gaol and Courthouse complex and Mackies/Springvale.

The Shankill Road has traditionally been the economic and socialhub of the area and today still retains a strong community character

Shankill Sector Map

4 Crumlin Rd Gaol & Courthouse complex5Brookfiled/Rosemount Mill, Crumlin Rd8 Hillview Enterprise Park9 Ballygomartin Industrial Estate10 Springvale/Mackies

Strategic Road NetworkMovement CorridorsCity-Centre GatewayLinkagesLocal Access/GatewaysEconomic DriversEconomic/Employment/NeighbourhoodDevelopment OpportunitiesMountain TopsGreen BeltGreenwaysAccess to the HillsLandmark FeaturesShatter ZonesRetail

Shankill Environment Linkage to the North Views to the HillsCity Centre Gateway

81


and a degree of vibrancy concentrated around the traditionalretail core.

Residential areas and other local access and movement corridorsconnecting the north and west city-sectors radiate from this principlespine.

The environmental quality of the area is poor, exacerbated by thesubstantial area of vacant/derelict land located on the lower ShankillRoad, adjoining the Westlink underpass. This has resulted in poorrelationships, interconnections and association with the city-centre onits primary access and movement corridor.

Due to the nature of the sectarian divisions between north and westcity-sector, the primary access corridors and gateways with these city-sectors are characterised by 'shatter zones' characterised by poorurban form, dereliction, unusable spaces and peace-lines.

Actions:

Overcome Barriers to Employment Opportunities

Due to the lack of employment opportunities within the geographicalboundary, this city-sector must find a means of overcoming physicaland interface barriers that undermine its accessibility and ownershipof development opportunities that lie just beyond its boundaries. It willbe vital to establish social and economic links with the north and westcity-sectors in an attempt to acquire equal ownership of thesedevelopment opportunities and overcome perceptions ofdisadvantage and isolation due to territoriality. Such developmentopportunities include Springvale/Mackies, Crumlin Road Courthouseand Gaol complex, and business and commercial enterprises takingplace within Brookfield Mill and Hillview Enterprise Park and links withthe city core.

Create New Economic and Social Development

Opportunities

The large portion of derelict and under-utilised lands comprising thelower Shankill Road/Peters Hill offers the potential for new mixed usedevelopments that would not only make the physical reconnectionwith the city-centre but could also provide new economic,employment, commercial and residential opportunities. Suchdevelopments would contribute to and support the existing economicand social base of the area.

Uplift urban quality and mend linkages

The quality of the physical environment and urban form throughoutthe area needs to be enhanced in order to uplift the appearance of theoverall area, and to attempt to mend the fractured visual linkages withthe city-centre and the north and west city-sectors. This is of particularimportance along the primary movement corridor of the ShankillRoad, the movement corridor from the city-centre onto Peters Hill/lower Shankill Road, local access and gateway interconnectionsincluding Springfield Road/Lanark Way, Upper Springfield Road/WestCircular Road, Twaddell Avenue/Crumlin Road and Agnes Street/Crumlin Road.

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West city sector

This sector is located between the Springfield Road and the Westlink/M1 motorway, and is contained by the Greenbelt of Lisburn to the southand the Divis and Black mountains, which provide the backdrop to thewest of the city.

The sector is well served by the local road network with a number ofhighly accessible linkages to the city centre, the Shankill, and Northand South city-sectors. The location of the adjacent M1 motorwayenhances the accessibility of this sector with all elements of the cityand the wider region.

The Falls and Andersonstown Roads are the principal movementcorridor throughout the sector. Whilst there are a number ofgateways to the city centre, the Lower Falls road can be regardedas the principal point of access to the city centre.

It is estimated that the population of the 13 electoral wards thatcomprises the west city-sector have grown by 12% between 1991-1999 to just under 85,000. The population distribution throughout thesector is relatively unbalanced with higher concentrations in the midand outer areas than the inner areas.

However, high levels of multiple deprivation are recorded throughoutthe sector from the inner city to outer lying wards, with the westwithin the top 30% of the most deprived wards in Northern Ireland.There are high long-term unemployment levels with only 38% ofemployable persons in employment.

This city-sector does contain a number of potential diverseeconomic, employment and neighbourhood developmentopportunities dispersed throughout the sector including Springvale,lands adjacent to Monagh By-pass, Glen Road and Kennedy WayIndustrial Estates.

Charactersed by a number of established and new (includingrenewal) residential neighbourhoods throughout the area, thedensity of residential development in these areas is consistently highthroughout this city-sector. These areas are supported by a diversityof local and neighbourhood level services, retail and commercialfacilities that are concentrated particularly along the principle and

West Gateway Linkage with Shankill Springvale Business Park Murals within Environment

10 Springvale/Mackies

11 Former St.Patrick Site, Monagh By-Pass

12 Glen Road Industrial Estate, Hannahstown

13 Suffolk Rd, Former MillWest Sector Map

Strategic Road NetworkMovement CorridorsStrategic Rail RoutesCity-Centre GatewayLinkagesLocal Access/GatewaysEconomic DriversEconomic/Employment/NeighbourhoodDevelopment OpportunitiesArterial Route StudyViews & ProspectsMountain TopsGreen BeltGreenwaysAccess to the HillsShatter ZonesRetail

83


traditional movement corridor, that is the Falls and Andersonstown Road.

The quality of the urban environment is poor at local access points andgateways, open spaces between residential areas and along a significantproportion of the principal economic and movement corridor.

The several nodes of interconnectivity with the Shankill sector arecharacterised by shatterzones. Neutral uses and functions of spacesbetween these two sectors range from derelict and physicallyseparated spaces reinforced by highly visible peace walls andindefensible spaces.

Actions:

Pursue Integrated Economic Promotion

A number of economic/enterprise development opportunities havebeen identified throughout this area. These include the Springvale/Mackies, the former St. Patricks site on Monagh By-pass, KennedyWay and Glen Road Industrial Estates. In terms of promotingbalanced economic development and investment throughout thissector as well as increasing economic opportunities throughout thecity, consideration should not be limited to the promotion of these sitesindividually but also to the promotion of these opportunitiescollectively as one single development opportunity.

Enhance Physical Presentation

The physical appearance throughout the west city-sector requiresimprovement in order to enhance the appearance and character ofthis city-sector. Specific renewal projects should concentrate on;gateways to the city: (Upper Glen Rd, Stewartstown Rd, UpperSpringfield Rd), concentrations of mixed activity along the primaryeconomic and movement corridor: (Falls Rd/Springfield Rd, Falls Rd/Whiterock Rd, Falls Rd/ Kennedy Way Industrial Estate, and theWhiterock Rd/Springfield Rd), and substantial sections of theAndersonstown Rd between Suffolk and Kennedy Way. Attentionshould also be given to the appearance and streetscape (fromprincipal roads) of the Falls, Turf Lodge, Andersonstown, Ladybrook,Suffolk and Ballymurphy residential areas, as well as the movementcorridors between these areas.

Improve Connections and Linkages

The poor urban environment of this sector is exacerbated by the break inthe urban form with the city-centre and the west city-sector. This isparticularly evident at local access and movement and gateway corridorson the upper and lower Springfield Rd/West Circular Rd/Lanark Way,and along the lower Falls Road/Divis Street, Broadway and GrosvenorRoad roundabouts where links with the city-centre are severed by theWestlink. Development opportunities that recognise under-utilised landalong the lower Falls Road/Divis Street and the local movement andgateway corridors with the Shankill city-sector should be identified. Thesewould serve to enable a more visually connected and accessible city-sector with the city-centre and other parts north of the city.

Re-assess the route of the W-Way

Trip patterns do not appear to support the indicative route of the W-Way in the emerging BMTP. Further investigation is required into thedesignation of a route for rapid transit in the west of the city. Thisinvestigation should review the requirement for orbital movement inthe west, particularly connecting key locations for economicdevelopment such as the North Foreshore, Crumlin Road, Springvale,and the Royal Victoria Hospital .

Open a Corridor to the Hills

The city needs to connect with its hills and an opportunity exists to openan environmental corridor through the west sector connecting the centrecity with the mountains. This corridor can serve to improve communityaccess and movement across the sector and facilitate links with thecentre city and the network of public pathways and cycle paths thatserve the city. ( See sample project 'Releasing Environmental Assets',page 72).

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South city sector

The South city-sector is defined as that area between the Westlink/M1motorway to the west and Ormeau/Rosetta area to the east. TheLagan Valley Regional Park defines the southern extremity of thissector. The local road network provides good linkages with the westand east city sectors and the proximity of the M1 motorway enhanceslinkages to all parts of the city.

Containing an estimated population of just over 59,000, the south city-sector is considered the most affluent part of the city. Levels of multipledeprivation are relatively low throughout the eleven wards from themiddle to the outer part of the sector although there are somemarginalised inner areas which do support significant deprivation.

The base of this sector is set within the relatively affluent suburbanresidential areas of Malone, Stranmilis and Lisburn Road. This city-sector is unique as it hosts a number of functions that are utilisedby the entire city.

The inner area overlaps with the edge of the centre city,traditionally accommodating the city's evening activities, Queen'sUniversity and its associated education and research activities andstudent accommodation. With the operations of the City hospital,these activities spill over into the surrounding residential areas.

These uses, together with the booming commercial areas of DublinRoad, Lisburn Road, and Boucher Road, and activities provided bythe Ulster Museum, and Botanical Gardens, all contribute to theunique economic and social diversity of this sector. However, thisdiversity is not always compatible with the permanent residentialnature of this sector and has in some instances lead to thefragmentation of indigenous residential communities particularlywithin inner areas.

The urban environment is generally of good quality with an almostfluid unnoticed movement between this sector and the centre cityand other east and west city sectors.

South Sector Map

14 Stockmans Lane

Strategic Road NetworkMovement CorridorsStrategic Rail RoutesCity-Centre GatewayLinkagesLocal Access/GatewaysEconomic DriversEconomic/Employment/NeighbourhoodDevelopment OpportunitiesArterial Route StudyMountain TopsGreen BeltGreenwaysAccess to the HillsLandmark FeaturesShatter ZonesRetailEvening ActivityUniversity Area

Queen’s University of BelfastSouth Linkage ‘Gasworks’ EconomicDevelopment

Riverfront

85


Substantial public and private sector investment is evident in the physicalenvironment with the redevelopment of the Gasworks, development ofLaganside and the banks of the River Lagan. However, it may beconsidered that the economic, social and physical composition of thissector is unbalanced.

Actions:

Create Sustainable Balanced Residential Communities

While recognising the demand for the transient/student population,neighbourhood renewal in the south city-sector should also recogniseand provide for existing indigenous residential communities. This willrequire an appreciation of community needs in terms of housingtenure types and provision of services, and should attempt to addressthe pressures being experienced from the increasing private rentalsector and speculative residential development.

Identify Neighbourhood Development Opportunities

Identify specific land use and riverside opportunities that may providesocial, economic and recreational development opportunitiesthroughout the sector. Such opportunities would benefit localresidential neighbourhoods' enable/enhance community development,support the requirements of the major economic drivers (theuniversity, city hospital and associated research activities), andcontribute to the physical character and appearance of the sector.

Improve connections with the centre city

The significance of the lower Ormeau Road must be realised as avisual and functional gateway to the city centre. This area shouldseek to capitalise from its location within the centre-city and proximitywith the city-centre and extend the diversity of existing unique usesthat include the Gasworks, media, public services and commercialactivities. Such uses should seek to develop a transitional spacebetween the traditional city-centre uses and the residential character

of the lower Ormeau Road. The Sandy Row and Donegall Pass are alsoimportant in connecting with the city centre.

Develop University / Hospital employment opportunities

Maximise economic potential of surplus land holdings

associated with Healthcare Trusts.

86


East city sector

East Belfast city-sector is defined as that area between the Braniel estateand Belfast Lough, extending to Dundonald and the Castlereagh Hills inthe east.

This sector is well served by the local road network, which includes anumber of arterial routes to the city centre. The Newtownards Road,which is the principal access to the city centre can be considered asthe central movement corridor traversing from the city centre toDundonald with most other primary movement corridors radiating offthis route. The outer-ring and M3 cross-harbour link enhanceaccessibility with the other city-sectors.

In terms of multiple deprivation, two of the nineteen electoral wardswithin this sector are recorded within the top ten most deprived wardsin Northern Ireland. Multiple deprivation indicators are relatively lowoutside the inner east area although this measurement does notadequately demonstrate small pockets of deprivation, which is evidentthroughout the sector.

The decline of traditional industries has been paralleled with otherdevelopments in this sector, including the expansion and growth ofthe City Airport, development of the Odyssey Arena, W5 and theextensive mixed use development opportunities within Titanic Quarterand significant retail developments including Knocknagoney andConnswater shopping centre and retail park. Also taken intoconsideration is the D5 retail development (under construction onadjacent land outside the city and east sector boundaries). Stormontremains a major focus of public sector employment while traditionalretail activities are still very active along the Cregagh Road arterialroute.

The quality of the environment is diverse between the lower andupper Newtownards Road area. The outer east areas arecharacterised by a diverse range of residential neighbourhoods thatare set within established and attractive 'leafy' suburban areas ofgood environmental quality. Although there have been somesignificant residential re-developments, the inner east area from theHolywood Arches to the Albert Bridge is suffering from a reduction oftraditional retailing activities and the perception is of urban decay andphysical decline. This dereliction and the remains of now surplus roadinfrastructure on the Sydenham by-pass has a negative impact on thesector on its primary gateway, access & movement corridor from the

15 Titanic Quarter16 Ravenhill Road17 Ravenhill Rd, RavenhillAve, London Road18 Castlereagh Mill,Creagh Road

Strategic Road NetworkMovement CorridorsStrategic Rail RoutesCity-Centre GatewayLinkagesLocal Access/GatewaysEconomic DriversEconomic/Employment/NeighbourhoodDevelopment OpportunitiesArterial Route StudyViews & ProspectsMountain TopsGreen BeltGreenwaysProposed E-WayLandmark FeaturesShatter ZonesRetail

East Sector Map

East Environment East Interface Development Opportunity East Renewal Opportunity

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city. Poor urban form is also exacerbated by sectarian divisionsbetween different residential areas within the sector.

Actions:

Remove Barriers to Better Connections to the Centre City

The significance of the lower Newtownards Road as an important visualand functional gateway from the east to the city-centre must berecognised and enhanced in order to improve accessibility andovercome perceptions of physical and social separation between theinner east and the centre-city. Specific attention in terms of newdevelopment, the public realm and assessment of currentinfrastructure, provision should focus on the assembly of acomprehensive development opportunity on land at the intersection ofthe lower Newtownards Road, Sydenham Pass, Sirocco Complex andRiver Lagan. (See sample project ' Energised Core' ).

Initiate strategic Development Opportunities

The Sirocco, Tennents Textiles and Short Strand Translink bus depotare three sites of considerable development opportunity at theboundary of the east city-sector and the centre-city. The Sirocco andTennents Textile sites are strategically located adjoining Lagansideand could accommodate mixed-use riverside developments(employment, research, residential, commercial and community) thatcontribute to the physical and visual renewal of the riverside and theinner-east city sector and offer greater interconnection with the city-centre. The Translink depot adjacent to the Sirocco site is an ideallocation for additional new residential development adjoining the ShortStrand residential neighbourhood and its relocation would help toease a housing and community issue in that area.

Re-assess the E-way Transit Corridor

Land adjacent to the proposed 'e-way' transit corridor should beexamined in order to identify maximum opportunities for physicalregeneration and renewal, economic and neighbourhooddevelopment, and increased residential densities. The precise routeand location of stops on the 'e-way' corridor between the HollywoodArches and the River Lagan should be carefully considered tomaximise the regeneration benefit to this area (potentially creatingnew opportunities to land assemble, clear derelict sites and introducenew activities and uses to the area).

Implement a Connswater Amenity Corridor Project

The development of a 'Connswater Amenity Corridor' would provide alinear functional and recreational link through the sector from theCastlereagh Road to Victoria Park. This corridor would negotiate throughthe Beersbridge and Newtownards Road along the embankments of theRiver Connswater and inter-connect with existing community facilitiesand nodes of community activitiy. This includes Elmgrove School,Avoneil Leisure Centre, Connswater shopping centre, HolywoodArches, and Victoria Park. (See sample project 'ReleasingEnvironmental Assets' )

Support the Holywood Arches Redevelopment Project

The renewal project for the Holywood Arches offers an opportunity toincrease the level of provision of locally focused services to thecommunities in this sector. The project should be viewed as apositive initiative and designed to integrate with the ConnswaterAmenity Corridor Project above.

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Realising Regeneration Opportunities

Realising opportunities for economic, social, physical and environmentalregeneration in each sector, within the city wide context and linking thesectors effectively to the centre city requires top down and bottom upintegration at all levels. This means positive linkage between regional,city and local initiatives including the existing Partnership Boards, BCCand BRO. Without it, inefficient and ineffective competition will occur,only serving to shift economic activity from one local area to another. Acorporate approach which bridges inter-departmental rivalries and anorganisational culture that values partnership and community participation,working with regional forums and assemblies and linking localgovernment, business, the Partnership Boards and the voluntary sectoris required.

Birmingham City Pride continues a history of regeneration partnershipbetween the Council and the Chamber of Commerce, with a seniorbusiness person chairing the Board and a Management Group whichmeets monthly as an executive. It consists of representatives of fivecore partner organisations: Council, Chamber of Commerce,Voluntary Services Council and Birmingham 2000, which fosterseconomic development. In Manchester, the Council established anUrban and Social Strategy Sub-Committee for fast tracking decisionmaking for regeneration initiatives, which ensures co-ordination andextends ownership of projects to service committees.These arrangements are supported within the Chief Executive'sdepartment and the Deputy and Assistant Chief Executives chair,manage and co-ordinate all regeneration initiatives. The city-wideregeneration strategy in Glasgow, which was devised by GlasgowRegeneration Alliance, is supported by the Unitary Plan and otherinitiatives include Glasgow Works to help the long-term unemployedinto the labour market and the Regeneration Fund to loan money tosmall businesses in poor neighbourhoods.

Based on a number of case studies in Birmingham, Manchester andGlasgow a regional framework to support city and neighbourhoodregeneration, linking key policies such as the location of inward

investment, new housing, transport and education, to derive maximumbenefit to regeneration should be established.

The Single Development Agency

The single development agency for Belfast should probably be anorganisation which is separately incorporated, has a structured,strategic and accountable relationship with both Belfast City Counciland the Department for Social Development and which incorporatesthe current functions of Belfast City Council's four arms-lengthorganisations and those which are currently carried out by theLaganside Corporation. It could also provide for BCC and DSDservices on an agency basis, which are currently carried out in-houseby those two organisations. The single development agency forBelfast could also help to build a stronger and continuing relationshipbetween Belfast City Council and the private, community andvoluntary sectors in the City. The established body should be basedon the following principles:

Active involvement of Health Trusts, Employment

Services; Benefits Agency and the Police;

A concerted effort to involve business through the

Chamber of Commerce;

A clear corporate approach in the Belfast City Council, to

promote local democracy and neighbourhood initiatives

within a council decentralisation programme;

Strong, competent leadership by the chair of the

Partnership Boards, working closely with the Director of

the Council and BRO. This would include strengthening

the ability of the Partnership Boards to participate in

strategy development and long-term community

governance, rather than paid professionals representing

institutional stakeholders;

Long-term perspective and a common vision on which to

build consensus and guide policy over a 10-25

year horizon;

A needs based approach - individual area plans with

medium term objectives, set within the city-wide context

and empowered by individual communities to meet the

complex needs of development on the ground, backed up

by commitments to finance, human resources, targets and

monitoring;

A one-stop participation process to give local people the

opportunity to establish priorities for local development and

monitoring of service provision;

Active and purposeful community involvement.

In the meantime, there are actions which Belfast City Council can takewithin its own areas of responsibility to reduce the duplication andconfusion arising from the current plethora of organisations with adevelopment role in the city. In particular it can:

Avoid establishing any further new organisations, and

Promote integration of work and merging of the existing

four arms length organisations which report to Belfast

City Council.

In its Local Economic Development Strategy 2002 - 2006 Belfast CityCouncil announced that it had acquired a license to establish a WorldTrade Centre in Belfast. Co-location of the 4 arms-lengthorganisations in the World Trade Centre would provide a valuablestart to this process, leading to the progressive merging of theorganisations and the resulting merged organisations could form thenucleus of the single development agency for Belfast when its widerform and structure has been determined.

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Released Environmental Assets

Why?

Belfast benefits from a hugely attractive natural setting. Thejuxtaposition of urban development, hills, Lough and rivers areunique to the city and give it a sense of place. However, the citydoes little to take advantage of its unique setting, and in somecases even jeopardises its relationship with the surroundinglandscape through insensitive development. The quality of life and'experience' of the city could be dramatically enhanced for visitorsand residents alike, through the utilisation of its natural assets.

Where?

Project areas would include the city's most prominent naturalassets, as well as a number of hidden or forgotten ones, such as:

The hills to the west;

The foreshore of Belfast Lough

Lagan riverside;

Connswater river corridor;

Blackstaff river corridor; and

Colin Glen.

How?

A wide range of measures should be considered, subject to thecharacter and existing condition of the natural feature. Theseinclude:

Projects that improve accessibility (to the hill, foreshore,

riverside);

The Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race (2008) will be a unique

chance to 'showoff' the Belfast waterfront to hundreds of

thousands of visitors

Projects that increase activity / introduce a destination on

the riverfront / foreshore / hills. This may include building

projects (such as Waterfront Hall), redevelopment projects

(for example introducing a public use in Custom House),

educational and art projects (river trail), or temporary/

seasonal projects (an urban beach, river cafés, volleyball

tournament etc.);

Projects that serve to market the natural assets as a

destination. This may include the designation of the

Belfast Hills (or section thereof) as a Country Park;

Projects and design guidelines that serve to protect and

enhance the interaction between urban development and

the natural landscape. This would include protecting views

and prospects from the hills and across the river;

specification of development forms and land uses in

sensitive locations, such as the waterfront and

specification of hard and soft landscaping in river

corridors etc;

Projects that serve to restore the natural habitat and visual

attraction of hidden, or neglected rivers, and seek to

integrate these in the existing urban fabric.

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Creating linkages within constrainedsites (Edinburgh)

River-to-Hills

The development of a Green Chain Link from the River Lagan is the heart of the city centre

To the hills in the West. This will serve to provide(pedestrian and cycle) access to a series of

Environmental assets and provide a new green space resource from communities surrounding

Corridor (see also ‘regenerated Neighbourhoods’). The Green Chain Link will include existing

Green spaces that are made publicly accessible; new linear parks; and boulevard planting along

Existing roads.

Development of disused quariesinto a major visitor attraction (TheEden Project, Cornwall)

Viewing platform in the hillsoverlooking the city (Barcelona)

Sketch proposals of Millfield Dell Area

River-to Hills Green Chain Link

The Concept

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Connswater

The Connswater is a potential attractive resource which could be thefocal point for new and existing communities in the river corridor. Theintroduction of a weir will serve to facilitate impoundment and controlwater level. The in turn would facilitate easy access to the river andthe introduction of a range of activities and interventions in thecorridor.

Improved access to the water surface would facilitate a range of new activities in the river corridor

Sketch proposal for the introdcution of an Ecology Centre in theConnswater Corridor

The Connswater Shopping Centre could greatly benefit from a waterfront setting (Bristol, Freiburg)

The Concept -Improved access toand landscaping ofthe riverfront

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The Urban Waterfront

Belfast City Centre benefits from a riverside setting with high qualitylandscaping, particularly the section between Waterfront Hall and CustomHouse. However, the area lacks activity and is often desolate. Theintroduction of new uses and destinations will serve to attract people tothe waterfront.

The Lagan is identified as a key element of the city and would benefitfrom such an approach.

A pocket park on the waterfront(Copenhagen)

Shops and cafes on the waterfront(Freemantle, Australia)

Access to the water surface (Malmo andStockholm)

A summer’s day in Copenhagen -the harbour is transformed into an‘urban beach’. In Paris similarseasonal projects are introdcued topromote use of the riverfront.

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Enhanced presentation of the city

Why?

How a visitor to Belfast perceives the city can materially affect itseconomy. Fist impressions are likely to affect key decisions:

Will I stay here or travel on?

Would I like to study / live / work in this city?

Shall I advise my company to invest in this city?

Would I / my company like to (re) locate here?

What quality of life may I expect?

To attract tourism, investment, the best students and a high qualityworkforce to Belfast, the city has to able to convince the visitor it is aplace they would like to spend time in. Giving an overall good firstimpression is essential in achieving this.

In 2008 Belfast will host the Cutty Sark Tail Ship race, this is likely toattract hundreds of thousands to the city, it is therefore essential thatby this time a number of key improvements are made.

Where?

Projects should be concentrated in areas and on sites that are mostvisible to visitors to the city. These include:

Main road corridors, including M1 / Westlink, M2 and M3;

Major road junctions such as Broadway Roundabout

(Junction 1), Grosvenor Road, York Street/Nelson Street

and Bridge End;

Bus and railway stations, such as Great Victoria Street,

Laganside bus station and in particular Central Station;

Car parks throughout the city centre;

First impressions of the city Characterless street furnitureOver-designed road space

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City Airport and surrounds;

Shoreline of Belfast Lough (in particular adjacent ferry

terminals);

Key orientation points and landmark sites, in particular

Donegall Square.

What?

A wide variety of projects should be considered, subject to theconstraints and opportunities of each site. Projects may include:

Soft landscaping of / tree planting in major road corridors

and road junctions - in particular to screen poor quality

developments;

Introduction of public art;

Strategic lighting of landmark buildings;

Landscaping and lighting of car parks and the route

between car parks and key destinations;

Improving legibility / way finding upon arrival through

signing strategy as well as rationalising of road junctions;

Attention to detailing of civic structures (i.e. bridge railings,

lighting columns, soft landscaping, highway signs etc of

major road corridors);

Public realm improvements around, and cleaning of major

landmark buildings;

Introduction of eye-catching and memorable buildings and

civil structures;

Redevelopment of derelict sites and eyesores.

Broadway Roundabout

Translink Depot, Short Strand

Bridge Street Lagan Waterfront

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Central Station

Central Station is an important arrival point, yet the quality of theenvironment is very poor. Passengers who would like to continue theirjourney by bus or on foot, are deposited on a narrow pavement on abusy road.

This sample project illustrates how the derelict site to the west of thestation could be developed as a 'station square' and transportinterchange, with good pedestrian links to the city centre.

Creating a welcoming station environment with improvedinterchange facilities and pedestrian link to the city centre andSirocco site.

Recreational zone in thesun

New entrance andactivities on westernfacade

Utilising one of the arches as a route to the city centre andintroducing shops and cafes under the arches (Paris)

New activities attached to ‘dead’frontages (Paris)

An attractive Station Square towelcome visitors to the city(Barcelona)

Walking distancesLighting / art project toriverfront and newactivities introduced

Residential development ‘wrapped’ aroundexisting parking garage (before and after,Stockholm)

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The arrival experience

Public art, iconic architecture and dramatic lighting of landmark buildingsall contribute to an enhanced 'arrival experience'.

Buildings and structures at key arrival points act as the city's 'businesscard'. The quality of new development in those areas should be carefullyconsidered and the potential of existing structures to act as gatewayfeatures reviewed and enhanced.

The Angel of the North; Sydney Opera House; and thecommunication tower, Barcelona are all iconic structureswhich are strongly associated with the city / region.

Lighting of landmark building (London)

View of Cathedral makes for a dramatic gateway tocity. This could be strengthened by lighting tobuildings at night

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M3/ bridge end junction

The M3/ Bridge End junction is over-engineered with a profusion of oneway roads, links and junctions. As well as being extremely wasteful ofland, it is very confusing for drivers, especially those who have justarrived in the city. A new design for the junction will serve toaccomodate existing traffic movement, improve connectivity, releasenew developable land and make the road layout easier to understandfor visitors to Belfast (see also ' A Connected Middle City').

A legible road network, as well as high qualitydetailed design gives the visitor a favourableimpression of a city. Above an example of awell-designed and maintained motorway, withattractive soft landscaping and co-ordinatedstreet lighting, railing and traffic sign postdesign (Barcelona)

The M3 / Bridge End junction: confusingfor visitors

A simplified and legible alternative

Outline design of how the M3 / Bridge End junction could look

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The broadway roundabout

Many drivers enter Belfast at the Broadway Roundabout, yet the qualityof the environment is very poor. This sample project illustrates how thejunction may be transformed into an attractive gateway into the city, whileimproving links between communities

The core elements of the proposal includes:

Grade-separated junction;

New threshold development on either side of the

Westlink;

Landscaping of Blackstaff river corridor served to raise

profile of natural environment (see also 'Released

Environmental Assets') and screen unattractive shopping

centre development.

The concept: developing an edge or‘threshold’ to the neighbourhoods andutilising the river corridor as alandscape theme

1938: Connected streets before the introductionof the Westlink

Introduction of high quality commercial development in the river / Westlink corridor and ‘living above the shops’ on the edges ofthe existing neighbourhoods

Sections and sketch of indicative scheme

Indicative layout

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Footnotes

1 Brownfield sites include surface car parks and large under-utilisedtracts of land.

2 Magnetically guided passenger pods on a multi destination rapidtransit system

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PROGRAMME FOR ACTION

1. Priorities for Change - 5 Core Objectives

2. Spatial Priorities

3. Organisational Priorities

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Chapter 7Programme for Action

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PROGRAMME FOR ACTION

Introduction

This programme outlines the action required to deliver thedevelopment framework/masterplan as set out in the precedingchapters. We have identified three levels on which to summarise theaction points.

These are as follows :

1. Priorities for Change - Identification of 5 Core Strategic

Objectives

2. Spatial Priorities – A detailed translation of the “Priorities

for Change” into action on the ground

3. Organisational Priorities - The organisational changes

required to deliver the Masterplan and inform the debate

on way ahead

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1. Priorities for Change

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Priorities for Change:5 Core Strategic Objectives

Grow the City

Reverse the spiral of decline:

Increase the city’s population from 277,000 in 2001 to

400,000 in 2025

(Average rate of growth of less than 1.8% per annum over

the period 2004-2025)

Monitor the rate of growth as a primary indicator of urban

health of the city

Promote a sustainable, balanced, compact, and dense

development model

(Higher densities of living and working in the city, residential use within

Titanic Quarter, use of strategic city-centre brownfield and derelict/

semi-derelict sites)


Raise awareness and promote the Belfast city-centre as a

regional asset

(Attract and promote new knowledge based and cultural industries)

Promote high quality office provision, increase diversity of

housing tenure, and better quality open space

Enhance the wider retail offering of the City and to improve

its tourism, leisure and cultural attractions

Diversify the economic and social mix of the city centre

through the conversion of surplus office accommodation to

residential or mixed-use developments

Consider opportunities to further develop public/private

partnerships similar to the concept of Business

Improvement Districts (BIDS) approach to city-centre

development


Encourage new Knowledge Based Industries - creative

industry ‘hubs’ across the city

Commission a comprehensive strategy for the Knowledge

based Industries to integrate business, urban planning and

academic policies. These industries should be promoted

within the ‘centre-city’ corridor

Develop Land for Employment

Create new employment zones around the city-centre and

middle-city to accommodate manufacturing and other

traditional industries

Assemble employment land around the City-Centre to

maximise physical regeneration opportunities along arterial

routes and within disadvantaged communities

Promote neutral workspaces effectively linking the City-

Centre with the Middle City

Increase the supply of land for business and employment

opportunities through direct BCC intervention;

- review landholding and assess suitability for

non BCC business activities;

- encourage land assembly for business use

through BCC powers;

- work with the private sector, local enterprise

agencies and other components of the social

economy to identify ways of meeting the needs

of local businesses;

- ensure planning policies that emerge from the

BMAP and other processes provide sufficient

priority for local and smaller businesses;

- lobby BRO and INI to ensure sufficient land is

developed for local businesses;

- ensure that smaller businesses are catered for

and are affordable on sites developed by BCC.

Commission a study of these issues combined with an

examination of the City Centre area examining alternative

uses for the surplus of office space. The study should

include an assessment of the property needs of knowledge

based businesses in the City.


Promote the creation of a Single Development Agency for

Belfast by 2006/2007 for the City region.

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2. Spatial Priorities

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Spatial Priorities

Energised Core

The promotion of an attractive and easily accessible

energised core will depend on a wide variety of projects

including:

- Improving and widening the cultural, residential,

commercial, retail offering;

- Redevelopment of city quarters with strong

urban design frameworks;

- Introduction of new uses in vacant historic

properties;

- Introduction of high quality architecture on

landmark sites;

- Introduction of hard and soft landscaping

throughout the city-centre;

- Reclamation of road space to create an

improved urban environment;

- Introduction of high quality public transport

system throughout the Centre-City zone;

- Creating the right conditions for an animated

public realm to develop.

Action recommended within the seven urban quarters is

detailed as follows:

The seven quarters

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Quarter 1 – Retail Core

- Extension to existing pedestrian priority zone

with introduction of new street surfaces and

furnishing;

- Integration of public transport to avoid

compromising the pedestrian environment;

- Promotion of car parks located on the edge

of the retail core area with high quality

pedestrian links to the shopping streets;

- New developments should aim to increase

the connectivity and permeability of the area;

- Careful consideration of the introduction of

new developments to ensure an interesting

and varied streetscape;

- Removal of buses from Donegall Square

and the development of a ‘world class

square’;

- A pedestrianised High Street and the Victoria

Square development will provide a link

between retail area and the Waterfront;

- Bridge Street and north Castlecourt will form

an important link to Cathedral Quarter.

Quarter 2- Cathedral Quarter

- Promotion of vibrant night-time economy

with high proportion of cafes and restaurants

and workspace to facilitate creative

industries;

- Establishment of urban structure and form

more sympathetic to the original pattern of

streets;

- Realignment of the Dunbar Link between

Nelson Street and Corporation Street which

will also release development land and improve

pedestrian connectivity between the Quarter

and the Old Harbour (Quarter 3);

- The Cathedral will form the heart

of the new quarter with a new

square created around the building.

Quarter 3 - Historic Port

- Consideration of tourism related ‘discovery

trials’ between these significant historic sites;

- Introduction of a series of night-time

activities on route between Cathedral

Quarter and Odyssey arena;

- New development should be introduced in

a traditional block structure along the

Waterfront;

- Consider uses for spaces below motorway

viaducts;

- Area in front of Harbour Office should be

developed as a public square linking with

Cathedral Quarter;

- Consideration of new suspended pedestrian

foot-way from the M3 across the river to

Odyssey Arena.

Quarter 4 - Urban Waterfront

- Creation of world class Waterfront;

- Development of the Public Realm 5

associated scheme;

- Consideration of seasonal /temporary uses

to increase public activity and provide

additional destinations and/or attractions;

- Dramatic reduction/rationalisation of road

infrastructure on the East Bank;

- Inclusion of landmark public waterfront

building for development of the Sirocco site;

- Integrated new residential, office and leisure

developments on the Maysfield site;

- New riverside developments shall provide

pedestrian routes linking with the Retail and

Titanic Quarter and East Belfast.

Quarter 5 - Northern Gateway

- Development of the area north of Cathedral

Quarter as a prime office and residential

quarter;

- High quality architecture and a consolidated

urban form to present an attractive gateway

into the city centre. To include safe and well

overlooked street frontage at ground floor

level;

- Revisions to the alignment, width, pedestrian

crossing facilities, urban form and quality of

the Dunbar Link shall serve to ‘knit’ and

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reconnect this area with the urban structure

of the city.

Quarter 6 – Titanic Quarter

- Provision of high quality, high density,

affordable housing and associated services

on surplus land within the traditional harbour

in a neutral location close to the city centre;

- Provision of visitor attractions around the

Titanic slip-way;

- Integral part of development will include a

public walkway along the River Lagan and

the docks;

- A Landmark/gateway feature should be

introduced on the northern extremity of East

Twin Island that will contribute to the

‘presentation’ of the city;

- Enhanced transportation links with the city-

centre through use of ULTRA or similar

transportation model;

- Development of a boulevard to provide a

strong physical relationship between Titanic

Quarter and the rest of the city core.

Quarter 7 – Golden Mile

- Reinforce the Golden Mile as Belfast’s

leisure and night-life strip linking the city

centre with the University area with use of

public art, lighting, hard and soft

landscaping;

- Transformation of Shaftesbury Square/

Bradbury Place to a focal point of pedestrian

and people activity with the Golden Mile.

Preliminary Transport Strategy Within The Energised Core

- Limitation on use of private car within the

Centre-City, and infrastructure that gives priority

to use of private car;

- Consideration of implementation of ULTRA or

similar point-to-point public transportation

system connecting major activity nodes within

the Centre-City

Traffic Circulation within the Energised Core

- Address the current imbalance of dominance of

private car in the City-Centre;

- Channel City-Centre through traffic, providing

relief to traffic sensitive streets;

- Significantly reduce severance between City-

Centre and Waterfront;

- Permit pedestrianisation of Donegall Place,

Donegall Sq. North and Chichester Street;

- Allow traffic calming on Donegall Square,

Wellington Place, Linenhall Street, Castle

Street/Castle Place/High Street;

- Improve pedestrian linkage to and through

Shaftesbury Square;

- Improve pedestrian/cycle crossing facilities to

minimise severance by the main traffic route

(Great Victoria St, College Square [east],

Carrick Hill, Fredrick Street and Cromac Street;

- Remove traffic from ‘Cathedral Quarter’ and

‘Press Quarter’;

Additional road engineering improvements to the City-Centre roadnetwork, subject to network capacity tests.

Dunbar Link and Surrounds

- Redevelopment of the Dunbar Link and

Surrounds would result in a positive effect on

the promotion and redevelopment of the

Cathedral Quarter, Historic Harbour and

Northern Gateway.

Maysfield/Albert Bridge and Sirocco

- Redevelopment of the Maysfield/Albert Bridge

and Sirocco area would serve to strengthen/

establish the south-eastern section of the Urban

Waterfront. Recommend the use of high-

density, mixed-use developments with strong

urban form.

Shaftesbury Square

- Currently considered a ‘barrier’ between the

northern and southern sections of the Golden

Mile, the City-Centre and the University.

Recommend transformation from busy traffic

junction to focus on public life and gateway to

the City-Centre through the use of traffic

engineering and urban design.

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Connected Middle City

Two broad types of projects identified:

- Transportation projects focusing on

improvement of public transport network in

areas where travel pattern analysis indicates

demand;

- Environmental improvement projects focusing

on the creation of an attractive, easy and

welcoming journey experience from residential

neighbourhood to arrival in the Energised Core.

East Bank/Bridge-end

- Restructure the highway network and release

development potential of land to improve

physical links to East Belfast communities,

strengthens the link between the City-Centre

and Titanic Quarter, while improving the quality

of this important arrival point.

Westlink/Divis Street

- Development of adjacent lands, consolidation of

the urban form, and introduction of art project

along the Westlink in order to overcome the

physical barrier and separation caused by the

Westlink road infrastructure between the

Centre-City and the West City Sector.

Neighbourhood Renewal

Implementation of a co-ordinated and targeted community

approach to neighbourhood renewal within the five

identified city sectors examining opportunities for

economic, social, physical and environmental

regeneration. Neighbourhood renewal/regeneration plans

should include a series of prioritised strategic actions in

order to address multiple disadvantage and social

exclusion.

North city-sector

- Re-establish physical and visual connection

with the city centre;

- Link development opportunities;

- Build on Port and infrastructure advantages;

- Address diversity.

Shankill city-sector

- Overcome barriers to employment

opportunities;

- Create new economic and social development

opportunities;

- Uplift urban quality and mend linkages.

West city-sector

- Pursue integrated economic promotion;

- Enhance physical presentation;

- Improve connections and linkages;

- Re-assess the route of the W-Way;

- Open a corridor to the Hills.

South city-sector

- Create balanced residential communities;

- Identify neighbourhood development

opportunities;

- Improve connections with the City-Centre;

- Develop University/Hospital area for further

employment opportunities;

- Maximise economic potential of surplus land

holdings associated with Health Care Trusts.

East city-sector

- Remove barriers to release better connections

to the City-centre;

- Initiate strategic development opportunities;

- Re-assess the E-way transit corridor;

- Implement a Connswater Amenity Corridor

project;

- Support the Holywood Arches redevelopment

project.

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Released Environmental Assets

Enhance the City’s most prominent natural assets in order

to; improve accessibility; increase activity; contribute to the

redevelopment of areas; market the natural asset; restore

the natural habitat and visual attraction, and enhance the

interaction between urban development and the natural

asset. Specific projects include:

- The Hills to the West;

- The foreshore of Belfast Lough;

- Lagan riverside;

- Connswater river corridor;

- Blackstaff river corridor;

- Colin Glen park.

Enhanced Presentation of the City

A variety of site specific projects (including landscaping,

public art, lighting, improved legibility, and public realm)

should be considered in order to enhance the presentation

of the city on sites that are most visible to visitors to the

city including;

- Major road corridors (M1/Westlink/M2 & M3);

- Major road junctions (Grosvenor Rd, York St/

Nelson St, Bridge End);

- Bus and railway stations (Central Station, Great

Victoria St, Laganside Bus Station);

- Car parks throughout the city-centre;

- City Airport and surrounds;

- Shoreline of Belfast Lough (in particular

adjacent to ferry terminals);

- Key orientation points and landmark sites (in

particular Donegall Square).

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3. Organisational Priorities

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Organisational Priorities

Belfast City Council through this masterplan is seeking to initiatea debate on the fundamental approaches and principles that underliethe planning and regeneration of this city and the promotion of itseconomic development. To date the land use planning and economicdevelopment functions have been separate strategies pursued byseparate bodies with little integration or joint purpose. These divergentstrategies and functions have presided over and contributed to thesteady decline of the city as a major city and investment location.

The timing is now right for a thorough and meaningful debate on thecity's future before the statutory planning framework for the next 12years (BMAP), is put in place. This debate is necessary in order tobuild consensus amongst the lead agencies and the community on ashared single strategy for the renaissance of Belfast. As prime agentfor change and the democratic voice of its citizens, BCC mustchampion the debate to promote an increased appreciation of thecity's mediocre economic performance and the need for anaggressive growth strategy to reverse its fortunes and to increaseBelfast's contribution to Northern Ireland wide growth processes.

Arising out of the masterplan are a series of key actions, relating torelevant instruments of public policy that can contribute to theeffective and efficient development of the city. In addition, theseaspects of the masterplan’s implementation must address the issue ofthe capacity of existing and future organisations to deliver change onthe ground. Steps necessary to secure timely and efficientimplementation, of the masterplan are detailed below.

1. Establish a Single Development Agency

Output Expected:

Creation of a single development agency for Belfast to replace theLaganside Corporation but acting for the City as a whole.

Timescale:

To be in place by June 2005. The need for such a body must beaccepted in the short term and discussion initiated on the format andstructure that such an organisation would have.

Key Themes:

Delivery of a sustained approach to urban regeneration for the city ofBelfast through the implementation of a single shared strategy, unitingstatutory power with political constituency. Roles and responsibilitieswithin the agency will be clear and accountable.

Lead agencies: Belfast City Council and DSD.

2. Unite Belfast City Council's PromotionalAgencies

Output Expected:

Merger of the existing four arms length organisations, which report toBelfast City Council, (Belfast First Stop Business Shop Ltd, InvestBelfast Ltd, Belfast City Centre Management Ltd and Belfast Visitorand Convention Bureau) into one single, integrated promotionalagency.

Timescale:

Completion by December 2004, ready for merger into the singledevelopment agency by June 2005.

Key Themes:

Improved joined up working within City Hall, providing an overallagreed economic strategy for the city and establishing a first step informing the nucleus of the single development agency above, co-ordinating business support, tourism promotion and economicdevelopment in the city with a structured link to Invest NorthernIreland. Lead agency Belfast City Council in consultation with INI.

Lead agency: Belfast City Council.

3. Establish the Office of City Architect

Output Expected:

City Architects Office located within the single development agency,providing urban design, conservation, public art procurement andultimately development control expertise.

Timescale:

Established by December 2004 within the Belfast City Council, withtransfer to the single development agency by June 2005.

Key Themes:

A design champion, charged with raising the quality of the builtenvironment throughout the city and to co-ordinate and monitorquality in urban design, architecture, building conservation and publicrealm commissions. To establish fast track planning procedures andCompulsory Purchase Orders for major investment opportunities. Topossess the authority to assume development control functions forstrategic and landmark developments in the city (similar to theArchitecture & Urbanism Unit of the GLA).

Lead agencies: Belfast City Council, Belfast Regeneration Office(DSD), and the Department of the Environment in consultationwith the Arts Council.

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4. Initiate a Review of Regeneration Spending

Output Expected:

Transparent assessment of funding programmes and theeffectiveness of current policies.

Timescale:

Immediate

Key Themes:

Greater understanding of the effectiveness of cross agencyprogrammes, national and international best practice, evaluation ofspending priorities, and the calculation of private sector leverage. Toinclude a review of strategic priorities and integrated programmes. Asenior civil servant and the office of the Chief Executive of Belfast CityCouncil should conduct review jointly. A clear steer to the SingleDevelopment Agency on its regeneration priorities and activities.

Lead agencies: Belfast City Council, DSD, and NIHE.

5. Establish a Regeneration Loan Fund

Output Expected:

A regeneration fund to support SME's and social economyorganisations to implement projects which would contribute to theregeneration strategy for Belfast. The proposed £20-30 million loanfund would draw contributions from the EU, Belfast City Council andthe private sector and would be eligible for companies NorthernIreland wide.

Timescale:

Belfast Local Strategy Partnership (BLSP) recommended that theproposal be carried forward within the context of the Peace IIProgramme, to take effect from January 2005 at a Northern Irelandlevel. BLSP have commenced preparatory and capacity buildingsupport work to ensure that organisations will be ready to takeadvantage of the fund.

Key Themes:

The promotion of the regeneration loan fund will facilitate SME's andsocial economy organisations to deliver projects in line with theregeneration of Belfast and the rest of Northern Ireland.

Lead agency: Belfast Local Strategy Partnership in associationwith BCC, BRO, INI and DETI.

6. Align Belfast City Council EconomicDevelopment Policies

Output Expected:

Alignment of economic policy initiatives of the city council withmasterplan strategy and spatial plan.

Timescale:

Complete review by June 2004.

Key Themes:

Focused and agreed suite of economic and promotion policies andprogrammes linked to a shared physical regeneration andneighbourhood renewal strategy for the city.

Lead agency: Belfast City Council.

7. Review and Influence Strategies

Output Expected:

Influence key strategic national, regional and local documents asdetailed in Appendix one, leading to the preparation of the mosteffective land-use and regeneration frameworks to facilitate the urbanrenewal/renaissance process.

Timescale:

Ongoing

Key Themes:

Assert the pre-eminence of Belfast as the Capital City and primeregional economic driver, whilst linking regeneration strategies withBMAP and other key policies such as the location of inwardinvestment, new housing, transport and education, to derivemaximum benefit to regeneration

Lead Agencies: DOE, DRD, DSD and BCC.

8. Promote Quality of Life Agenda ThroughRaising Standards Of Service Provision

Output Expected:

Gain acceptance by all service deliverers that standards in e.g.cleansing, public realm maintenance and policing, must be set higherin order to improve the image/presentation of the city. This will alsohelp engender civic pride.

Timescale:

Review complete by June 2004 and Charter in place to mark a newapproach towards the delivery of higher standards.

Key Themes:

The assessment of less strategic but highly visible daily serviceprovision towards the improvement of higher quality service provisioncould have a combined effect on the Quality of life for all through theimproved presentation/image of the city.

Lead Agencies: BCC/BCCM and PSNI.

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9. Achieve Consensus and Build Capacity

Output Expected:

Enhanced and comprehensive knowledge of key strategic issuesaffecting Belfast City with practical experience of best practicesolutions and measures from other countries.

Timescale:

June 2004 with continuous development

Key Themes:

A summit or conference to which all key stakeholders will be invited totake ownership through a participative process. This will begin aprocess, which will lead to agreement on a shared vision of the city'sfuture over the next 20 years. Themes to be explored should includeBelfast's economic positioning and competitive profile; the City'seconomic relationship within its region; drivers of economic change;the city's capacity to grow and repopulate and streamlined governanceand delivery.

Lead Agency: Belfast City Council.

A study tour to examine urban renaissance best practice leading tosuccessful delivery within the UK and abroad.

Lead Agencies: Belfast City Council and DSD.

Implementation Programme

The schedule below is indicative of the chronological order of theprincipal recommendations of the Masterplan. However whilst allsteps are considered essential, they are not necessarily sequentialand pending agreement some steps can be advanced in line withothers.

1. Achieve Consensus & Build Capacity

(City Conference April 2004)

2. Review and Influence Strategies

(BMAP, BMTP and BRO Regeneration Strategies Spring 2004)

3. Establishment of Regeneration Loan Fund

(BLSP/EU/BCC/BRO/INI/DETI January 2005)

4. Promote Quality of Life Agenda ThroughRaising Standards Of Service Provision

(BCC/BCCM/PSNI June 2004)

5. Align BCC Economic Development Policies

(BCC In-house June 2004)

6. Merger of BCC Promotional Agencies &Establish the Office of City Architect

(BCC & BRO December 2004)

7. Review Regeneration Spending

(BCC/BRO Complete by June 2004)

8. Establish a Single Development Agency

(BCC/DSD/DRD/DOE Complete by June 2005)

9. Formulate Project ImplementationProgramme

(Key Centre and Middle City projects complete by the hosting of theCutty Sarks Tall Ships Race 2008)

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Careful consideration will need to be given to the role of the LagansideCorporation in the process of evolving the new single developmentagency. Laganside Corporation, (a statutory body with skills,knowledge and experience capacity) is a valuable asset to the city andshould find a place in the creation of a new development agency forthe city. Although the statutory framework set for winding up theCorporation is set for 2006/2007, there is merit in consideringadvancing this timetable to meet with the formation of the new agencyby June 2005. The assembly of this capacity within the new structurefrom its inception would have obvious benefits.

Alternatively the option exists for Laganside to co-exist until its full termis completed and its functions and area are subsumed into the singleumbrella agency.

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Review of Strategic Documents

117


Appendix 1Review of Strategic Documents

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Review of Strategic Documents

A number of national, regional and local strategic documentsinfluence the path of Belfast city and impact on its current and futureeconomic positioning within the wider region. These documents mustrecognise Belfast as a Capital City and prime economic driver.Successful long-term implementation of the masterplan can only beachieved if Belfast's prime importance is recognised from thetop down.

Framework for Action - European Union

This guidance aims to reinforce sustainable urban development bystrengthening economic prosperity and employment in towns andcities, promoting equality and social inclusion, protecting andimproving the urban environment and contributing to good urbangovernance and local empowerment.

Regional Development Strategy

Influence the 2005/6 RDS review by asserting the pre-eminence ofBelfast as the Capital City and prime regional economic driver.

Acknowledgement of the decline of the city and its impact on regionaleconomic performance. Need to prioritise the growth of the city toreverse this decline Assert the pre-eminence of Belfast's Centre Cityzone as the first location for strategic investment including retail andoffice development.

BUAP and the emerging Belfast MetropolitanArea Plan

Acknowledge the centre city as a land use concept at the core of theBMAP area. Develop a strong and focused phasing andimplementation strategy for the consolidation of the centre city zone,building on the development of the zone in identifiable quarters,strengthening the retail core, directing the office market, targetingrenewal areas and investment opportunities, assisting new businessdevelopment, activating the waterfront and targeting infrastructureinvestment.

Adopt a mixed and integrated land use policy approach to the centrecity zone - car free development areas, better quality urban space,higher densities, integrated community, health and education facilitiesRevitalise and prioritise the heart of the centre city as a 'pedestrianretail area' and the core location in the region for prime retail andoffice space.

Recognise the defined centre city (and supporting retail core) as theprime investment location in Northern Ireland.

Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan

Performance of BMTP :

A 3% to 4% reduction in private car based trips compared to the do-minimum seems a modest goal and a minimal benefit from such aconsiderable investment in infrastructure. Compared to otherEdinburgh for example the target is to reduce traffic levels by 30% bythe year 2010.

Rapid transit:

Our preliminary demand analysis suggests that the proposed rapidtransit routes require further scrutiny. Existing travel demand wouldappear to support EWAY (east) and Super Route (south) but notWWAY (west). While there is a considerable demand for travelbetween North Belfast and the City Centre no rapid transit route isproposed on this corridor.

Buses & P&R :

Further analysis must be undertaken to review potential of proposedand alternative P&R sites based on analysis of trip patterns.

There is significant demand for a cross city public transport routelinking North Belfast and South Belfast and other cross routes (thereis very little existing cross route public transport demand due toservices terminating in the city centre).

There appears to be considerable demand for an orbital publictransport route linking South Belfast - South West Belfast - NorthBelfast - East Belfast.

Need for Inner Relief Road:

With four bridges already crossing the river north of the central railwaystation, the case for a fifth, proposed as part of the Inner Ring Road,must be questioned. This particularly the case when BMTP forecastsshow that the existing crossings will still operate within capacity by theyear 2020.

Titanic Quarter:

Preliminary analysis suggests that the Titanic Quarter will generateconsiderable travel demand. In the absence of attractive alternatives4,000 additional car trips could travel to and from the site during theAM peak hour. A suitable public transport alternative must beprovided.

Centre City Travel Demand:

With the development of the Titanic Quarter it is estimated that thenumber of car trips existing with both the origin and destination in the"Centre City" would exceed 2,600 during the AM peak if no attractivealternative were provided. This is equal to twice the number of on-street car parking spaces in Belfast City Centre.

The expansion of the city centre towards the Titanic Quarter and theUniversity ("Centre City") reinforces the case for a new flexibledistribution system. A preliminary feasibility study to establish thepotential for an "Ultra" type system should be progressed. A review ofcity centre parking should be undertaken and measures identified bythe BMTP should be progressed.

The Rail Network:

Access to Central Station must be improved if it is to remain the maingateway for tourists and the business community for those arriving inBelfast by public transport. The potential for providing passengeraccess at track level should be investigated including the potential of

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passenger, and possibly vehicular access, under the arches of EastBridge Street.

A new station at Gamble Street would complement the proposals toopen up the Cathedral Quarter, while a new station at the City Airportwould clearly improve access to the city centre.

Consideration should be given to reviewing service frequencies, inparticular to increasing the frequency between Belfast and Dublin totwice hourly.

Conversion to light rail and the potential of new rail technology:

Consideration should be given to converting the suburban routes(Larne, Bangor and Portadown) to light rail at the end of the life of theexisting rolling stock.

The potential for new rail technology :

New developments in relation to the conversion and automation ofwhole networks to operation by shuttles able to operate on existingtracks and provide fast non-stop travel between off-line stations maybe applicable to Belfast given the extent of the disused railwaynetwork.

Reclaiming roadspace from the car and reducing the severanceof major roads:

There is considerable potential to reclaim roadspace from the privatecar to provide priority for public transport, better conditions forpedestrians and cyclists, and an improved city centre environment.

The consultants support the proposals set out in the BelfastRegeneration Office's Public Realm Strategy centre city.

The existing highway network just to the east of the River Lagan isconfusing, over designed, and wasteful and requires rationalising.

Organisation of Public Transport in NI:

Greater Belfast would be better served if public transport in the citywere the responsibility of a separate organisation responsible to theCity Council itself.

Urban Regeneration in Northern Ireland: AStrategy for Neighbourhood Renewal 2003

Understand Belfast's unique history and religious dimension.Achieve a better co-ordinated and targeted community approachMeaningfully engage communities at all levels of the regenerationprocess.

Ensure that regeneration of the centre city is linked to the city sectorsin the middle city, through employment provision and physicalenhancement.

Link regeneration strategies with BMAP and other key policies suchas the location of inward investment, new housing, transport andeducation, to derive maximum benefit to regeneration.

Clarify and strengthen roles of the Five Partnership Boards and theBelfast Local Strategy Partnership in the regeneration deliveryprocess.

Establish a body to co-ordinate the effective and timely delivery ofregeneration initiatives and site assembly.

BRO City Centre Regeneration Strategy (DSDthrough Grimley GVA)

It is vital that there is alignment between the strategy and theMasterplan.

The proposed retail led approach must be placed within the context ofwider regeneration drivers.

PPS12 Review: Housing In Settlements

Recognise a potential future population target of 400,000 people inBelfast.

Acknowledge that Belfast is unique in that it has substantialbrownfield land available within the centre city.

Recognise and acknowledge that successful regeneration andrenaissance of the city is dependent on development occurring within

the city Stipulate that the BMAP area must accommodate a brownfieldtarget of 90-100%.

Consider mechanisms that need to be put in place to ensure thaturban regeneration is not prevented or delayed as a result of siteassembly problems.

PPS5 Review: Retailing and Town Centres

Ensure that Belfast's retail core remains the primary focus foreconomic and social vitality in the region.

Recognise that the health of the city directly reflects on the prosperityof the region.

Promote Belfast as the primary retail location in the region.

Ensure that policies are in line with UK policy.

Integrate the need for retail vitality and area regeneration within thecontext of sustainable development, including integration of transportand landuse.

Address the severe imbalance between the city centre and out ofcentre shopping.

Revise policy to address the over provision of retail warehousing.

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Approach to the Transport Aspects of the Masterplan

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Appendix 2Transport Commentary

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Appendix two: Transport Commentary

The transportation issues associated with the masterplan are complexand inter-related. This commentary is designed to inform the debatesurrounding the movement issues, particularly in respect of publictransport, that lie outside the control of the City Council but whichinfluence heavily the development of the city. The commentary isdesigned to influence the preparation of the BMTP and BMAP, and tocontribute to the next review of the City Council’s own TransportPolicy. The themes addressed in the commentary have beenincorporated where possible in the masterplans spatial plan as set outin Chapter Six.


An assessment of the BMTP 2001 base year trip matrices wasundertaken based on the sector system adopted throughout thisreport in order to assist in identifying the transport needs of BelfastCity. Trip patterns are shown for private (vehicles) and publictransport (person trips) in the figures on page 34, for trips bothoriginating and terminating in Belfast City only. The public transporttrips include those made by black taxis.

Of the 30,000 car trips taking place within Belfast City during the AMpeak hour, the main o-d pairs were found to be between:

· South Belfast and South City Centre (13% or 3,900 2-way

trips)

· East Belfast and East Belfast (i.e. internal to East Belfast,

12% or 3,700 2-way trips)

· North Belfast and South West Belfast (8% or 2,200 2-way

trips)

· North Belfast and South Belfast (7% or 2,100 2-way trips)

Similarly, of the 6,300 public transport trips (buses and black taxis)undertaken during the AM peak hour, the major trip patterns werefound to be between:

· North Belfast and the City Centre (12% or 800 2-way trips)

· East Belfast and the City Centre (10% or 600 2-way trips)

· South City Centre and East Belfast (10% or 600 2-way

trips)

· South West Belfast and South West Belfast (i.e. or internal

to South West Belfast, 8% or 500 2-way trips)

The above simple analysis of base 2001 travel patterns indicates thefollowing:

· There is demand for a quality public transport provision

between South Belfast and the South City Centre (Super

Route) and between East Belfast and the South City

Centre (EWAY)

· There is little demand for travel between West/South West

Belfast and the City Centre, the public transport trips that

are currently made between South West Belfast and the

City Centre are made by black taxi. Based on 2001 travel

patterns the numbers suggest that WWAY would be

difficult to justify

· There is a reasonable demand for travel between North

Belfast and the City Centre (no Rapid Transit Route is

proposed on this corridor)

· There is significant demand for a cross city public transport

route linking North Belfast and South Belfast and other

cross routes (there is very little existing cross route public

transport demand due to services terminating in the city

centre)

· There appears to be considerable demand for an orbital

public transport route linking South Belfast – South West

Belfast – North Belfast – East Belfast (again there is no

existing orbital public transport demand due to lack of

service)

Potential demand resulting from the development of the TitanicQuarter

A crude estimate of the number of new trips that may be generated bythe Titanic Quarter during the AM peak hour has been made based onobserved trip rates and initial estimates of the likely developmentcontent. The existing level of public transport provision and thereforemodal split is assumed. The figures suggest that a high quality ofpublic transport provision serving the Titanic Quarter will be essentialin order to prevent an additional 4,100 2 way car trips spilling onto thenetwork during the AM peak hour.

In order to make a preliminary estimate of the number of person tripsthat may be attracted onto a suitable public transport, averageoccupancy and mode split assumptions were made. In the absenceof average car occupancy data specific to Belfast an average figure of1.5 persons per vehicle was assumed. This figure was extracted fromdata from other Irish Cities. Mode shares of 77% and 88% for“Centre City” trips, and elsewhere respectively were extracted fromthe BMTP problem statement. Based on these assumptions it isestimated that over 7,000 2-way person trips will requiretransportation to/from the Titanic Quarter during the AM peak hour, ofwhich 2,000 will take place entirely within the “Centre City”.

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Preliminary Titanic Quarter Trip Generation, AMpeak hour

Trip patterns to and from the Titanic quarter were then forecast basedon observed trip ends. As shown in Figure 2, the forecast trippatterns are dispersed and will require a flexible form of publictransport to compete with the private car.

Analysis of the BMTP trips matrices revealed that in 2001 there were1,600 car trips taking place during the AM peak hour, with both theorigin and destination in the “Centre City”. Added to the number ofcar trips forecast to be generated by the Titanic Quarter, the totalnumber of car trips that would likely take place within the “Centre City”will exceed 2,600 cars during the AM peak alone, if no attractivealternative were provided. To place this number of cars in context thisis equal to almost twice the number of on-street car parking spaces inBelfast City centre.

The Rail Network

As would be expected given the extent of the Belfast City network, theexisting rail network does not provide a particularly attractivealternative to the private car for short trips undertaken within the Cityof Belfast. In fact travel information received from the BMTP teamsuggests that only 120 such trips are made in the morning peak hour,of which a quarter appear to be between East Belfast (Bridge End andSydenham) and Botanic. Having said that, the function of the heavyrail network is to provide for the suburban and intercity market, withthe intra city travel demand better served by other forms of publictransport.

Access to Central Station must be improved if it is to remain the maingateway for tourists and the business community for those arriving inBelfast by public transport. The potential for providing passengeraccess at track level should be investigated including the potential ofpassenger, and possibly vehicular access, under the arches of EastBridge Street. This would then open up the waterfront and ChichesterStreet as the main pedestrian route to the city centre.

Additional ideas raised in the BMTP included the provision ofadditional stations at Gamble Street and at the City Airport. A stationat Gamble Street would complement the proposals to open up theCathedral Quarter, as set out in the main text of this report, while anew station at the City Airport would clearly improve access to the citycentre.

As previously indicated, the major strengths of rail are in providing analternative to the car in the long distance travel market, inencouraging tourism and strengthening Belfast’s role as a regionalcentre. External destinations to the north (Derry, Coleraine andPortrush) are served by an approximately hourly service while thesuburban routes serving Larne, Bangor and Portadown operateapproximately 2 trains an hour.

The flagship Enterprise Service operates between Belfast and Dublinand is jointly operated by NI Railways and Iarnrod Eireann. It runs

To/from Centre City To/from rest Total

Car trips

Average occupancy

Person trips by car

Car mode share

Total person trips

650 375 1,950 1,125 2,600 1,500

1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5

975 563 2,925 1,688 3,900 2,250

77% 77% 88% 88% 85% 85%

1,266 731 3,324 1,918 4,590 2,648

Arrivals Departures Arrivals Departures Arrivals Departures

Preliminary Titanic Quarter Trip Generation, AMpeak hour

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The LRT/E-Way Proposals

The BMTP contains an interesting if somewhat speculative proposalfor four new radial LRT lines serving 4 corridors, although the existingtravel patterns would indicate that some appear more feasible thanothers. One of these, the EWAY has already been worked up in somedetail although a comprehensive feasibility study has yet to beundertaken. The system is proposed as either a guided busway or atram and makes use of a disused railway formation.

The case for a busway, which brings back into service a disusedtransport reservation, seems sensible provided it could be madeaccessible to passengers. It is accepted that new development in thecorridor may imply that there is today far more demand than was thecase when the line was closed.

However, the value of a guidance system, which relieves the driver ofthe need to steer but still requires him or her to sit at the wheel,seems dubious and even gimmicky. It perhaps reflects a time when,elsewhere in the UK, bus operators were desperate to make the casefor bus priority as an alternative to large public investments in newtrams. Such a proposal also seems to be too much a railway onrubber tyres. One strength of a busway compared to a railway is thepotential for services to join or leave the busway and divert to serveother areas.

Ultra

Belfast’s Centre City is just a little too large to walk everywhere butnot quite large enough to make buses a reasonable form of transport.Many of the key transport nodes such as the city airport, the mainstation, the two bus stations and the new and existing black taxiterminals and many of the city centre car parks are also on the edgeof the centre leaving long walks to key destinations. The expansion ofthe city centre towards on the one hand the new Titanic Quarter, andon the other hand, towards the University also reinforce the case for anew distribution system able to link all the nodes of entry to the keydestinations.

It is possible that the bus network could be adjusted to perform thisfunction more efficiently than it does today but this is likely to requirehigher frequencies, the cross connection of services through thecentre rather than to it, and the concentration of the network on to

particular roads. A promising alternative, and one which couldadditionally give the city centre a new image, is to look forward at thenew public transport technologies now becoming available. The mostpromising of these is a system of the Ultra type, (see page 67),offering point to point travel and capable of penetrating new and olddevelopments and of having stations located within suchdevelopments as well as on street. Ultra has already been proposedfor Cardiff city centre but in many ways Belfast could be a better andlarger application. A promising and attractive feature of Ultra is that,unlike the increasingly fashionable trams, it appears to be capable ofcovering both its operating and capital costs from the fare box. Ultrais automated and offers point-to-point travel at a relatively modestjourney speed of 40 kilometres/h but without the delays of traffic,signals or stops. Despite its relatively slow speed it is thereforeconsiderably faster than conventional public transport or the caroperating in urban traffic conditions. Although Ultra has alreadygained its Railway Inspectorate approval, and although a test track isnow operational, there is as yet no fully working system in service. Itmay also prove to be the case that new systems will rapidly bedeveloped along the lines of Ultra and so at this point the concept isperhaps of more importance than the Ultra system in particular. Thesystem is nevertheless referred to as Ultra in the descriptions of thebase and extended networks which are discussed on page 67.

A preliminary analysis of the city centre trip patterns was undertakenbased on year 2001 trip patterns provided by the BMTP team.Forecasts were also made regarding the likely trip patterns generatedby the proposed Titanic Quarter. Preliminary findings indicate thatsufficient travel demand may be generated to support the Ultranetworks shown on page 67. The network aims to connect all of themajor activity nodes within the centre city, with the first phase linkingthe existing city core to:

· The Titanic Quarter and Belfast City Airport east of the

River Lagan

· Queens University and Belfast City Hospital in the south of

Belfast

· Belfast Institute of Further Education

every hour which is the least that would be expected by thosetravelling between the two major cities. A rough equivalent in terms ofpopulation and distance apart is Edinburgh to Newcastle which has 2trains per hour. This could be achieved with the provision of twoadditional trains to operate alongside the existing three.

In the long term the potential for extending this service through Belfastnorthwards to Derry, and southwards through Dublin to Cork orWexford should be investigated. It may however be the case thatDerry would be too small to sustain such a service and a directConnolly-Houston link would be required before a link could be madeto Cork. It is also worth considering whether the private sector maybe better placed to provide a more attractive service on existing stateowned routes.

Conversion to Light Rail and the Potential ofNew Rail Technology

The BMTP contains an interesting but undeveloped proposal for jointoperation by heavy and light rail on the three main rail corridors andsuch joint operations are now being achieved elsewhere in the UK.However the proposal is not developed. Consideration should begiven to converting the suburban routes (Larne, Bangor andPortadown) to light rail at the end of the life of the existing rollingstock.

The Potential for New Rail Technology

With the second industrial revolution now affecting almost every walkof life and many forms of transport, major decisions on rail and furthermajor investments in nineteenth century technology should perhapsbe deferred until the potential for automation is better understood. Ofparticular interest are the new developments in Germany concernednot with high-speed trains but rather with the conversion andautomation of whole networks to operation by shuttles able to operateon existing tracks and provide fast non-stop travel between off-linestations. If they can achieve what they promise such technicaldevelopments could breathe new life into both the existing railnetwork and the network of abandoned lines.

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· The Cathedral Quarter and Clarendon Dock in the north of

the city centre

The base network also encompasses all existing and proposed publictransport nodes including:

· Existing Central and Great Victoria Street Rail Stations

· Proposed Gamble Street Rail Station

· Great Victoria Street and Laganside Bus Stations

· Black Taxi stands at Castle Street, Peters Hill and the High

Street

It is suggested that further expansion of the system should beconsidered in order to provide access to Laganside in the east andthe “Press Quarter” and the north city centre.

The practicalities of introducing such a system would clearly need tobe the subject of a detailed feasibility assessment and would requirecareful design in order to minimise the impact on other users and onthe built environment of the city. It may be appropriate for example tohave the entire system, including stations, elevated in the city centreto minimise severance and visual intrusion to pedestrians.

QBCs and the Bus Network

The ownership and regulation of the bus operations of Translink arecurrently the subject of a review being conducted by consultants onbehalf of the DRD. The outcome may serve to address some of themore obvious hallmarks of a large and centralised nationalised busoperation including:

Poor Financial Performance:

It seems that Route and Sector Costing is a discipline practised lessnow than in pre-Translink days - perhaps out of nervousness ofpossible findings of massive cross-subsidy from bus to rail1. Butsurprisingly, it is suggested that financial performance at Ulsterbushas always been better than at Citybus, despite the former’s mainlyrural operation2. (It does of course include some town networks,although only Derry’s is of any size.) Of late, the Goldliner express

network has contributed significant profits, but it seems that Ulsterbushas always been more actively (and perhaps better) managed thanCitybus. The latter still supports many of the more inefficient practiceswell-known in the British bus industry before privatisation.

Having said this, it must be pointed out that overall support for publictransport (as quoted by Translink’s MD) is low in NI as compared withBritain - £16.75 per head per annum compared with £47.90 in GB.Spending per passenger-mile is also lower. This would need to beinvestigated to see what it really means - it may simply be a reflectionof the much smaller rail network in NI, even in comparison withpopulation.

In the interests of transport policy it would be better to spend more onpublic transport to procure better services. However, there seems tobe no-one fighting for this - the prime measure of Translink’s successis seen as being a low subsidy requirement, rather than good serviceswhich attract choice users.

Rising Fares and Declining Patronage:

In the early 1990s patronage was apparently increasing; although thiswas probably on Ulsterbus rather than on Citybus, which latersuffered from the declining Belfast population. On the other hand,Ulsterbus’s initiatives on Goldliner and minibus networks served toimprove patronage. Since Translink, however, it appears that pressureon Ulsterbus to withdraw marginal services has resulted in a fall inpatronage.

Some inappropriate frequencies:

Frequencies are generally poor for a major city, and while combinedfrequencies are better on some common corridors scheduledheadways tend to be irregular. Evening frequencies are a particularproblem, for example a headway of 45 minutes in the later evening onthe Malone Road compared with four buses each hour (a 20-minservice plus an hourly one) during the off-peak. Even worse areSunday services, when the whole Citybus network of over 60 routesis replaced by just nine loops operating every two hours each way.Such services can only be seen as subsistence-level for captive users- no-one with a choice would opt for the bus at this service level.

An aged fleet:

There are far too many older buses (up to 20 years at least, in all-dayservice), and these older buses are in a different livery to the newerones. It appears that the fleet replacement programme may havebeen sacrificed in the interests of rail spending.

A lack of bus priority compared with Dublin or Edinburgh:

There is some bus priority, but it tends to be, mainly non-restrainingbus lanes on inbound corridors. They are however absent where theyare really needed, for example on Great Victoria Street northboundand other approaches to the central core. On the Ormeau Roadcorridor, the first and only real attempt at a Quality Bus Corridor, thereis no outbound priority whatsoever. Most bus lanes stop too soonwhile many start too late, there is also no signal pre-emption forbuses. Having said all this, observance by motorists of bus lanesseems good. The is perhaps because they know they will not suffernoticeably by doing so due to lack of enforcement.

The city centre being used as one large bus station little cross-townoperation (nearly as bad as Dublin but in contrast to Edinburgh):

On the face of it (i.e. from timetables and bus maps), it appearsworse than Dublin, where there are some cross-town services whilethere are none advertised at all in Belfast. The reality is howeverdifferent, there is unofficial cross-city operation, perhaps amounting toat least 33%, and possibly 50%, of Citybus’s all-day operations. Whathappens is as in the following example.

Route 71 (Malone, south Belfast) cross-works with 73 (Springmartin,West Belfast). Inbound buses on route 71 show on their headsign “73Springmartin”, while inbound buses on 73 show “71 Malone”. Whatthis means is that -

Many intending passengers must be unaware that there is cross-townworking , and in particular which trips actually run across, and

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Inbound passengers are confused because the bus headsign doesnot match the timetable and route map.

Not surprisingly, this facility seems little used - just a handful ofpassengers on those trips were observed at City Hall. In additionthere is still the phenomenon of empty (and driver-less) busesstanding on the street in busy city-centre locations, particularly at“peak shoulder” times. The reasons behind the lack of provision of“proper” cross-town services are apparently -

A very compact city-centre, meaning that few people want

to travel beyond the city centre terminus of routes. (Apart

from on the N-S axis, which is provided for).

What cross-town demand there is may be diffused, and

therefore difficult to serve.

There have in the past been “community” issues

preventing the establishment of some links.

Our preliminary view is that the existing cross-working should beadvertised, but there is possibly no call for more - except to improveoperational efficiency. A much more serious shortcoming is the almosttotal lack of peripheral services (again community issues are blamedto some extent). For instance, to get from Ormeau Road to MaloneRoad and Queens University requires a trip into the city and outagain, though they are very close to each other.

Little branding or marketing of services:

Again, it seems that things have got worse since Translink wascreated. The branding of buses is confusing - they carry both“Translink” and Ulsterbus/Citybus. Some also carry the “Go” brand-name that is supposed to apply to QBC services, but many vehicleson the latter do not carry the “Go” brand-name while many buses thatdo are found on non-QBC services. In fact, as some of the OrmeauRoad QBC services cross-work with non-QBC services this isinevitable. (The “Go” branding consists of a logo only, applied tobuses in the “new” Citybus livery.)

The “1” group of services (Newtownabbey via M2 and M5 motor-ways), formerly “City Express”, were rebranded as “Go” services inMay 2002 - although without, apparently, any change in services orinfrastructure. However (assuming the current timetable is accurate),the services only run until about 18:00; after that alternative services(9, 10, 11) do not use the motorway and therefore take longer. Onlyone of these routes runs after 21:00. Buses on the service arevariously branded “City Express”, “Go” or both.

It is doubtful that many regular bus users - let alone non-users - areaware of the significance of the “Go” branding.

Passenger information:

There is a free complete timetable although this suffers from a lack ofcorridor summaries and must be very expensive as a give-away, apocket bus map, and information on the internet. There is also fairlycomprehensive roadside publicity although this could be improvedwith the provision of more detail of central area routes and stops onthe bus map.

With the review of ownership and regulation being instructed by theDRD to formulate its recommendations within very tight guidelinesincluding a single, publicly owned bus company (Transport NorthernIreland) it is difficult to see how the situation is likely to change for thebetter in the near future.

Several options may therefore be worth proposing and canvassing inthe forthcoming DRD consultations. These include:

the establishment of a PTE style organisation for the

Belfast area (i.e. as in Glasgow)

the establishment of a municipal operation as in Edinburgh

(i.e. the ownership to be transferred to Belfast City

Council)

Privatisation and the introduction of one or more of the

major UK operating groups

The City Council certainly needs to take a view of these issues and toput it forcibly in the forthcoming consultations. The DRD’s proposalsfor the continuation of a single large operator seem likely toperpetuate the existing, unsatisfactory situation.

It is worth noting that regular independent monitoring (quantitative andqualitative) of Translink services is carried out by Price Waterhouseand MVA. The results (Spring and Autumn 2002) show publicperception of Citybus services to be worse than that of Ulsterbus onnine out of eleven factors - though for each operation there seems tobe a positive trend in perception.

Parking Policy and Highway Capacity

Many citizens of Belfast are proud to boast that the city is aconvenient place both to drive and park. There is truth in this view,but if it is to remain true, and if the city centre is to grow and prosper,then limits will have to be imposed on the use of the car for travel toand within the city centre or the wider “centre city”. The reasons forthis are very simple: roads have a very limited capacity for movingpeople even if devoted wholly to the car. As city centres grow andmore and more people require access to them it becomes far moreeconomic to meet as much of the demand as possible by publictransport rather than to attempt to do so by expanding the highwaynetwork. Belfast has to plan for the future, and if the future is to bemore prosperous, with more business and more people, together witha vibrant and attractive city centre, then the future has to be builtaround public transport.

The implication of this is that limits have to be placed on the use ofthe car for journeys that could easily be made by public transport.Such limits can be imposed by making public transport so attractivethat it becomes the preferred mode of travel for a sufficient number ofpeople, or by imposing controls on the amount of terminating traffic bymeans of parking control, road closures or road user charging. All ofthese possibilities need to be kept open and all of them may in duecourse need to be used.

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Early priorities, however, must be to reclaim roadspace from theprivate car wherever this could make a significant improvement to thecentre city environment, to control on-street parking more rigorously,and to limit the provision of off-street parking space. The will helpensure that valuable commercial development space is not wasted onparked vehicles whose occupants could easily have come by othermeans.

A review of parking policy is therefore central both to the expansion ofthe city centre and to the control of traffic, and should include thecomponents being considered by the BMTP team, including: reductionin availability of commuter spaces, introduction of decriminalisation(increases enforcement, decreases infringement), limit the number ofprivate non-residential spaces. In addition, it is recommended that allfuture centre city developments adhere to stringent parking standards.

Reclaiming Road Space from the Car and Reducing theSeverance of Major Roads

The over provision of roadspace in Belfast is clearly demonstrated inthe BMTP problem statement, which suggests that the majority of theexisting road network within the M1 Westlink is forecast to operatewell within capacity during the AM peak hour, even by the year 2020.It is therefore the consultants’ view that there is considerable potentialto switch roadspace from use by private vehicles to provide priority forpublic transport, better conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, and animproved city centre environment.

All roads form a barrier to pedestrian movements and the previousdiscussions of how roadspace may be reclaimed from the cardemonstrate one way in which some barriers can be reduced.Pavement widening on a road such as Victoria Street would, forexample, make it much easier for pedestrians to cross withoutnecessarily reducing its capacity for moving vehicles. In other cases,however, it is the road structures themselves rather than the trafficwhich create the barrier.

Obvious examples of this are Westlink and the Sydenham by-passwith the latter forming a very considerable barrier between the citycentre and the Titanic Quarter. Ways of reducing such barrierswithout destroying the function of the road as a means both of access

to the city centre and a by-pass around it, therefore need to beexplored. The following paragraphs describe some examples as tohow this might be achieved.

City Centre Circulation

In terms of the city centre traffic circulation the consultants support theproposals set out in the Belfast Regeneration Office’s Public RealmStrategy and have adopted this as a starting point in developing apotential highway strategy for the Centre City.

Movement for all modes of transport, including that of pedestrians andcyclists, suffer in Belfast city Centre due to:

Over provision of space allocated to the private car

Circuitous one way systems resulting in confusion for

unfamiliar drivers:

- Dublin Road/Great Victoria Street/Bruce Street

- Wellington Place/Donegall Square (n)/

Chichester Street/May Street/ Donegall Square

(s)/ Howard Street

- Victoria Street/Queen Square/Oxford Street

The City Hall on Donegall Square and the Custom House

on Custom House Square both currently form traffic

islands surrounded by up to 4 lanes of traffic (the former is

the busiest pedestrian meeting place in Belfast)

Donegall Square currently being used as bus layover for

city services – not the optimum use for Belfast’s most

prestigious square

The periphery of the city centre is severed from the core by

over designed highway (Millfield/ Carrick Hill/ Fredrick

Street/ Dunbar Link

The City Centre being cut off from the waterfront by major

highways (Donegall Quay and Dunbar Link/ Victoria Street

At Shaftesbury Square the Following Issues Need tobe Addressed:

Over designed junction

Disjointed and multiple pedestrian crossings for

pedestrians, particularly walking on the north/south axis

Mixture of Pelican and zebra crossings adds to confusion

The proposed improvements to the city centre, to be the subjectnetwork capacity tests, include:

Creation of 2-way “inner circular route” to provide for cross

river trips travelling through Belfast

Provision of 2-way “calmed” streets on Howard Street/

South Donegall Square/May Street and Victoria Street to

provide for necessary east-west and north-south trips

respectively

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The re-routing of the Dunbar Link to Great Patrick Street/

Removal of all private vehicles (except service vehicles)

from Donegall Place, north side of Donegall Square,

Chichester Street, and Oxford Street

Removal of bus layover from the west side of Donegall

Square

Improved pedestrian facilities, particularly on the main

inner circular route to minimise severance

Redesign of Shaftesbury Square to rationalise pedestrian

movements

The primary goals of the proposed strategy are:

1. To address the current imbalance with respect to theexisting dominance of the private car in Belfast City Centre

2. To channel traffic passing through the city onto designatedroutes, providing relief to traffic sensitive streets

3. To significantly reduce severance between the city centreand the waterfront

4. To permit pedestrianisation of Donegall Place, DonegallSquare (N) and Chichester Street

5. To allow traffic calming of Donegall Square, WellingtonPlace, Linenhall Street, Castle Street/Castle Place/HighStreet

6. To improve pedestrian linkage to, and through,Shaftesbury Square

7. To improve pedestrian/cycle crossing facilities to minimiseseverance created by the “Main traffic Route” (GreatVictoria Street, College Square (E), Carrick Hill, FredrickStreet and Cromac Street)

8. To remove traffic from the “Press Quarter” and the“Cathedral Quarter”

Laganside and Short Strand Highway Networks

The existing highway network just to the east of the River Lagan isboth confusing, over designed, and extremely wasteful of primedevelopment land. In summary

Redundant flyovers (Sydenham Flyover and Station Street

Flyover) add to severance between River Lagan and East

Belfast. These flyovers should be removed or put to an

alternative use

Lands between Middlepath Street and Bridge End are

unusable (except for parking) due to severance

Access to the Titanic Quarter is confusing and will become

inadequate given its development potential

Short Strand/ East Bridge Street junction – has recently

been redesigned and relocated east to allow increased

capacity for eastbound traffic but old alignment has not

been reclaimed

Page 97 shows a preliminary potential layout for the area. It includesa new grade-separated roundabout to provide for the main north –east through route (as existing) a new signalised junction linking theroundabout to Bridge End. It is also proposed to simplify the existingSydenham Gyratory and flyover to an at-grade signalised junction.The proposed layout simplifies and improves links between the M1,the city, Laganside and Short Strand and significantly improvesaccess to the Titanic Quarter. The proposal would also open upsignificant pockets of development land.

Expanding the Highway Network?

Given the limits that will have to be imposed both on the amount ofcity centre parking and the amount of land devoted to private vehicles,the idea that the highway network may need to be expanded willclearly be contentious. It therefore needs to be approached in arational way making use of the transport and traffic models developedfor that purpose.

A particularly difficult choice will arise over the proposal to “complete”the inner ring road. Completion is perhaps a euphemism in this casesince there does not really appear to be a ring road to complete.Instead the city centre as it lies bounded between the two motorways,the railway and the river, is essentially a grid. It is of course possibleto argue that extending Ormeau Avenue across the river to link withOrmeau Embankment might provide a southern complement to thetwo motorways which bound the city centre to the north. On the otherhand, there are a number of city centres, notably Glasgow andDurham which have similar “central by-passes” but have dropped theidea of converting them into “rings”. Moreover with four bridgesalready crossing the river north of the central railway station, the casefor a fifth is not obvious.

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This particularly the case when BMTP forecasts appear to show thatthe existing crossings will still operate within capacity by the year2020. The proposal clearly needs to be assessed in relation to theviews already expressed and with regards to future public transportand parking policy. Only then is it likely to be possible to form a soundview of the case for and against this idea.

The Black Taxis

Belfast’s black taxis were judged by the UK government to be such aninnovative development that the 1985 Transport Act was deliberatelyframed to encourage taxi operators on the mainland to follow suit. Inthe event none has done so and the current government interest is inusing taxis as buses to serve remote rural communities rather than toreplace conventional high capacity urban services. Given theinvestment in the new black taxi terminal off Castle street, they willremain fundamentally at the core of the public transport systemserving the west and north of the city and attempts should be made tointegrate them into the rest of the public transport system by means ofproposals sush as the ultra.

Park-and-Ride

The proposals for park-and-ride suggest that the strategic plan hasrecognised the need to impose limits on city centre parking and thusto provide an alternative for those who have no choice but to starttheir journeys to the city centre by car.

The proposed locations of park-and-ride sites look sensible but willrequire careful scrutiny. The consultant’s experience is that on theone hand large cities cannot sustain park-and-ride on the edges of thebuilt up area, but, on the other hand, fast roads such as the M1Westlink do mean that many car commuters could be switched to busrelatively far out.

The existence of the considerable amount of car sharing frommotorway interchanges right outside Belfast confirm this view. Thelocation of the park-and-ride sites therefore needs to be re-examinedin the light of the traffic patterns on the existing road network. If park-and-ride sites need to be located closer to the city centre then theymight be served by Ultra. If they have to be further away then bus,the new LRT proposals and rail are the obvious solutions.

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Appendix 3Manchester Case Study

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Manchester Best Practice Case Study

Within the last ten years Manchester has led the way in building aknowledge based economy. Manchester first formed a city-wideconsortium to promote the City as the UK's knowledge capital. Itscalled the new initiative "Knowledge Capital - Manchester".Manchester's vision strives:

"to create an internationally acclaimed "Knowledge Capital" within theGreater Manchester conurbation, which will position Manchester,branded as the Knowledge Capital, at the heart of the KnowledgeEconomy, significantly contributing to the economic growth of thenation and the Northwest region leading to a healthier city/region witha vibrant, safe and attractive environment in which to live, work andplay, for people of all ages, social and cultural backgrounds".

'Manchester's burgeoning city heart would be the physicallyidentifiable epicentre of the Knowledge Capital. Advanced connectivityand knowledge management would then enable this epicentre to beinclusive of its region in a unique way not possible for most capitals.'

It is proposed that Manchester's 10 year vision will be achievedthrough the 8 objectives set out.1

Manchester's Knowledge Capital Strategy

Infrastructure

To create an epicentre, a regional knowledge environment, by:-

New leisure, living, working, and studying facilities close to

the commercial/academic core of the conurbation

Iconic buildings

New green spaces

Business Development

To nurture and grow nationally recognised, dynamic knowledge-ledclusters, by:

Major investment in modern office accommodation and

science parks,

New incubators and workspace

Enhanced spin-in and spin-out activity

Key sector growth strategies - creative, digital, cultural,

biotechnology

Social Inclusion

To utilise knowledge-rich organisations to deliver wealth, skills, andjobs to deprived communities, by:

Jobs and skills agreements by major employers with local

communities

New community / school / university / business

partnerships

Integration and delivery of local and regional skills and

employment plans to support the Knowledge Capital

Culture

To deliver a unique integrated urban cultural experience, by:

Refurbish nationally renowned galleries and public art

spaces

Improve the built environment through public art (visual

and performing)

Support for new creative talent through workspace and

galleries

Make Manchester the premier destination for students and

national and international visitors through our impressive

sporting, leisure, street café and club scenes

Academic

To increase the economic and social exploitation of higher and furthereducation, by:

Partnership of all the higher and further education

institutions to develop a central resource for wealth

generation and social change

Direction of national and regional R&D funds to support

knowledge transfer in the conurbation core

Reinforcement of existing world class centres of

excellence and development of new ones to produce

tomorrow's knowledge

Improve the quality and number of undergraduate and

postgraduate students

Increase graduate retention in the region

Support for the FE sector to provide vocational skills

needed for the growth of the new economies.

Connections

To achieve the maximum connectivity locally, nationally, andinternationally, by:

The development of a coherent hub policy to maximise the

economic impact (internationally) of Manchester Airport

Completion of the Metrolink system expansion to ensure

access of local people to jobs

Enhancement of broadband capacity within the region and

between the region and global markets

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Image

To unify behind the "Knowledge Capital - Manchester" brand as thesymbol of our vision for the next decade, by:

Implementation of a national and international marketing

strategy

Achievement of buy-in by all sections of the local

community, enhancing community pride and well being

Attraction of inward investment of the highest quality

Creatives

To create and retain knowledge entrepreneurs - our next generation of"talented creatives", by:

Encourage brilliant individuals who use our knowledge and

technologies in creative new ways by employing new ways

of communicating, new ways of managing information and

modern work methodologies.

Empower others, in adopting these winning ways of

working with our knowledge and technologies.

Manchester is already highly regarded as a centre for knowledge-based and creative industries. The Demos Think-tank recently rankedManchester as the UK's most creative city (followed by Leicester,London, Nottingham and Bristol) after applying a rating scaledeveloped by Professor Richard Florida for application in the UnitedStates to 40 UK cities. The rating scale ranks cities in terms of theirTechnology, Talent,Tolerance.

Demos used a simplified approach to apply the broad concept to UKcities. It measured technology by assessing the number of patentapplications relative to the population of each city and tolerance byassessing the racial and sexual diversity of the cities. The resultsshowed Belfast as ranking 26th equal out of 40 cities for overallcreativity, ranking most highly in terms of patent applications for whichit was 14th of the 40 cities considered.

Belfast lacks a comprehensive strategy for the knowledge-basedindustries which, like that in Manchester, integrates business, urbanplanning and academic policies. Belfast City Council, in associationwith Invest Northern Ireland, the Universities, the Northern IrelandScience Park Foundation and other interested organisations andagencies should consider commissioning such a strategy. The focusof the development of these industries should be based in the'centre-city corridor' (which stretches from Queen's University,Belfast City Hospital and the Royal Victoria Hospital, through thetraditional retail, office and cultural core of the City to the NorthForeshore, Titanic Quarter and the City Airport) should be developedexplicitly to meet the distinctive requirements of these sectors.

1 In the table the list of individual actions has been edited to removethose which are highly specific to Manchester.The full list and otherinformation is available from www.thecontactpartnership.ac.uk

Footnotes

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Appendix 4Acknowledgements

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The Consultant Project Team,for their professionalism and ongoing commitmentto this project.

Colin Buchanan and Partners

Kevin Mc Govern – Masterplan Project Director (Planning)

Michelle Henry – Masterplan Project Manager/Associate (Planning)

Malcolm Buchanan – Director (Transport)

Paul Mc Ternan – Associate Director (Planning)

Alan Lipscombe – Associate (Transport)

Gary Rowan – Senior Consultant (Planning)

Annemarie De Boom – Associate (Urban Design)

Lida Botha – Senior Graphic Designer

The authors would like to thank the following fortheir contribution to this project:

Belfast City Council Masterplan Steering Group,who were responsible for the commissioning and strategic direction ofthis project, for their dedicated involvement.

Peter Mc Naney – Chief Executive

Marie-Therese Mc Givern – Director of Development

Gerry Miller – Head of Urban Development

Keith Sutherland – Planning and Transport Manager

Claire Linney – Economic Development Manager

Kevin Heaney - Policy Officer

Patricia Elliot – Policy and Research Manager

Shirley Mc Cay – Head of Economic Initiatives

Belfast City Council Councillors,for their valuable input and direction throughout all stages.

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Colin Stutt Consulting

Colin Stutt - Economist

Gehl Architects

Jan Gehl – Urban Designer

Lars Gemzo –Urban Designer

The Paul Hogarth Company

Andrew Haley – Landscape Architect

Marcus Shields – Landscape Architect

Donaldsons

Graeme Tulley – Property Consultant

Ken Crothers

Ken Crothers – Chartered Surveyor and Property Consultant

The authors express their gratitude to all those who kindlypermitted the use of photographic and illustrative material andto all those who volunteered their time in the making of thisdocument.

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