Belfast: State of the City III - 2006

Delegates at the 2006 conference Date: Tuesday 9 May 2006
Venue: Belfast Waterfront Hall

Overview

At the third State of the City conference, rather than examine all of the issues identified within the To Do list, we decided to focus on a specific critical area of work - the development of our city centre. This is an important subject, not only for the success of the city but for the entire region.

Belfast city centre is the 'shop front' for the entire region. It is the part of Northern Ireland which is the backdrop for most media attention; the place where most of our out of state visitors are likely to form their first impressions of us; and it is the place where investors and entrepreneurs are most likely to make their first hand judgments of Northern Ireland's fitness to compete globally.

While much work and effort has been concentrated on regenerating the centre over the past number of years, there is still much effort required by all partners, whether public or private, to ensure long term success. The city centre is in a state of flux at the moment and there are many exciting opportunities being presented to us. We have to make sure that we make the right choices.

City Centre Profile

The Belfast: State of the City initiative has always been underpinned by a strong body of research that contributes to the growing culture of evidence-based policy formation in the city. This year's conference is no exception. Earlier this year we commissioned consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers, to bring together, for the first time, a comprehensive profile of the city centre that includes information on a wide range of social, economic, retail and demographic. A summary of this work can be found in the City Centre Profile document.

Speakers

David Hanson MP

At the conference we were lucky to welcome David Hanson MP Minister for Social Development who gave a poignant address to the audience.

Gary Lawrence

Gary Lawrence, urban strategies leader with ARUP - the global firm of designers, planners and consultants behind many of the world's most innovative and sustainable designs. Gary used his impressive international experience of city development to consider options for our own city. His ideas, and our research, set the tone for the workshops that followed. Like any aspect of urban development, city centre regeneration is a multi-faceted business. It's about finding a successful mix of economic, marketing, retail, property, social and cultural elements. The workshops will encouraged delegates to contribute to the debate on this mix - on the themes of 'Branding', 'City Centre Living' and 'Retail'. Key outputs from the workshops are noted in the conference report.

Jon Ladd

For the afternoon session we welcomed Jon Ladd, chief executive of the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) who focused on the city's re-emerging evening economy. Jon has unrivalled knowledge on the subject of city development and we are indeed indebted to him for agreeing to attend today.

Conference report


Contact us

Policy and Business Development Unit
Development Department
Belfast City Council
Cecil Ward Buidling
4-10 Linenhall Street
Belfast
BT2 8BP

Tel: 028 9091 8764
Email: sotc@belfastcity.gov.uk