More than two square kilometres of land in Belfast, much of it publicly owned, could be used to regenerate and reconnect communities within the inner and central city.
According to the newly-launched Forum for an Alternative Belfast, a ‘think tank’ which is aiming to create a strong vision for a new Belfast, the land is still lying idle after more than a decade of a construction boom which saw a lot of hastily-planned, profit-focussed development.
“Years of bad or mediocre redevelopment have continued to isolate large swathes of the city, creating ugly dead facades and leaving it largely empty at night,” said Belfast Forum co-director Mark Hackett.
“It’s hard to believe that an area the size of 500 football pitches is not being more productively used given that it is all located within a two kilometre walk of the city centre. This important, valuable land could be better-used to make Belfast a more vibrant, cosmopolitan city that isn’t disjointed by ad-hoc development.”
“We want to find out exactly how many people could be living within one and a half miles of the City Hall, however, our preliminary study indicates in excess of 20,000 extra people would comfortably be housed in the fractured inner city. With that comes the challenge of making new schools, parks and connecting with existing communities in an equitable manner – and doing so with development of enduring built quality” he added.
The Forum is bringing more than 70 of Belfast’s leading architects, engineers, urban planners, arts experts, community leaders together in a four-day ‘summer school’ to develop workable ideas to transform the city.
The ‘Fill Up Belfast’ Project runs from 10am to 10pm, Monday 17 August until Friday 21 August at the David Keir Building in Queen’s University, with evening discussion sessions open from 5.30pm for those attending after work.
“This is an intensive, voluntary effort by over 70 members to show civic leadership in the city,” said Mark. “The five-day ‘think tank’ will examine what would happen if we stopped leaving the development of our city to chance and instead started to plan a common vision for how we see ourselves in 2020. We want everyone to take part in the wider discussions.”
“Belfast is our city; it’s our environment, and it’s essential that we create and develop a place that’s accessible, connected and safe. It should be a good place to live in and a good place to invest in. This is your chance to affect the future of your city.”