Belfast Waterfront Promenade: Plans to transform area unveiled

The Belfast Waterfront Promenade will stretch from Sailortown to Ormeau Park.

Plans to reimagine Belfast's waterfront have been described as a "generational opportunity" for the city.

The Belfast Waterfront Promenade will stretch across "nine character areas", from Sailortown to Ormeau Park.

The transformative project includes designs for new pedestrian and cycle bridges, new public spaces, playgrounds, heritage trails, floating boardwalks and areas for businesses.

The design was created by the Danish firm Schulze+Grassov.

The firm, which is based in Copenhagen, has been involved in projects including Berlin's Potsdamer Platz and London's Design District in England.

The new approach for the Belfast Waterfront Promenade was developed by the Belfast Waterfront Task Group.

The group consists of representatives from the Maritime Belfast Trust, Belfast City Council, Belfast Harbour, Titanic Quarter Ltd, Tourism NI and Stormont departments.

Chief executive of the Maritime Belfast Trust Kerrie Sweeney said this is the starting point for the next 30 years of development.

"It won't happen overnight but there's no reason why Belfast can't be a great people-centric waterfront city on par with locations such as Copenhagen, Stockholm or Seattle," she said.

Kerrie Sweeney says this is the starting point for the next 30 years of the development

Oliver Schulze said waterfronts in cities across the world are changing from having historically been industrial spaces.

"We're starting to think of our cities as having a 'front of house' on to the river," Mr Schulze said.

"The opportunity is to turn this around from being a space that is related to industry alone, that is a 'front of house', so that it's no longer a 'back of house'."

Mr Schulze said this "generational opportunity will only realise its full potential if everyone adopts a joined-up approach."

'Direct say and involvement'

"When we first got to Belfast our impression was that it is much more fragmented than Copenhagen," he said.

"There's many different paving areas and when you walk down a lot of the time you have to walk back on yourself.

"I think the great waterfront cities have multiple crossings so you don't end up in a dead-end situation, which we found a lot here."

The plans will see the transformation of nine "character areas" in Belfast

Chair of Belfast City Council's city growth and regeneration committee Clíodhna Nic Bhranair said it is important people in Belfast have their say in developing the project.

"Communities, particularly those bound to the river, need to also have ownership of the regeneration," she said.

She said people living in Belfast need to feel the direct benefits and have "direct say and involvement" in decisions going forward, which includes representation on the Waterfront Task Group.