Belfast-Waterfront-Framework-project_b

Belfast Waterfront Regeneration

Revitalizing Belfast’s historic harbor and wider riverfront

Maritime Belfast

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Belfast, Northern Ireland

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2023 (April to December)

Among Europe’s largest waterfronts, where the iconic RMS Titanic was designed and built.

10 kilometers of continuous waterfront promenade requiring enhancement.

9 defined character areas, each offering distinct investment opportunities.

Challenges

  • While offering significant development potential, complex economic and planning factors have hindered the long-planned development ambitions for vacant harbor land in central Belfast.
  • To unlock investment opportunities, Maritime Belfast established the Belfast Waterfront Task Group to determine the best way to advance development and capture the waterfront’s potential as a key nexus between tourism attractions, diverse neighborhoods, and the city center.
  • Maritime Belfast engaged Danish urbanists Schulze + Grassov and Civic Engineers, along with Hatch, to develop a strategic framework that enables investment, addresses local socio-economic challenges, and strengthens community connections to the waterfront.

Solutions

  • Identified strategic and highly localized investment opportunities within the harbor, leveraging dormant assets and existing attractions, as well as potential funding sources aligned with established government priorities.
  • Supported on-site workshops to engage local stakeholders, gathering key insights and building community support.
  • Collaborated with Schulze + Grassov to integrate socio-economic insights into a broader spatial vision, informing potential design, placemaking, and development interventions based on their capacity to catalyze investment and deliver social impact.

Highlights

  • Ambitious vision for one of Europe's largest waterfronts, promoting catalytic investment in the public realm and placemaking to drive private sector investment, enhance community wellbeing, and build climate resilience.
  • Collaboration with technical and design partners to develop tangible recommendations and design interventions with clear strategic merit and tangible funding pathways.
  • Leveraged our socio-economic analysis and visioning expertise to create a compelling case for change, aligning varied stakeholders to a shared vision and a shortlist of priority projects.
  • Details about the Belfast Waterfront project and framework summary document are available here (Waterfront Task Group - Maritime Belfast | Maritime Belfast).

Project numbers

10 kilometers of continuous waterfront promenade requiring enhancement
9 defined character areas, each offering distinct investment opportunities
40,000 residents and 125,000 workers within close walking distance

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