Introduction:

Good afternoon, we are Reconnecting Belfast City Center. This a joint

architecture and urban planning studio led by Professor Richard Plunz from
Architecture and Professor Nicholas Klein from Planning. Our client is the
Belfast City Council, and we were in contact with council member Nu-la
Gallagher, GSAPP class of 200x, who relayed their requests and helped us
create a framework for the semester.

As the city of Belfast emerges from the complications of a thirty-year armed

conflict, the City Council, asked us to take look at their city and try to find
ways to help revitalize their city center. While the depth and complexities of
the conflict were not something we could claim to fully understand, we were
able to apply our experiences in planning and architecture to approach this
task from different angles.

It is important to note that during the Troubles, which ended in 1998, Belfast
was under direct rule from London. It is only very recently that the city
regained any authority or responsibilities for their own city planning. Though
they still do not have fully autonomous powers, the City Council is gaining
the ability to make planning decisions for their city. After nearly forty years in
which planning and design decisions were subordinated to military necessity
and instincts, the administrators and the citizens of Belfast are beginning to
talk about how to rethink the physical fabric and the planning priorities for
the city.

Thus, the task given to us by the City Council was open and general: to find
issues in city center and suggest ways to mitigate them. The city council was
seeking an outsiders perspective on their city: what was working, and what
wasnt? Our client did not want to influence our thought processes or ideas,
but rather hoped to hear our own reflections on and suggested changes to
the city.

During the years of the Troubles, the city center became a militarized zone.
Due to frequent, targeted bombings by the Provisional IRA, Security gates
and checkpoints in which all citizens would be stopped and searched were
set up on roads that led into the city center in what would become known as
the Ring of Steel. These gates were a part of Belfast for forty years, and
though all physical traces of them are gone, their impact on both the city
center and memories of the residents of Belfast remain.

As a joint studio, we were able to approach this issue from both a planning
and architectural point of view. The allowed us to look at the space from both
a spatial and policy point of view. We looked at what policies and
interventions led to the decay of the city center and its limited connectivity.
Additionally, we sought to understand what are the barriers to reconnecting,
especially in the context of Belfast.

After spending several weeks researching the urban history and

contemporary context of Belfast, our studio members created five proposals
that address reconnecting and revitalizing the city center. These included
road design and infrastructure, the availability of public transportation,
access to technology driven jobs, and pedestrian access to different parts of
the city. Each proposal was created by a group of architects and planners
working closely together to provide different perspectives on the planning
and design. We benefitted from the advice of Tim Cunningham, an urban
historian who focuses on Belfast, to ensure that our proposals targeted sites
that would benefit all communities in the city and would not enflame any of
the social tensions that exist in the city.

When we traveled to Belfast, we spent the week speaking with members of

the city council, different organizations in Belfast, and visiting the sites we
had been researching during the first half the semester. We spoke with and
learned from planners, historians, community organizations, and also with
students, long-time residents, and individuals whose lives were directly
touched by the Troubles. After this week of field work in Belfast, we
presented each of our proposals and received feedback in order to push
them forward. Today, we will share what our studio members are suggesting
for reconnecting and revitalizing the Belfast City center.

Future Steps:

Thank you for listening to our studio members proposals for reconnecting
and revitalizing Belfast City Center. The joint nature of this studio provided a
unique opportunity for architects and planners to collaborate on a project
from start to finish, as well as travel to Belfast. Our work in this studio will
culminate in a detailed publication that will be sent to the Belfast City
Council and discussed together via Skype. Though we understand Brexit and
a changing political landscape may change the priorities and resources of the
City Council, we hope that our ideas will provide new perspectives and foster
discussion for future planning priorities in Belfast.