Research Urban Development

Belfast, Northern Ireland
Client: EU Urban Developments Initiative
Sector: Research
Status: Closed

Research statement

Belfast City has developed very quickly over the last 20 years as the troubles have slowly passed. The links to Great Britain and the United States of America have forged strong financial investments and subsequently spurred social maturity. This investment has brought with it massive development of the city’s infrastructure and transport routes which are unparalleled in other UK cities of a similar size. However, Belfast’s population has been in gradual, but persistent, decline from a historic high of over 400,000 before WW1.

The city’s growth thus far has been primarily developer-lead, which hasn’t necessarily been beneficial to the urban fabric since development schemes are largely built in isolation to one another and to a brief that maximises profit for shareholders. The result has been what is termed Belfast’s “Hidden City” which raises questions of ownership, land value and community aspirations.

This research project aimed to understand the context of development in Belfast by investigating the potential for information rich modelling of Belfast City centre. NISRA and Belfast City Council hope to employ a modelling strategy to inform future city development by linking together a complex 3D city model with the population statistics database resulting in a manipulatable virtual environment. This project was in partnership with Taina Rikala, University of Ulster and Belfast City Council.