Belfast
Belfast’s history stretches back to the Bronze Age but the city that is recognisable to many people today is that of the Victorian powerhouse that it once was – home to the world’s shipbuilding, rope manufacturing and linen production. The city is a gracious and friendly city that still holds a unique and charming character. Belfast’s people are famed for their down-to-earth nature and the easily walkable city has become a favourite destination for European city break visitors. With the decline of its heavy industry Belfast is emerging as a culturally focused city and maintains a strong attachment to its various cultures, identities, and series of urban villages.
Much of the city’s architectural heritage dates to the time when Belfast was the most productive city in Ireland, during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Between about 1870 and 1914 Belfast was the pre-eminent city on the island. The legacy of this period is evident is many of the city’s buildings – City Hall and the buildings surrounding it on Donegall Square, the Central Library, the Grand Opera House, Queen’s University, the Ulster Reform Club, Carlisle Memorial Church, the Harbour Commissioners’ Office, Custom House, and many smaller examples including the Crescent Arts Centre & Upper Crescent, the Carnegie Library on Donegall Road, and the many remaining merchants’ villas of Fortwilliam, Rosetta and the Malone & Lisburn Roads.
“The Troubles,” which lasted from the late 1960s until the mid-1990s, had a significant impact on this architectural legacy and a sizeable piece of the city’s built heritage was destroyed during the period. Just as damaging, however, was the rush for new urban forms in the 1960s and ‘70s, including road building, the construction of poor quality tower blocks and the move away from the city’s terraced housing heritage. Since the mid-1990s the evolving peace process has resulted in the return of political, social and economic stability, alongside an embryonic 21st sensibility on how to rebuild the city.
A developing awareness of the damage that was caused to the city means that people increasingly see the value in using the existing fabric of the city. With a population of roughly 600,000 in the Greater Belfast area, the city has reaped enormous benefits from the peace dividend, but this progress has also come at a cost. The rapid construction of high-rise buildings, often in sensitive conservation areas, places Belfast at risk of losing its character as a low-rise city with views to the hills and the sea. Not the least of recent problems is that much of the new development is of poor quality.
Many of the city’s historic buildings have benefited from regeneration, particularly in the city centre. Derelict linen warehouses, crumbling churches and decaying banks have been reborn as boutique hotels, restaurants, offices and shops. Belfast is being reshaped and redesigned at a furious pace, but much remains to be done to secure a vibrant future. Using Belfast’s character, built heritage and communities as its driving force, BBPT views its role as helping to build a sustainable future for the city.
