Designing For Sustainable Communities

A Report on the Economy of North Belfast

Msc. Urban and Rural Design Msc. Spatial Regeneration

EVP 8030 Designing for Sustainable Communities School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering Queens University Belfast

Alan Bannon Jack Glass Peter Henry Hui Zhou

Contents
Locational Analysis...................................................................................1 Introduction..............................................................................................4 . Historical Context....................................................................................8 Policy Context.........................................................................................11 -Strategies......................................................................................15 . Analysis...................................................................................................19 -Demise of Traditional Industrial Base........................................20 -Economic Analysis.......................................................................25 Timescale................................................................................................35 Vision......................................................................................................37 Objectives...............................................................................................39 . Conclusion.............................................................................................54

Locational Analysis

Locational Analysis

The above picture is taken from google maps and shows the area that we are studying. As you can see the area is to the North of the city centre and is located near the docklands.

The above picture shows the area that we studied, with the red areas showing the vacant sites within North Belfast.

Locational Analysis

North Belfast is situated in one of the most attractive surroundings in NI with views across Belfast Lough, the natural resource of the north foreshore and the wooded parkland on the side of Cave Hill. There are abundant social resources and social capital which business can be based on. Furthermore, its proximity to the M2, M3, can contribute to strenthening the economy. Indeed, wider strategic connection to roads, low development cost and natural resources are the advantages to attract investment and boost local economy. However, North Belfast has the reputation of being the most divided area in Northern Ireland. North Belfast has a number of peace wall to divide two different religious communities . In recent years, there are some serious incidents of sectarian unrest and violence, particularly in the interface areas. In social and economic terms, North Belfast suffers from major disadvantages as summarised below: -The area is divided by peace walls -It has high levels of unemployment and a high dependence on less well paid categories of employment. -Abundant workforce market but with low working skills and educational qualification -high levels of unemployment and less well paid employment -Educational performances are generally below the Northern Ireland averages -Lack of good connection with Belfast city centre and has secured little benefit from the -continuing development of the Belfast economy. -The area has suffered a high level of outward-migration since the Troubles

Introduction

Introduction

Executive Summary
In years past North Belfast has experienced heavily suffered from socio-stagnation, this has resulted in high levels of deprivation across the City of Belfast and suburbs. It is clear that due to the patchwork nature of these highly segregated communities within North Belfast has resulted or contributed to the areas socio-economic decline, which has created a distorted land market, and provided a duplication of everyday amenities. It is apparent that more recent regeneration projects within the city have tended to bypass the area of North Belfast, which serves to further fragment and marginalise North Belfast and the people who live there. These regeneration projects have helped to further accentuate the division of North Belfast with the rest of city. Within North Belfast, there have been attempts of cross-community initiatives that have tried to utilise public facilities to act as a form of mediation, trying to increase integration between the predominant Catholic and Protestant populations. Therefore there has been a number of guiding principles for this project. Introducing Guiding Principles The overarching vision of this project is an investigation of the economy of North Belfast, to therefore develop perspectives to therefore boost the failing economy to try and rectify the problems of socio-economic deprivation. Connection with Wider City There will be a particular focus on the current relationship that North Belfast has with the rest of city, and therefore create strategies and proposals on increasing the connectivity with city to help with socio-economic revival.

Introduction

Examination of the workforce and investment trends Particular focus will be placed on the skills of the current workforce within North Belfast, what skills they have and more importantly what they dont. Steps will be made to ensure successful participation of the changing economy. Alongside this will be an investigation of economic activity within North Belfast and what investment is being implemented in the area. Emphasis will be put on providing alternative economies to move away from the reliance on traditional manufacturing which ceases to exist. Co-operation with the Community Groups and other key stakeholders It was necessary to collaborate with community groups from the study area in order to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the challenges prevalent in North Belfast. The information obtained from community group interaction was invaluable and helped shape the final project proposals and strategic responses. Project Development This project signifies the second stage of a three year programme funded by PEACE III, contributing to their research project, Planning for Spatial Reconciliation. Therefore, this project provides research findings, providing a concept proposal for North Belfast. It is envisaged that will serve as stepping stone for the continued research until the end of the programme.

Introduction

In recent years, North Belfast has experiencedand suffered from heavy socio-economic stagnation, resulting in high levels of deprivation. One reason is lack of good connections both inside and outside. Firstly, North Belfast is lack of good link with Belfast city centre and wider employment and service hubs. A number of property developments are underway in the Post-Conflict Belfast including Clarendon Docks, Cathedral Quarter, Laganside and Titanic Quarter. However these developments are spatially and socially disconnected from North Belfast. There seems two different cityscapes, even north belfast is very close to belfast centre which is only a few minutes walking from edges. Even worse, there is less coherent and connection inside North Belfast due to historical reasons. Territoriality is the key to the construction of collective identities in Northern Ireland. In North Belfast like other area in NI, these identities are fragmented along segregated lines of Protestant and Catholic communities. In Belfast, the concept of the other is inherent in the contestation of Unionist and Nationalist communities. This is translated into the physical environment through territorial markers or boundaries. Peace Walls constructed in 1969, are designed to keep the two prominent religious communities, Catholicsand Protestants apart, reinforcing division by keeping the insiders in and the outsiders out. These walls are still present fourteen years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and continue talk of Belfast being the post conflict city. To some extent, segregating communities physically in North Belfast leads to its socio-economic decline and creates a distorted land market. Last but not least, North Belfast is located around impressive natural resources, such as Belfast Lough, Cavehill and the River Lagan. However, the link between these surroundings and North Belfast is physically poor. A number of restricted accesses block the people who want to visit them. Disconnection plays negative role on local tourism.

Historical Context

Historical Context

The peak of Belfasts industrial economy was driven by the shipbuilding industry. At that time, Protestant artisan class played vital roles on the skilled workforce in the shipyards and engineering works. Until the second half of the nineteenth century, Belfast became the fastest growing city, compared to other UK cities during the success of the British revolution period. In 1912, seventy thousand people were employed in industries of shipbuilding, linen and engineering alone. It accounted for more than half of all manufacturing employment.

Belfast as the capital city of Northern Ireland has been reshaped dramatically over the past 20 years. A number of regeneration initatives have taken place in recent years in order to create a new image for the city. This shows the shift in the The first initative to kick start this regeneration was the Laganside Corporation set up in 1989. They set out to improve the city, starting with the Lagan Weir in 1994. After the river was cleaned up the focus was such as the Laganside development and Titanic Quarter. Urban regeneration has played a pivotal role on the city rebrand. Furthermore, it strives to move away from the dark days of the troubles. However, Belfast also has been known as a clear unbalance in terms of development patterns. The city centre has seen a number of large scale development, such as the Odyssey, Victoria Square and Titanic Quarter. Meanwhile, North Belfast has been left behind the New Belfast which is going from strength to strength.

Historical Context

Recently, Belfast has been reshaped significantly from a market town which was founded in early 17th century to global industrial hub in 20th century. Nowadays, it has been restructured again from an industrial past to a contemporary post-industrial city. Images of a thriving metropolitan city have dominated the news headlines instead of the negative images of The Troubles. The new slogan Our Time, Our Place has been launched to attract not only tourists to the capital city, but also private investors in order to drive the local economy and create the much needed boost to the employment sector. Urban regeneration has reshaped the skyline of the city centre. It was once dominated by the Harland and Wolf cranes as the only reminder of the historic industrial past of the city, to now being dominated by the Titanic Quarter development. Victoria Squares Dome is another key landmark in the city centre, and the new shopping centre adds to the list of tourist attractions for the city. In 2012 Belfast City Council unveiled plans of an investment programme worth 233m to be rolled out over three years. It aims to boost economic growth by providing employment, supporting business growth and community development. At the same time, urban regeneration in belfast focus on attracting the creative class. As Florida (2003) claimed, creative people can contribute to the economic growth and they prefer innovative, diverse and tolerant living environment. This has been seen in Belfasts Integrated Cultural Strategy, Creativity and innovation are vital to the resurgence of Belfast and the competitiveness of the Belfast economy. (Belfast City Council 2007)

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Policy Context

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Policy Context

Policy Context Although the list of policies and plans relating to the Belfast Metropolitan Area (BMA) is substantial, North Belfast has rarely been the focus of any significant regeneration initiatives and investment. This is not surprising given the extent of segregation and division throughout North Belfast. Yet these issues within North Belfast are not acknowledged in the vast majority of plans and policies relating to the Belfast Metropolitan Area. Instead, the focus is very much on regenerating the city centre of Belfast in terms of updating retail and office provision for example. They tend to focus on the success of the city centre and fail to deal with the wider social, economic and environmental issues of the surrounding areas. This section of the report will identify some of the main themes which exist throughout policies and plans in relation to North Belfast

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Policy Context

Regional Development Strategy 2025

Shaping Our Future is the Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland which sets out the overall vision for the development of the provision until 2025. One of the guiding principles of the RDS is to achieve a more cohesive society. Strategic Planning Guideline SRC 3 aims to foster development which contributes to better community relations, recognises cultural diversity and reduces socio-economic differentials (DRD 2001, p.34). The RDS demonstrates a commitment to understanding the development of a pluralist society and the need to address segregated and interface areas specifically. The Executives top priority is growing a sustainable economy and investing in the future by improving competitiveness and building a larger more export-driven private sector. Balanced regional growth is an underlying principle to rebuilding and rebalancing the economy as are the principles of equality and sustainability. Spatial planning and related infrastructure development is essential to enable a working economy. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) highlights the link between good physical infrastructure and economic output. This is also recognised in the Independent Review of Economic Policy in Northern Ireland and is a key theme in the emerging new Economic Strategy. A functioning infrastructure has the capability to deliver economic and social aspirations, the resilience of our infrastructure which helps to determine our economic competitiveness, our effectiveness for investors and visitors. Strategic Projects which will contribute to economic infrastructure development are considered to be those that: deliver strategic improvements in external and internal communications, including transport and telecoms; contribute to the achievement of renewable energy targets; contribute to the achievement of waste management and climate change targets; or raise issues of regional or more than regional importance. The area around the border can gain significantly from a joined-up approach to spatial planning. Cross border cooperation and collaboration provide opportunities to boost the economic performance and competitiveness across the island

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Policy Context

Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015

BMAP provides the planning framework which is in general conformity withthe RDS in facilitating sustainable growth and a high quality of development in the Belfast Metropolitan Area.BMAP 2015 is committed to support the regeneration of Belfast, Lisburn, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Newtonabbey and North Down. The plan promotes the regeneration of Belfast City through the designation of sites which present opportunities for development. For North Belfast BMAP therefore gives guidance on land use issues such as housing, employment, retailing, offices, open space, outdoor recreation, community and cultural facilities. BMAPS guiding principles are to: promote equality of opportunity and social progress for the benefit of the whole community; ensure effective protection of the environment; promote an integrated approach between transportation and land use; and to promote effective participation.

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Strategies

North Belfast Partnership

Inner Norths Neighbourhood Renewal Action Plan 2012-2015 Priorities for employment/skills/training needed to attract inward investment More co-ordinated approaches to employability, training and education Parent and family support through involvement in childrens education Greater participation of parents in school life Get young people more involved in community activity, leadership roles and volunteers Remove barriers to enable residents to return to education (identify available childcare places for parents engaged in education/ training) Ballysillan/Upper Ardoynes Neighbourhood Renewal Action Plan 2012-2015 Education and Youth Working Group Action Plan: The focus of the group in the current Action Plan is to support and develop young people to ensure the education standards and attainments improve within the area and are reflected in the level of qualifications; and accredited training provided. In the Plan there is also recognition of the need to create and support personal development programmes and volunteering opportunities, to encourage young people ensuring that their life chances are enhanced. A further aspect of this work is to ensure that young people are safe within their respective communities and some of the negative stereotyping that is current, that young people are trouble makers, can be challenged. Priorities include education performance- tackle low levels of educational attainment, improved opportunities, and raise standards. Youth opportunities include the improvement of life chances of the young in the area.

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Stategies

Crumlin /Ardoynes Neighbourhood Renewal Action Plan 2012-2015

Education, employability and economic working group: Crumlin/Ardoyne Neighbourhood Renewal Area faces particular challenges including the rate of economic activity, employment levels and skills development. The focus is to attract investment into the area, to develop existing assets including the Girdwood Site and in parallel with this ensure that local people have the skills and necessary support to take advantage of opportunities .This will include promoting opportunities for self-employment and the development of social enterprises. Priority is promoting skills and qualifications with increase in number of people gaining accredited qualifications. Youth Working Group Action Plan: The work of the group has emerged from recognition of the linkages between the needs of young people, the quality of services and facilities and nature of training offered locally. A key element is the need to progress the development of a first class shared youth facility. Allied to this is the need to consider the potential to develop a network of sports and youth providers. Underpinning the work of the group is the need to ensure activities and priorities are driven by the needs of young people ensuring their individual and collective voice is heard. Priorities include: -Creation of a learning culture -Parents and children committed to academic attainment -Schools a hub for service delivery -Learning environment is facilitated by childrens behaviour.

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Strategies
North Belfast Regeneration Framework
This Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) defines the needs and priorities for North Belfast in order to drive activity and investment in the area. The SRF details numerous regeneration themes ranging from economic development, education, environmental design, housing, transport and more. In relation to education and schools the framework makes specific reference to Education, Skills and Enterprise Challenges in relation to North Belfast. There are correlations between education under-achievement and deprivation and therefore, it is recognised that in order for children, young people and adults in North Belfast to have a high quality of life they should have access to appropriate education and training. The SRF highlights the main issues of education in North Belfast for instance; Low levels of academic attainment Levels of achievement low compared to other parts of Belfast and N.I, with 12/19 wards fall into 10% most educationally deprived wards in N.I. Within remaining 7/19 wards only Cavehill outside of the top 50% most educationally deprived wards in N.I. Leads to ineffectiveness in job competition for those in North Belfast therefore continuing cycle of deprivation Fewer people entering Higher Education and Training: Lower levels of young people entering FE and HE in North Belfast compared to other parts of Belfast and N.I. There are numbers barriers preventing attendance, barriers such as insufficient grades, economic disadvantage and social disadvantage. Young people suffer from low confidence and self-esteem and therefore need to be empowered and motivated. They suffer from low expectations for their future expecting their parents lives for themselves. Unemployment cycles of living off benefits and not attempting to work due to lack of incentives. Parental Involvement in Education: Many parents had personal poor experiences of school and therefore do not value education for their children. This has a result of poor attainment due the parents being unwilling to fully engage or engage at any level. There is a perception from these parents of teachers as another element of the system.

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Strategies

Increased Pressures on Training Organisations: Approximately 23% of North Belfast population is under 16, which puts pressure on FE and training providers to provide places that meet demand. Training organisations are competing for funding and have to deal with trainees with complex needs such as drug misuse, poor social skills and history of offending Existence of skills gap: Due to the decline of manufacturing and traditional industries has led to skill emerging in North Belfast due to a rise in IT, finance and services sectors. North Belfast faced with challenge of training its workforce with appropriate skills in order to effectively compete for jobs. The SRF details the framework needed for the improvement of education and skills in order to support the people of North Belfast to maximise employment opportunities. These are to be achieved through; Improving the skills base Improving academic attainment Improving adult education Getting people into employment Removing barriers Increasing access to employment Involving employers in skills development

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Analysis

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Analysis

Demise of traditional Industrial Base

Gallahers Cigarette Factory

Gallahers cigarette factory was located on York Street on the site of the modern Cityside retail park. Gallahers was an example of a traditional industry in North Belfast, it provided employment to people from the adjoining areas such as the New Lodge and Tigers Bay and further afield for over a century. When the factory closed down there was a large gap left in the employment opportunities for the people of North Belfast, as many of the jobs in the factory were low skilled it was very hard to gain employment after its closure.

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Analysis

Demise of traditional Industrial Base

Docklands
The dock and port related industries where so many people from North Belfast and Belfast sought employment started to collapse during the second half of the 20th Century leaving thousands of people without a source of employment. The shipbuilding industry had employed generations of people many from the same families and similar to Gallahers factory the jobs were relativity low skilled and many people found it very hard to gain employment after they were let go.

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Analysis

Demise of traditional Industrial Base

Shipbuilding industry
In 1912, The Titanic ship was built in Belfast. In that era, Belfast was one of the important engines of the industrial revolution. According to historian Jonathan Bardon (1982), Belfast was home not only to the largest shipyard in the world but was also able to boast the worlds largest ropeworks, tobacco factory, linen mill, aerated water factory, dry dock and tea machinery works, all of these industries started to decline during the 20th Century leaving many families whos ancestors had sought employment in these industries without work but with a tradition of early school leaving and not travelling far for work. Shipbuilding industry

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Analysis

Demise of traditional Industrial Base

Linen Industry

When industry is mentioned in Belfast Shipbuilding and the linen industry immediately come to mind, Belfast was world renowned for producing some of the best linen around. Throughout the 19th and 20th Century generations of women worked in the Linen mills, The York Street Mill by 1856 had 25,000 spindles and was probably one of the largest mills of it's type in the world again like the other traditional industries the workforce was relativity low skilled and many people found it difficult to gain employment after the mills closed down

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Analysis

Demise of traditional Industrial Base

Overall we can see that the main source of employment in Belfast from the 19th and 20th centuries were traditional industries that had sprung up during the industrial revolution. Most of the people who had worked in these industries had left school at a very young age therefore starting a trend of school leaving and education under achievement that has continued to this present day. It is well known that educational performance and the economy go hand in hand and there is a big problem with education under achievement in North Belfast so this doesnt fair well for the economy. The economy is also associated to livings standards, if the economy is preforming well than living standards will increase which will help the quality of life in North Belfast.

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Analysis

Economic Analysis

Table comparing population in manufacturing in 1912 and 2013

In 1912, the population of NI was only 1.2 million, but there were 150,000 people involved in manufacturing. Compared to today, with a population of 1.8 million, that number has dropped to 75,000. It can be seen as a huge gap. The collapse of the traditional heavy industries was the first major blow to the economy of Northern Ireland and therefore North Belfast.

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Analysis

Economic Analysis

Global Recession

As we all know we are in the middle of an economic crisis with the global recession, at the moment the UKs credit rating has been cut down to AAA by the credit ratings agencies. This will undoubtedly effect the economy of Northern Ireland and therefore North Belfast. North Belfast relies heavily on funding from government agencies and from the European Union for initiatives such as community relations and training and education programs but with finance becoming less available from financial institutions it is inevitable that less money will be available for these programs. This will undoubtedly effect the economy of the area as people become less employable because they wont have the adequate skills for jobs, which are becoming more knowledge-based.

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Analysis

Economic Analysis Employment Levels

As you can see from the table to the right the employment levels of Northern Ireland are very similar to the rest of the UK, but there is a difference in the percentage of people that are economically inactive which is very important as these are the people that essentially do nothing for the economy. Although these figures are for Northern Ireland as a whole it is felt that if the Northern Ireland economy was to improve than North Belfasts economy would follow.

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Analysis

Economic Analysis Employment Levels

From the table on the right you can see that people in Northern Ireland work more hours in the week than their UK colleagues but the average wage is less than that of the UK. There is also a big issue with the percentage of people that have no educational qualifications. 18.5% of people in Northern Ireland have no educational qualification compared to 10.4% of people in the rest of the UK. This is far to high for a sustainable economy, there is also a lot more people who have been unemployed for a year or longer, 58.9% of people who are unemployed in Northern Ireland have been so for over a year compared to 33.9% of people in the UK again this is far to high, It also shows that there is an acceptance of being long-term unemployed in Northern Ireland which must be addressed.

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Analysis

Economic Analysis Employment Levels

On the right is a table showing the employment levels in each sector as you can see the economy was heavily reliant on the construction sector until the property market collapsed in 2007/2008, this has left a large gap in the economy with only the production sector recovering slightly to the levels it was before the recession.

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Analysis

Economic Analysis Employment Levels

Belfast South Upper Bann South Antrim Lagan Valley North Antrim Belfast East Newry and Armagh

Economically Active

To the right is a table showing where North Belfast stands compared to the other constituencies in Northern Ireland in term of economically active as you can see it ranks in the lower half, 7th from the bottom. It is clear that this must be addressed if the economy is to improve, when a company is looking to locate or invest in Northern Ireland, North Belfast would be not an obvious choice as there is large scale economic inactivity.

Fermanagh and South Tyrone South Down East Antrim North Down Belfast North Mid Ulster Strangford East Londonderry Foyle West Tyrone Belfast West 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 Economically active: Employee: Full-time: Aged 16-74 years

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Analysis

Economic Analysis Investment

To the right is a table of the investment into North Belfast companies by Invest NI during 2011/2012 as you can see North Belfast didnt rate highly and received roughly 3 million of financial assistance compared to roughly 23 million to Belfast South, is it possible that the Northern Ireland government are giving up on North Belfast? In 2011/12, Invest NI made 187 offers of investment to companies in Belfast North.

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Analysis

Economic Analysis Investment

In 2010/11, 283 participants from Belfast North completed the Invest NI Enterprise Development Programme (EDP), more than double the 2009/10 figure of 131. In total, 58.7% of Belfast North EDP participants subsequently started a business. This was higher than the Northern Ireland average of 54.6%. Belfast North was the Constituency with the 5th highest proportion of EDP participants who subsequently started a business (ranked 5 out of 18).

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Analysis

Economic Analysis Reduncies

To the right is a table showing the redundancies in Northern Ireland by constituency. In 2011, there were 97 confirmed redundancies in Belfast North. This represents 5.4% of all confirmed redundancies in Northern Ireland in 2011. Belfast North had the 7th highest number of redundancies in 2011. The problem with people being let go from their workplace is that there is a large proportion of people with low education levels and therefore makes getting different work much harder, that is why there is a need for more training and educational facilities in North Belfast.

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Analysis

Economic Analysis
It is clear that there is a need for a new training facility in North Belfast, there are very few training facilities in the locality and one of these is the Ashton Centre in the New Lodge.

The Ashton Centre provides Employment & Training Services and is working towards the sustained economic, social and physical regeneration of the area through a long term people-centred development strategy.

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Timescale

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Timescale

The previous section of the report presented the analysis which was carried out regarding North Belfast and the issues surrounding the economy of Northern Ireland and how that has been translated into North Belfast. Issues of the workforce and the weakness of the productive sector. This section will discuss how planning, design and regeneration initiatives can respond to these problems. The objectives and research proposals have been categorised into short, medium and long term proposals. Short term is considered to be achievable within approximately 5 years, medium term proposals approximately 10-15 years and long term proposals may be anything between 15 years and beyond. These time ranges are estimates only and many objectives and proposals may fall into more than one time frame. The proposals are not designed to strictly fall into any exact time frame, rather they have been designed to intertwine and build upon one another.

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Vision

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Vision

To physically reconnect North Belfast with the city centre and wider employment and service hubs by addressing the issues of the economy of North Belfast and to the wider city area.

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Objectives

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Three Steps to Boost the North Belfast Economy

Short term - To offer more diverse training opportunities in order to improve local peoples working skills. Medium term - To develop an educational industry and to develop the social economy. Long term - To create competitive investment and improve the living environment.

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Objectives

Short Term
The short term objectives are based around improving the overall economy of North Belfast in order to encourage investment. As the analysis revealed there is a poor skilled workforce throughout North Belfast and many with no qualifications. These issues coupled with the low levels of social inclusion and low productivity throughout the area significantly restricts investment options.

Medium Term
Building on the improvements on the workforce, the medium term objectives are based around developing a knowledge-based economy along with the social economy. Increasing the investment possibilities within North Belfast. The proposals will aim these objectives through the creation of a number of language schools which adds another element to North Belfast. The proposal is a step away from the traditional manufacturing economy that no longer exists to provide an alternative. This new knowledge based economy and social economy will improve even further the investments options open to North Belfast. Alongside this will be a strong link with the new University campus to add further options for North Belfast. All of this along with the short term improvements will help to provide new employment options for the people of North Belfast.

Long Term
The long term objectives are based on addressing of the investment options and the type of communities within North Belfast. Once the short and medium term objectives have been completed, it will hopefully result in an educated workforce who are now skilled to work in the knowledge based economy. This new found skilled workforce will be more attractive for investors, which will hopefully result in new forms of investment being implemented in the area. The potential investment, knowledge economy, connection with the city will hopefully help to create more cohesive, confident and prosperous communities, which will hopefully result in an increased population in the area. In result, this strategy will help to try and improve the social, environmental and economic standing of North Belfast.

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Short-Term

Aims: - Raise the skills level of the whole workforce; - Raise productivity; - Increase levels of social inclusion; - Secure North Belfasts future in a global marketplace. The short term proposal is split into a number of sections; first is to develop the essential skills that will be required to perform sufficiently in the labour market. The essential skills that every person will require range from a standard level of literacy, numeracy and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). These are the mandatory skills that are needed to ensure any existence in the labour market. More developed skills are also required, for example, skills to help with employability. These range from team work, simple problem solving and flexibility. The final skill set that will be required in the new knowledge based economy that has developed in many cities is that of the work based skills, these are essential for the progression in the labour market, these skills include self assessment, independent working and professionalism. All of these skills will be developed within North Belfast, through the implementation of the proposal.

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Short-Term

The need to educate the workforce, will require the development of new training centres; there is a vast amount of vacant land throughout the whole of Belfast, that could be renovated for the ideal purpose. For example; using existing industrial facilities within North Belfast such as the Docks area, York Road, etc. There is an overarching goal for trying to combine with local university campus like University of Ulster. The goal is to a strong relationship between schools, training centres and the university and to provide facilities for learning. The university will promote learning of all ages with the creation of scholarships and other incentives to help attract people into further education. The need to building training centres within communities, that helps to provide for the needs of all ages and all people within these communities. A good example that this strategy has taken some ideas from is that of Spring Valley Community Center, San Diego County, USA. It provides a good basis to work from, the ideas will be translated into North Belfast to help with best practice and implementation.

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Spring Valley Community Centre

The County of San Diego provide a vast variety of services for San Diegans need to prosper, enjoy and share civic pride. The centre offer s a wide variety of leisure services and lifelong learning and skills for all ages. It is conveniently located adjacent to the local part that features picnicking, play areas and basketball. The motto of the Spring Valley Community Center is Where we create community through people, parks and programs. The center offers a wide variety of leisure services and lifelong learning skills for all ages.

The County of San Diego has enhanced the quality of life by providing opportunities for high level parks and recreation experiences and preserving regionally significant natural and cultural resources. This is something similar this strategy is planning to try and create within North Belfast.

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Location of New Training Centres

From the map, it shows a wide array of vacant land where appropriate locations will be chosen to be redeveloped. It is veryimportant that a good location is picked, it is important that the training facility is located on an arterial route so that both sides of the community feel safe. It should also be located as close as possible to the city centre on the Northside as this will be location of the new University of Ulster campus which will be located on Frederick Street, it is vital that the training centre is located near the University of Ulster and that links are strenghtened between the two facilities to improve community relations between the students and residents and foe the University of Ulster to help the training facility improve.

The areas in the light red show the vacant sites at present in North Belfast, the largest is The Girdwood site on the Crumlin Road.

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Medium-Term

Aims

- - -

Develop new educational opportunities for North Belfast, e.g. Language Schools Strengthen links with the city and the new University of Ulster campus. Develop the existing social economy.

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Medium-Term

New Educational Opportunities: As mentioned previously, there is a wide array of vacant land within the whole Belfast, this opens up a number of options into how to redevelop these sites, it provides the possibility of new form of educational opportunities. First, the proposal intends to establish a number of language schools, this opens up the opportunities for both children and adults to further the education. This can open them to more possible employment options, these schools will be open to UK and Non-UK residents to strengthen cohesion within the community. For businesses it will add a new dimension to ensure investment from global companies, this is reinforced by the close proximity of the city airport.

Possibility for the creation a number of schools for the arts (art, drama and music); to help and provide more options for the people of North Belfast to better themselves and allow them to follow the economic path they want, to stop them being restricted.

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Medium-Term

It is evident from the vision the intention is to try and to physically reconnect North Belfast with the city centre and wider employment and service hubs by addressing the issues of the economy of North Belfast and to the wider city area. The proposal aims to try and find methods to overcome the existing divides within the city, the creation of new forms of employment and skills will hopefully open the possibility of stronger links between North Belfast and the City Centre, with residents of North Belfast being more confident and comfortable to go into the city centre. The plan is physically plan new developments such as the training centres or language schools, that lead towards the city centre to hopefully result in an increase in the footfall going for the North to the centre of Belfast. Alongside these new developments, the strategy hopes to try and create a strong link with the new University of Ulster campus that in the process of being completed. It will hopefully act as a source of employment, integration and overall help to boost the whole of North Belfast. Hopefully the University of Ulster campus will work closely with existing schools and the new training centres and school of arts, to help provide more incentives for people to try and better educate themselves. Through the creation of scholarships and competitions etc. The plan therefore hopefully will succeed in increasing the levels of social inclusion and integration.

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Medium-Term

Improving the social economy; is key for the success of the North Belfast economy, it is clear that traditional manufacturing industries have but disappeared from the area and this type of economy is a good alternative. Social economy refers to businesses between the private sector and public sector. There is a strong emphasis on social entrepreneurship which deals with generating income through the marketplace for the benefit of the community This social economy will to provide more local employment as the manufacturing industry once did. Only existing social economic hub within North Belfast is the Ashton centre, which employs We more than 120 people with a large majority from local area and our annual turnover, as of August 2011 was 3.5 million. In April 2012 we are took over the operational management of New Lodge Youth Club and this was agreed by all community organisations that this is the best way of serving young people in the local area. ACT invested in a manager for Youth and Arts who oversees the development. The strategy will draw on work similar to that seen in Dublin, within the dockland area, I will go into more detail on the next page.

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Dublin Docklands Development Authority

Started in 1997 to socially, economically and physically regenerate the Dublins docklands. It is now home to the European Headquarters of Google and Facebook. In 1987 there were very little jobs in the area, by 2007 there was roughly 40,000 high-tech and unskilled jobs. In 1997 -school drop out rate was 65%, reduced in 2006 while progress to 3rd level education increased by 10% between these years. There was also a big increase in the population of the docklands area with all types of housing being built. There DDDA achieved these milestones by investing in the community by sponsoring community events, offering college scholarships for locals, offering first class training facilities and setting up a partnership with some of the universities in Dublin.

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Medium-Term

Aims; - to create competitive investment and living environment; - Attract some more knowledge based industries like IT, design industry; - Create cohesive, confident and prosperous communities.

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Long-Term

The long term goal for North Belfast is to create competitive investment and living environment. This long term goal will only be achieved through the successful implementation of the short and medium goals. As the educating of the workforce will open up different forms of employment that would come to North Belfast. The creation of the knowledge based economy helps to attract more knowledge based employment in the form of IT centres, IT companies and design companies etc. This will hopefully lead to the North Belfast along with the whole of Belfast being able to establish itself in the global market place.

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Long-Term

The overall long term strategy create cohesive, confident and prosperous communities; working towards creating sustainable communities within North Belfast, which can therefore be translated into the rest of Belfast. Again these goals can only be achieved through the success of the short and medium term proposals, the reconnecting of North Belfast with the city centre will hopefully create a common census of harmonious living, with better integration and understanding throughout. The long term will work towards creating sustainable communities, defined as; places where people want to live and work now and in the future. They meet the diverse needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment and contribute to a high quality of life (ODPM, 2005). This new confidence derived from skills learned along with this new understanding will hopefully help to build the foundations of a new type of community, one that is cohesive and prosperous. This sharing of facilities of the new training centres, language schools and arts school will hopefully increase social inclusion throughout North Belfast and hopefully result in a reduction of tension between communities to help overall create these new communities. The end result of this result will end in harmonious living and move toward One Belfast for All.

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Conclusion

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Conclusion

This section of the report has presented the proposals which aim to address the main issues surrounding the economy of North Belfast. The proposals have been split into short, medium and long term proposals and these have been designed to intertwine and build upon one another. The short term goals are based around making immediate improvements to the education and qualifications of North Belfast, which tends to be quite poor and in some cases non-existent. This will help to improve the low levels of social inclusion and the productivity within the whole area. Specific plans to create a number of new and modern training centres providing new opportunities for all of the community of North Belfast will help them perform better in the labour market. In result will help to lay the foundations of creating the conditions of a new knowledge based economy to open up investment options for North Belfast. Medium term proposals are based around taking the improvements made in the short term to strengthen the connections between North Belfast and the wider employment and service hubs of the city. The medium term proposal shows the move away from having traditional manufacturing at the core of North Belfast. This move towards a knowledge based economy while still developing the social economy of the area. Provision for new educational opportunities through language schools and schools for the arts, will provide new career options available to people in North Belfast. Developing the social economy is vital for boosting the economy of North Belfast. Continuous work will be done to strengthen the links between north Belfast and the rest of the city. The long term success is predicated on the success of all of the other aims and proposals. The successes of the short and medium term provide the foundation for helping to attract new forms of investment mainly that of knowledge based industries. Along with this, the reconnection and new found self confidence (through skills acquired) helps to move away from contested communities and move towards more communal living and understanding.

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Impact of Strategy

The project has been undertaken in the context of improving the economy of North Belfast and how this can be translated to the wider area and other areas of Northern Ireland. The underlying emphasis of the strategy is to improve the communities within North Belfast, this move towards sustainable communities, a more cohesive and understanding community. The project is specifically concerned with dealing with the high levels of deprivation and community segregation. The focus is based around the vast array of economic inactivity and unequipped and under educated workforce and how this has impacted on the North Belfast economy. The analysis was carried on the wider level of Northern Ireland then it focused in on just North Belfast. At the Northern Ireland scale the results showed that North Belfast was one the lowest in terms of investment being brought into the area. Alongside this the analysis highlighted that with this low investment it has resulted in the third highest number of redundancies, where North Belfast represented 10.7% of all redundancies of the whole of Northern Ireland in 2010. with a total of 224 claimants. To address these issues a number of objectives were formulated and proposals were presented which are designed to achieve these objectives. The main proposals are as follows: First, was to educate the existing workforce, they at the current time are not suited for the type of economy that is emerging in Belfast. Proposal of opening the community to new employment options, e.g. Language school, school for the arts.

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Stronger connections with the city centre, physically, developing new training centres in close proximity to the centre, socially providing conditions for people to access new activities. Close relationship with University of Ulster helps to maximise the integration and social inclusion. We Plan to make not just North Belfast, but the whole city to become home to competitive investment and living environment. This new educated workforce lays the foundation for new knowledge based industries to invest in North Belfast and then Belfast. Creation of sustainable communities, focusing on more integration and understanding. To ultimately try and create One Belfast for all.

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