Unused land 'could house 20,000'

The think-tank say the red area shows unused land in Belfast city centre

More than two square kilometres of wasted land in Belfast could provide housing for more than 20,000 people, a think-tank has said.

The Forum for Alternative Belfast said land was lying idle despite the city having a 10-year construction boom.

"Years of bad or mediocre redevelopment have isolated large swathes of the city," spokesman Mark Hackett said.

"It's hard to believe that an area the size of 500 football pitches is not being more productively used."

Mr Hackett said the land was all located within a two kilometre walk of the city centre.

"This important, valuable land could be better-used to make Belfast a more vibrant, cosmopolitan city that isn't disjointed by ad-hoc development," he added.

"We want to find out exactly how many people could be living within one and a half miles of the City Hall, however, our preliminary study indicates in excess of 20,000 extra people would comfortably be housed in the fractured inner city.

"With that comes the challenge of making new schools, parks and connecting with existing communities in an equitable manner - and doing so with development of enduring built quality."

The forum is bringing more than 70 of Belfast's leading architects, engineers, urban planners, arts experts, and community leaders together in a four-day 'summer school' to develop workable ideas to transform the city.

The 'Fill Up Belfast' project is being held from 17 August until 21 August at Queen's University Belfast.

"This is an intensive, voluntary effort by over 70 members to show civic leadership in the city," Mr Hackett said.

"The five-day 'think tank' will examine what would happen if we stopped leaving the development of our city to chance and instead started to plan a common vision for how we see ourselves in 2020.

"We want everyone to take part in the wider discussions.

"Belfast is our city. It's our environment, and it's essential that we create and develop a place that's accessible, connected and safe."