The 5 C’s Public Realm Project
The Five Cs Project is the first project to come forward from the Developers Contributions Framework and is a public realm scheme which aims to enhance several areas within Belfast city centre which have recently seen, or will soon see, significant private sector investment in surrounding buildings, but where the streetscape is poor and in need of upgrading. The streets included in this project are adjacent to previous Public Realm improvement works such as Belfast Streets Ahead Phase 1 and in effect the proximity to these improvements has accentuated their current poor condition. The Five Cs project area comprises College Court, College Avenue (from King Street to College Street), College Street (from College Avenue to Queen Street), Callender Street and Chichester Street (south side from Victoria Street to Donegall Square East and the north side from Arthur Street to Callender Street).
The project aims to create a high quality, sustainable public realm with improved paving, street lighting, soft landscaping, street furniture and public artwork such as feature lighting. The intended outcome is that it will contribute positively to the economic, environmental and social vitality of the project area; that it will encourage businesses into these areas; that it will create more attractive civic spaces to entice users into; that it will create or improve upon a sense of safety within these areas that will encourage people to visit, work, shop and live therein.
The aims/objectives/outcomes of the Five C’s Project have been devised based on the Public Realm Strategy principles, the Belfast City Centre Public Realm Masterplan (and update) and are as follows:
To have improved the physical appearance of College Court, College Street and College Avenue by investing in improvements to pavements, carriageway and street lighting;
To have improved the physical appearance of Chichester Street by investing in improvements to pavements, carriageway, soft landscaping and street lighting;
To have improved the physical appearance of Callender Street by investing in improvements to pavements, carriageway and street lighting.
In developing the design for The Five Cs, the project team will focus on achieving the following aspirations:
To contribute to establishing Belfast as a place where people want to visit, live, work and play
A place that local population are proud of and visitors want to return to
Design streets to be inclusive
Foster economic growth by providing a pleasant environment stimulating inward investment
Enhance pedestrian safety
Improve space for active travel (walking and cycling)
“Greening” the city
Providing infrastructure that contributes to air quality improvements
Creating sustainable urban drainage systems where feasible.
For more information on this project, visit the Department for Communities website.
