Belfast’s Maritime Mile: Where Heritage Meets Innovation
HUB-IN_Belfast’s Maritime Mile
A new roadmap will guide the transformation of Belfast’s waterfront into an innovation and entrepreneurship hub
It’s a fascinating experience to walk Belfast’s Maritime Mile. Impressive metallic structures coexist with natural elements; above all, the River Lagan – and the landscape is shaped by a blend of industrial, commercial and leisure uses. Fundamentally, the area has a rich maritime heritage, evident in its abundance of quays and docks. Indeed, it’s home to what was once the world’s largest shipyard, Harland & Wolff, employing over 50,000 people in its heyday.
Belfast’s city centre is no more than a 15 to 20 minute walk from the waterfront, yet for decades, citizens turned their back on the river – a consequence of its largely industrial use. In more recent years, Belfast’s Maritime Mile has started to benefit from extensive regeneration, with waterfront development being driven primarily by the private sector alongside a number of key heritage, education and tourism projects, supported by public funding. The Maritime Mile is an initiative developed and led by the heritage charity, Maritime Belfast Trust, owners of the hugely successful Titanic Belfast visitor experience and SS Nomadic, the last remaining White Star ship.
More recently, the area has been become a priority for Innovation City Belfast (ICB), the city’s strategic partnership for innovation. ICB have established Queen’s Island an Innovation District in order to support world-class university research and the growth of some of the city’s most exciting industry clusters. The work of ICB, complemented by Belfast City Council’s Smart Belfast urban innovation programme, aims to drive collaborative opportunities for digital innovation to support the city’s economic and societal goals.
The EU funded HUB-IN project is now building on this by supporting and engaging local communities to help bring this historically important area back to life through innovation.
BELFAST HUB-IN: LOCAL COMMUNITIES LEAD THE REGENERATION
OF THE MARITIME MILE
The Belfast HUB-IN is a Smart Belfast project. A partnership between Belfast City Council’s City Innovation Office and the Maritime Belfast Trust, it will be the broker between the city’s strategic ambitions for innovation and the Maritime Mile.
The HUB-IN project’s focus is to explore how creative industries and cutting-edge technology companies can collaborate with existing businesses and communities on the Maritime Mile in ways that animate and enhance this unique heritage destination for all locals and visitors.
The mission is to turn Belfast’s waterfront into a people-centric, revitalised, lively destination, home to a range of innovative and creative entrepreneurs, where the community thrives and to create an environment where local creative industries work with communities to enhance, preserve, and sustain heritage, whilst sharing their creative and innovative skill sets.
Over the last 18 months, the Belfast HUB-IN has engaged with local people and stakeholders through surveys, focus groups, meetings and events to find out more about local attitudes to the Maritime Mile and identify its strengths, opportunities, threats and weaknesses. Feedback reaffirmed people’s deep appreciation of heritage; however it also identified challenges including a lack of evening activities; poor connectivity to, from and along the Maritime Mile; the displacement of older communities; the risk of trading local character for new developments; and the tourism sector not fully recovering post-COVID.
“HUB-IN will support Maritime Belfast Trust in our journey to transform Belfast’s waterfront into a vibrant, innovative waterfront destination. A waterfront with stories and character – past, present and future – which retains its heritage identity, is locally embraced and internationally acclaimed.” – Gerry Hughes, Trustee, Maritime Belfast Trust (Co-Design Workshop November 2021)
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VIBRANT, ACCESSIBLE,
HERITAGE DESTINATION FOR EVERYBODY
Belfast HUB-IN strives to connect the past with the future through regenerating the waterfront area.
The main opportunities are:
- stimulating innovation and creativity along the Maritime Mile
- exploring new, innovative ways to preserve and promote the heritage, capturing and telling local stories
- supporting a new Maritime Mile economy that extends across the waterfront and into the evening, showcasing culture and arts through partnership working
- co-designing places and experiences with local people.
An inclusive, accessible, open, sustainable, creative and future-proof area that local communities can feel is their own, visitors can enjoy, and enterprises can invest in.
The roadmap published a few months ago is the pole star that defines the path to achieve the Maritime Mile’s enhancement by implementing a series of concrete actions. Have a look at the roadmap to find out more about the Belfast HUB-IN project.
For more information on the Belfast HUB-IN project visit the Maritime Belfast Trust website.
