ILEX Conference  ‘Regenerating and Transforming our City – Learning from International Best Practice’ – 21 May 2009

I am delighted to welcome you all to this conference, particularly those of you who have travelled from outside Ireland to share your considerable experience and expertise with us today.

You are visiting us at an exciting time in the regeneration of this city as we move into a new phase of development and regeneration.

Happily, Derry or Londonderry(!) has travelled a long way from the conflict that cost it so much in terms of human suffering, physical damage and lost opportunities.

The agenda for this city now is one of transformation; of working together for a shared future that offers new opportunities and a better quality of life for its people.

I have said we want to make Derry a world-class example of urban regeneration.  But how do we do this?

The guiding principles of urban regeneration can be summed up in 3 words – people places and potential.

 

Let me say a word about people first….

Derry has a growing and vibrant population boasting a rich culture and heritage.

The City boasts many leading figures in the Arts and Literature and in sporting and many other fields – and it I may say so – even a Nobel Peace Prize Winner!

The population is also young and better educated and skilled than previous generations – so the potential is there.

But we cannot close our eyes to the fact that people continue to be divided by political and religious differences and even physically separated by the beautiful river that flows through the City.

I also believe that with persistent long-term unemployment and large areas of relative disadvantage, people are divided in terms of income and opportunity.

Yet nearly all of Derry’s people want the same thing!  Everyone wants to see a prosperous, tolerant growing City providing its citizens with economic opportunity and the chance to live together in harmony.  Nearly everyone wants to see Derry take its rightful place as the second City in Northern Ireland and the first City of the North-West of this island.

Ladies and gentlemen it is my belief that healing divisions and maintaining social cohesion are key elements of world-class regeneration.

We want the building and the investment and the prosperity – but we will only succeed fully when we start to really share the City and share the benefits of growing prosperity across all neighbourhoods.

I believe the people of Derry have the will to do this.  I believe that they, like me, want to build a shared future.

 

Let me turn now to places.  Before I talk about specific regeneration projects – let’s talk about this place:  Derry/Londonderry: what a beautiful place it actually is!  This City has a unique topography.  The sweep of the River Foyle as it flows out to the sea and the rising hills on either side create a perfect setting for an ambitious city.  And the jewel in the crown is the walled city with its unique history and presence.  So our world-class regeneration is starting with some very good raw material!

In every successful regeneration we think of the new places – new buildings and landmarks, new spaces, and developments which come to symbolise the positive change.

And Derry is no different…..

Much of the transformation we want is being achieved through a series of strategic and ambitious regeneration projects that are designed to create landmark new developments, renew facilities and revitalise communities.

Underpinning our work on physical regeneration projects is the belief that high quality urban design is absolutely central to the achievement of the desired social, economic and environmental benefits.

If you do have the opportunity to stretch your legs at lunchtime you will get a flavour of the change underway when you see some of the recently completed projects at Newmarket Street, Artillery Street or indeed the wonderfully restored Northern Counties building.  Each of these has in its own way brought new vitality to the city centre.

I doubt if you will be able to miss the complete remodeling of the Guildhall Square and Waterloo Place that is now underway right in the heart of the city.  This project covers those two key city centre public spaces together with a number of surrounding streets and is by far the most significant investment ever made in public spaces within Derry.

It will create a series of high quality areas and streetscapes running from Waterloo Place through Guildhall Square and linking with the exciting new foot and cycle bridge which ILEX launched recently.

All of the people of the city will benefit from having better public spaces that set the context for greater social interaction and facilitate a variety of cultural and entertainment activities.

And of course the feel good factor that good public spaces create will also have an impact on tourism and the local economy by creating a positive impression to visitors that will be long remembered.

And again, we want to invest in shared spaces open to Catholic and Protestant, rich and less well-off, young and old – and shared during the day and at night.

I believe we are making progress with some of the fine work already completed and some of the projects planned in the near future.

But our places must go beyond the theoretically appealing.  World-class regeneration is not just measured by winning architectural accolades – although it probably always does.

Success is when the places actually work.  When they clearly breathe new life into areas and add to the quality of the day-to-day experience.

However while it is important to recognise the achievements that have been made and the work that is coming on stream, the process of urban renewal must continue to be widened and strengthened.  We must strive to achieve success in regeneration by combining economic development with social justice in a sustainable urban environment.

 

The success and dynamism of any city is built on the choices made by the people who decide to work, visit, study, invest or bring up a family there – and this brings me to the question of potential.

I believe that Derry with its resourceful people and its unique places has enormous potential for social and economic development.  I really do.

We must work collectively if we are to successfully achieve the full potential of this city so that our communities and our commercial enterprises prosper together.

Regeneration is clearly collaborative in nature and the delivery of urban regeneration is about working with a range of stakeholders including Central and Local Government, the private sector and community representatives – all focused on creating positive change in the lives of people.

I believe we have quite simply no choice but to work together toward this goal.

Today’s conference follows on from recent Future Search work.  It is a broad based process that allowed those who live in Derry, those who work here, and those who hold positions of influence, to come together and collectively help inform and shape how Derry will develop over the next 25 years.

That approach follows from a clear recognition that regeneration must be progressed in a way that enjoys the confidence of local people.

Regeneration plans and strategies grounded in the approval and confidence of local people, harnessing their aspirations and using these to shape policy are, therefore, more likely to translate analysis and opportunities into action.

I’d like to acknowledge that Roy McNulty and his team at Ilex are working on that basis – and I wish Roy well in the ongoing work to achieve a single coherent regeneration strategy that everyone is buying into.

World-class regeneration respects everyone’s opinion and grasps everyone’s good ideas.

Today’s conference provides an opportunity for all of us to learn from the experiences of leading regeneration practitioners from outside Derry.   

It is important that we are open to ideas and suggestions from outside.

I know that you will fully engage with the distinguished panel and capture all their good ideas.

We are on the right track in Derry:  teamwork, unity of purpose, respect, courage these will deliver world-class outcomes in regeneration.

And beyond that a prosperous, shared future for this City.