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CONTENTS
Research team
Statement of Thanks
Executive Summary
Introduction
Key Findings and Recommendations
Chapter 1: Introduction and Background to the Study
Chapter 2: Population Statistics: Belfast and Donegall Pass, 1971-2001
Chapter 3: Internal Migration and Community Dynamics
Chapter 4: Housing and the Environment
Chapter 5: Health and Wellbeing
Chapter 6: Children and Young People
Chapter 7: Education in Context
Chapter 8: Education and Training Issues in Donegall Pass
Chapter 9: The Role of Community in Regeneration
Appendix 1 Donegall Pass Profile
Appendix 2 Focus Group Topics/Questions
Appendix 3 Recruitment Form
Queen’s University Research Team:
School of Planning, Architecture & Civil Engineering (web link)
Ken Sterrett (Publications for Ken Sterrett) (Academic Staff Home Page)
Joanne Jordan (Consultant Researcher)
School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology (web link)
Ian Shuttleworth (Link)
Chris Lloyd
Gemma Catney
School of Public Health Medicine and Primary Care (web link)
Karen Galway
Dermot O’Reilly
School of Psychology (web link)
Karen Trew
Julie Harrison (Consultant Researcher)
Alex Forsythe
School of Education (web link)
Rob Mark
Tony Gallagher (Publications from 2000)
Statement of Thanks
Queen's University and the Donegall Pass Community Forum would like to express sincere thanks to all those who have taken part in interviews and focus groups carried out in the area during the research period. The research was funded by Belfast Local Strategic Partnership (BLSP) and has been designed to inform the community’s discussions about the regeneration of the Donegall Pass area.
As always, the researchers carrying out interviews and discussion groups are indebted to the members of the community who kindly agreed to give their time and to share their opinions in an open and frank way. For this we would like to thank you.
Additional thanks goes to Irene Davey, Gary Skillen and all the staff at the Donegall Pass Community Centre; to Harry Todd of the Donegall Pass Community Forum and IT tutor and local resident Gail McKissock, each of whom voluntarily provided support and assistance to the project.
The research team, led by Dr Ken Sterrett from the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPACE), comprised staff and students from a variety of disciplines in Queen's University Belfast, along with Community Regeneration Officer, Alan Jones, of the Donegall Pass Community Forum and Stephanie Green, member of the Donegall Pass Community Group.
Executive Summary
Introduction
The summary of findings and recommendations presented below, reinforce the view that the issues facing inner city communities are multidimensional in nature and are often interconnected. It is clear, for example, that the quality, tenure and availability of housing affects the health and well-being of a community. Similarly, the levels of educational achievement and general educational health will influence the dynamics, vibrancy and, indeed, organisational capacity of a community. Regeneration, therefore, is about more than the physical development of an area, important though that is. Regeneration is about responding to the broad, interrelated needs of a community and developing that community as a sustainable neighbourhood.
This study, at least in part, was initially inspired by the shift to a new form of planning known as spatial planning. This new approach is being developed elsewhere within the UK and beyond as a more visionary, community-led and action orientated form of planning. In its most innovative manifestation, it also has become a central component of a broader process of community planning.
The Donegall Pass study, has in some senses, tested the theory underpinning the new spatial planning paradigm, at least at a micro neighbourhood level. In rather simple terms, the theory suggests that the planned spatial development of an area should be the outcome of a broader analysis of community needs, so that new or regenerated physical development would be seen as one dimension of a broader socio-economic, cultural and environmental plan or strategy for the area. Significantly, too, the theory highlights the need to see the development of any given community area within a broader frame. For Donegall Pass this requires a developed understanding of how the area can contribute to the wider regeneration of inner south Belfast and indeed the city as a whole.
As noted in the introduction, the Donegall Pass study was undertaken within the Contested Cities: Urban Universities (CU2) research project at Queen’s University. Two key values underpinning, and, indeed, driving much of the CU2’s work, have influenced the approach to the research in Donegall Pass. Firstly, in CU2’s view regeneration in Belfast should be twinned with reconciliation. This requires deliberate understanding of how any regeneration can contribute to the ongoing processes of reconciliation in the city. More particularly, it asks how development projects and, indeed, other interventions can contribute to a shared future. This can take many forms, but in the case of spatial development it promotes the development of shared and inclusive spaces.
Secondly, CU2 research promotes the concept and indeed the practices of the ‘engaged university’. A city-based university, such as Queen’s, is not a stand-alone entity within its given location. It is a functional and dynamic institution that contributes not only to the global economy, but also, towards the development of the city within which it resides. Although urban universities, such as Queen's, have international linkages, one of its most important assets is the local environment and people within which it is situated. Thus working and building partnerships with local communities is an important part of university activity. Donegall Pass is one of a number of communities that is a near neighbour of the university, and yet it is socially and culturally distant from one of the city’s best intellectual sources.
Bearing all of the above in mind and considering the insights offered by the following chapters, the research team would suggest that the following strategic points should guide the regeneration and development of Donegall Pass.
The sustainability of the Donegall Pass community is highly dependent upon its ability to develop and deliver a vision that is:
- inclusive in terms of traditional Protestant working class culture, ethnic minority cultures and new residents;
- inclusive of the young, the elderly and women;
- distinctive in terms of defining its role within inner south Belfast and the wider city; and
- connected to a wider inclusive vision of a shared city. Sustainable communities in Belfast, will be those that embrace and contribute to a shared future for the city.
Since the research was undertaken, Donegall Pass Community Forum has sustained and developed the regeneration momentum through a number of initiatives, including setting up a Development Company. The research leader, Dr Ken Sterrett, continues to be involved as an advisor to the community and is on the Board of the Donegall Pass Development Company.
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