Invest Aberdeen News
Masterplan will breath new life into Aberdeen city centre
Exciting proposals which will help to shape the heart of Aberdeen for the future will be revealed to the public this week as the City Centre Masterplan project reaches an important milestone.
Comments from the people of Aberdeen around what they think is needed to improve the city centre have helped to shape the evolving Masterplan. The plans, detailing proposals which will secure the long-term future of the city centre, will be revealed in the coming days as Aberdeen City Council and consultants BDP embark on the next phase of public consultation.
Aberdeen remains one of the UK's key business and cultural destinations, but it is widely recognised that the city centre does not reflect the area's success.
Key themes for the development and regeneration of the city centre have emerged following consultation with the people who live and work in Aberdeen, as well as a range of business, educational and community stakeholders.
The proposals, which could help deliver an additional 11,000 jobs and add £290million to the city's gross annual income, include:
• Queen's Square: The transformation of the Queen Street area into a new mixed-use urban quarter;
• Castlegate/Castlehill: A vibrant public square will reinvigorate Castlegate/Castlehill;
• Denburn Valley: The reawakening of the Denburn Valley as the setting for a new generation of city living;
• Heart of the City: Union Street gets the space it deserves through pedestrianisation of part of Aberdeen's historic main street;
• Union Street West: A contemporary business/retail/leisure feel to the west end of Union Street and the renovation of Golden Square and Bon Accord Square as accessible green spaces;
• Station Gateway: A much enhanced gateway and better pedestrian routes to and from the railway station to radically improve first impressions of Aberdeen;
• South Dee: A new pedestrian bridge across the Dee to link to a new residential community at South Dee and enhanced riverside promenade;
• North Dee: A significant new office and business quarter at North Dee.
The multi-million pound proposals will be showcased at a series of public consultation events in and around Aberdeen from 14-29 March, beginning at the International Market on Saturday. The plans, the public response to them and the project delivery plan will then be brought before Aberdeen City Council for approval in the summer.
Councillor Marie Boulton, who chairs the cross-party City Centre Regeneration Working Group, said: "We have a wonderful opportunity to deliver a lasting legacy for Aberdeen and its people. It's terrific to see the public, the Council and the business and educational communities working together to produce a plan to maintain our city's rightful position as a leading world energy city.
"The proposals are challenging, but the opportunity to transform our city centre for the better and ensure Aberdeen remains a busy, flourishing, cosmopolitan city which continues to experience strong growth and attract international business interest as well as increased tourism levels, simply cannot be missed.
"Regeneration is about more than bricks and mortar and so the Masterplan will also give us a platform on which to build up and energise the city's cultural scene, with more performance and events space for the benefit of citizens, visitors and ther performers themselves.
"The public have played a very significant role throughout the consultation process in telling us what they wanted from their city and we believe our response reflects a shared ambition to shape Aberdeen for the long-term through robust, costed and achievable development."
Councillor Boulton added: "Our vision is to deliver a new city centre which Aberdeen, a truly global city, needs and deserves. I would urge as many people as possible to take a look at the plans and share their views."
Aberdeen City Council appointed a multi-disciplinary team headed by internationally renowned masterplanning consultancy BDP to work with the public, businesses and a range of stakeholder organisations to draw up the City Centre Masterplan and Delivery Programme. The proposals have already drawn positive comments from city business leaders.
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Robert Collier, said: "A masterplan that we can all support and all help to deliver will be worth its weight in gold.
"It will be based on citizens' feedback and comment; it will help us deal constructively with dispute and dissent; it will give us a Council with a single city centre vision owned by all political parties, thus removing damaging uncertainty; it will provide context for assessing individual developments; it will make funding easier to secure.
"To secure this huge prize we all have to give a little to win a lot."
His views were echoed by VisitAberdeen chief executive, Steve Harris, who added: "We all know that there are bits of our city centre that need work. This visionary plan gives us a once in a generation opportunity to get the work done. We will all have areas that we see as better or higher priority than others, but I would urge everyone to get behind it and make sure we deliver it, together, as a city."
Full details
Comments from the people of Aberdeen around what they think is needed to improve the city centre have helped to shape the evolving Masterplan. The plans, detailing proposals which will secure the long-term future of the city centre, will be revealed in the coming days as Aberdeen City Council and consultants BDP embark on the next phase of public consultation.
Aberdeen remains one of the UK's key business and cultural destinations, but it is widely recognised that the city centre does not reflect the area's success.
Key themes for the development and regeneration of the city centre have emerged following consultation with the people who live and work in Aberdeen, as well as a range of business, educational and community stakeholders.
The proposals, which could help deliver an additional 11,000 jobs and add £290million to the city's gross annual income, include:
• Queen's Square: The transformation of the Queen Street area into a new mixed-use urban quarter;
• Castlegate/Castlehill: A vibrant public square will reinvigorate Castlegate/Castlehill;
• Denburn Valley: The reawakening of the Denburn Valley as the setting for a new generation of city living;
• Heart of the City: Union Street gets the space it deserves through pedestrianisation of part of Aberdeen's historic main street;
• Union Street West: A contemporary business/retail/leisure feel to the west end of Union Street and the renovation of Golden Square and Bon Accord Square as accessible green spaces;
• Station Gateway: A much enhanced gateway and better pedestrian routes to and from the railway station to radically improve first impressions of Aberdeen;
• South Dee: A new pedestrian bridge across the Dee to link to a new residential community at South Dee and enhanced riverside promenade;
• North Dee: A significant new office and business quarter at North Dee.
The multi-million pound proposals will be showcased at a series of public consultation events in and around Aberdeen from 14-29 March, beginning at the International Market on Saturday. The plans, the public response to them and the project delivery plan will then be brought before Aberdeen City Council for approval in the summer.
Councillor Marie Boulton, who chairs the cross-party City Centre Regeneration Working Group, said: "We have a wonderful opportunity to deliver a lasting legacy for Aberdeen and its people. It's terrific to see the public, the Council and the business and educational communities working together to produce a plan to maintain our city's rightful position as a leading world energy city.
"The proposals are challenging, but the opportunity to transform our city centre for the better and ensure Aberdeen remains a busy, flourishing, cosmopolitan city which continues to experience strong growth and attract international business interest as well as increased tourism levels, simply cannot be missed.
"Regeneration is about more than bricks and mortar and so the Masterplan will also give us a platform on which to build up and energise the city's cultural scene, with more performance and events space for the benefit of citizens, visitors and ther performers themselves.
"The public have played a very significant role throughout the consultation process in telling us what they wanted from their city and we believe our response reflects a shared ambition to shape Aberdeen for the long-term through robust, costed and achievable development."
Councillor Boulton added: "Our vision is to deliver a new city centre which Aberdeen, a truly global city, needs and deserves. I would urge as many people as possible to take a look at the plans and share their views."
Aberdeen City Council appointed a multi-disciplinary team headed by internationally renowned masterplanning consultancy BDP to work with the public, businesses and a range of stakeholder organisations to draw up the City Centre Masterplan and Delivery Programme. The proposals have already drawn positive comments from city business leaders.
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Robert Collier, said: "A masterplan that we can all support and all help to deliver will be worth its weight in gold.
"It will be based on citizens' feedback and comment; it will help us deal constructively with dispute and dissent; it will give us a Council with a single city centre vision owned by all political parties, thus removing damaging uncertainty; it will provide context for assessing individual developments; it will make funding easier to secure.
"To secure this huge prize we all have to give a little to win a lot."
His views were echoed by VisitAberdeen chief executive, Steve Harris, who added: "We all know that there are bits of our city centre that need work. This visionary plan gives us a once in a generation opportunity to get the work done. We will all have areas that we see as better or higher priority than others, but I would urge everyone to get behind it and make sure we deliver it, together, as a city."
Full details
