Chapter 5 - The Spatial Development Strategy for Northern Ireland

Spatial Development Themes

Balanced growth across the identified network of cities, main and small towns and their rural hinterlands will enhance equality of opportunity for people living in all parts of the Region, and offer the locational choice required to meet the wider variety of development needs in a divided society. The aim is to ensure that every town, main and small, continues to generate employment and investment opportunities and to receive new housing development, appropriate to its size and functions, in order to renew itself and maintain its vitality and vibrancy. Similarly, local rural centres need to be revitalised. This approach to planning and managing growth strikes a balance between:

• the advantages of concentration providing a strong heart to the Region in the form of a medium-sized European city, Belfast, which serves as an economic powerhouse and centre of administration, specialised services and cultural amenities for all of Northern Ireland; reinforcing Londonderry as the major economic centre and regional City for the North-West and continuing the build up of the major centre of Craigavon in mid-Ulster, making good use of the existing infrastructure; and
• the benefits of decentralisation based on a polycentric network of main and associated small towns in Northern Ireland; these towns are major regional assets with the capacity to provide a range of services for their distinctive urban and rural catchment areas and function as local engines of economic growth.

The ‘hub, corridor and gateway’ functional approach to spatial development strikes this balance by:

• recognising the catalyst for economic growth and development that can accrue from the two largest cities because of their size, role and extensive sub-regions; and
• equally acknowledging the need to achieve a more balanced spread of growth and economic development opportunities across the urban hubs and transport corridors throughout Northern Ireland.

The Strategy balances the need to build, in a sustainable manner, on the strengths of the Region while also focusing and guiding development in order to help tackle weaknesses in the development structure thereby strengthening the overall performance of the Region. Accordingly, the Strategy is designed to avert the problems of over-dominance, large-scale sprawl, infrastructure pressures, urban decay and congestion associated with excessive metropolitan growth. It also seeks to avoid the problems of weak service centres, over-stretched infrastructure and excessive development pressures on countryside resources resulting from excessive dispersal of development.

The key to achieving an optimum balance between over-concentration around the BMA and excessive dispersal is to sustain a reinforced network of strong urban hubs, linked by an upgraded strategic transport network. This will provide accessible ‘counter-magnet development opportunities’ to the metropolitan core, thus helping to ease development and transport pressures in and around Belfast.

This balancing of growth and development is reflected in the proposed distribution of the 160,000 additional dwelling units required in the Region by 2015, set out in detail by districts in Chapter 9 .

The strategic role of the main hubs in achieving regional balance across Northern Ireland

• Key Diagram 4 - The Spatial Development Strategy for Northen Ireland

In Rural Northern Ireland, the network of main and associated small towns identified on Key Diagram 4 and Diagram 5, provides a range of accessible centres for the concentrated development of industrial, commercial, health, education and community services complemented by the distinctive contributions of the related rural areas providing 'goods' such as agricultural produce, environmental assets, countryside recreation and leisure services, supporting a strategic approach to the diversification of the rural economy (C8).

The towns identified as main hubs have the potential to develop as 'growth poles' for the clustering of economic activity, thereby providing a counter-balance to the metropolitan heart of the Region centred on Belfast. These main towns will, therefore, be developed as the major locations providing employment, services, and a range of cultural and leisure amenities (C8: SPG-RNI 3). They will also have a leading role in accommodating the need for urban housing at the district level (C9: SPG-HOU 3 ). Decisions on the future location of new public sector development for a variety of functions, including health and education, will take into account the strategic role of the main towns. In the identification of Strategic Employment Locations, priority will be given to the regional cities and the main hubs (C10: SPG-ECON 4 ).

The town centres of these hubs have an important role to play in the life and economy of Rural Northern Ireland. The Strategy therefore emphasises the need to sustain attractive vibrant town centres performing a multi-functional role as prime locations for retail, service, administrative, leisure and cultural facilities (C8: SPG-RNI 3 and C10: SPG-ECON 1).

In the context of achieving the optimal balance between Belfast and the rest of the Region, the Strategy promotes the decentralisation of public sector employment to Londonderry and the main towns thereby augmenting their range of service functions. Even on a modest scale this could bring significant local economic benefits, support town centre revitalisation, underpin and encourage private sector investment. An appropriate level of decentralised public and private sector investment would have environmental and economic benefits, reducing commuting to the Belfast Metropolitan Area and relieving congestion as well as contributing to the equitable sharing of regional assets.

Renewal and revitalisation of run down sectors of towns will continue to be targeted, particularly the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, as an integral feature of the Strategy to reinforce the main hubs. Facilitating economic development in, or in close proximity to, the most disadvantaged urban areas of the main towns will help to achieve regional balance and tackle long-term unemployment as part of the ‘New Targeting Social Need’ initiative.

In designating the main towns as hubs for significant growth, the SDS recognises that future levels of growth for each town, or cluster of towns, will vary. Some centres will generate much more growth than others, reflecting the interaction of such factors as strategic location, the size of population in the town and its catchment, the range of employment, infrastructure and services available, and the quality of environment and living conditions which increase the 'draw' of a town.

A number of the main hubs already have a well established sub-regional role and a more extensive sphere of influence reflecting their larger size and the availability of a wide range of higher order urban functions. These centres generally have larger populations of over 20,000 persons and include high numbers of retail, financial and other businesses, and a diverse provision of administrative, education, health and leisure services. For example, they include Ballymena to the North, Newry to the South, and Omagh in the West. Such centres are expected to generate higher levels of future growth reflecting their established role and strength as local engines of economic activity in their respective sub-regions.

Strengthening rural potential: sub-regional clusters of settlements

While the Strategy stresses the importance and dynamics of the network of main towns across the Region as the major centres for employment and services, it recognises there is a strong interdependence between these towns and their rural hinterlands. Further development of this complementary relationship will help to sustain vibrant rural communities and local service centres.

In order to maximise the benefits of decentralisation, it is important to create critical mass as counter-magnets to the economic pull of the main cities. In that respect the development of clusters of settlements, based on the main towns will ensure the development of a wide range of complementary facilities and, with it, the provision of higher order urban functions.

This integrated approach at a sub-regional level, based on a closely related ‘cluster of hubs’, will provide the synergy to secure the necessary concentration of major employment and housing growth. It will build on the co-operation which already exists at district council level, for example, in the fields of tourism, leisure and environmental management.

The SDS is deliberately flexible enough to accommodate the emergence of settlement clusters which best fit local development needs. The potential for clustering will be influenced by the:

• need to develop enhanced infrastructure and create the critical mass to attract inward investment;
• relative accessibility of centres to each other and to key or link transport corridors;
• complementary roles they perform as centres for employment and services, and the scope to create more viable markets thus overcoming the disadvantages of economic competition between settlements;
• extent to which co-operation already exists between settlements on a range of social, economic or environmental matters; and
• potential for co-ordinated action at the sub-regional level to secure urban and rural regeneration.

Good examples of districts already co-operating in economic development matters are found in the Rural West, the North West, the North East, and in the South East of Northern Ireland.