New project launches to make Belfast hub for health and wellbeing

Last week saw the launch of Belfast-THRI(VES), a pilot research project to better inform decisions for enhancing the liveability of the city and wellbeing of its inhabitants.

During Mental Health Awareness week (10 – 16 May), this practical programme began to study holistic health and wellbeing-led models for planning, designing and managing the city centre’s public spaces for the long-term; and to respond to immediate health and socio-economic threats from the Covid-19 pandemic.

A multi-disciplinary team of researchers from Ulster’s Belfast School of Architecture (Urban Research Lab) and the Built Environment and School of Psychology (The Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing) are working jointly with a team from Belfast City Council’s City Regeneration & Development team to deliver this research.

The project will support Belfast City Council, the Department for Infrastructure and Department for Communities to develop new urban-health focused collaborative working practices across civic and private sectors.

It will aim to complement other active studies into economic regeneration and reducing the carbon footprint of the city.

RELATED: Free app launched to help East Belfast community health

Three key areas of research exploration have been identified to make Belfast a more liveable and inclusive city:

1. how to better plan for and design public spaces to recognise and encourage use by all people, including often marginalised populations;
2. managing public parks, plazas, streets and underutilised spaces such as parking areas for diverse uses encouraging more cycling and walking, and pairing leisure and commerce with delivering vital public services;
3. proposing post-occupancy tools for public realm projects to better connect liveability and wellbeing data across public, private, and voluntary sectors, to inform future projects.

The research will focus on three specific areas of the City Centre: Linen Quarter Public Realm Pop-ups, the Dublin Road Corridor Cycle Lanes, and Cathedral Gardens Plaza-Play Park, adjacent to Ulster University’s brand new Belfast Campus. 

Belfast will take inspiration from cities around the world, working with governments, developers, and researchers from Auckland to Seattle and Philadelphia to Manchester, who have pioneered health and regeneration initiatives from one-off projects to city-region-wide strategies. 

RELATED: Irish start-up Frankie Health raises $1.25m US for mental wellbeing app

Those leading the project said those set to benefit from this research include:

• The public and community, especially those who live, work and visit Belfast: the researchers will seek inclusive engagement on their diverse health-focused needs and decisions impacting this audience
• Policy-makers: through objective evaluation of decision-making processes on pilot interventions
• Project Partners, Contributors and Advisors: will benefit from cross-sector working and data sharing, disseminating expertise together with on-the-ground evidence to inform policy, practice, and further research
• Ulster University Students: those directly involved through experience and learning from research-led teaching addressing real-world issues, and all those who will attend the new Campus

RELATED: New plans set to establish Belfast as Innovation City

Belfast Lord Mayor Alderman Frank McCoubrey, commented: “It has been a year of great challenge for the health and wellbeing of the people of the city of Belfast and beyond. Quality outdoor spaces and active travel routes contribute to good health and mental wellbeing, which have never been as important to our citizens as they are now.

"The Bolder Vision for Belfast has guided our recovery work, and through this pilot research programme, we hope to emerge from the pandemic better equipped to make Belfast a more liveable city. Our aim is to diversify the city centre and improve connectivity to bring better health outcomes for those who call it home.”