All the work that we’ll be doing to take the city centre forward over the next few years will be shaped by the City Centre Strategy and Action Plan and the City Centre Transport Strategy which were published in 2014. These strategies are our blueprint mapping out how the city centre’s streets and public spaces will be better managed and more people-friendly.

We’ll be making the city centre cleaner, greener and easier to get around on foot, by bike and public transport, with a network of green avenues linking through the city centre.  Wi-fi, marketing, outdoor events, lighting and public safety will all be improved – and much more besides.  Everything is geared towards delivering jobs, growth and prosperity over the next decade.

In 2015, we started to plan how to make this idea work. It’s a big job, so we split the city centre into nine recognisable ‘Districts’. We have worked with local people and businesses to identify the opportunities. By 2019 we aim to have a plan in place that will drive change over the next ten years. Find out more about what’s happening in each District.

The Council’s City Centre Regeneration Team will work hard with people and organisations in each District to make that change happen. Whether you work, live, invest in or visit the city centre, the team can’t do it all on their own.  We need your help to deliver change. Your help might come in a variety of forms: allowing a new business start-up cheap use of your vacant shop for a few weeks, organising a community event in a public space, helping a neighbour to tidy their front garden, or cycling and walking around town rather than driving.

The City Council will be doing its bit by making city centre streets and spaces more people- and business-friendly. We’ll do that, with you, by preparing a new plan for each District over the next few years. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions or ideas about the changing city centre.