Belfast Thread

[belfastuniguy 18]

 

I'll start with an introduction on Belfast and address some issues. 

Belfast is the capital city of Northern Ireland, a nation within the United Kingdom and it's name orginates from the Irish Béal Feirste meaning "mouth of the farset", a river that now runs under the city.

Belfast is the second largest city on the island of Ireland with a population of  579,276 living in the greater Belfast area, roughly 276,459 in the city itself.

The site of Belfast has been populated since the Bronze Age and only started becoming a major settlement in the 17th century during the Plantation of Ulster. This was when English and Scottish settlers arrived and established towns, introduced new agricultural methods.

During the 18th, 19th and 20th century Belfast became one of the most important industrial centres of the developed world. By the 19th century it was the most industrialised city in Ireland. By the 20th century it had the worlds largest shipbuilding yard, Harland and Wolff, which constructed some of the greatest and most famous ships in history, the most famous of which was the Titanic and her sister ships. Belfast also had the worlds largest linen mills, ropeworks, tobacco factories and engineering plants. 

An important part of Belfast and its history was The Troubles, the period between 1968 and 1998 in which civil disorder, violence, murder and bombings isolated Belfast and Northern Ireland from the 'outside world'. That pain was also felt in Ireland and on the British mainland where attacks also took place. This period of history ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Peace Agreement. This period of history is very complicated and has it's roots many many decades before, it was a dark and painful period for a lot of people and still attracts emotional responses

Since 1998 Belfast has been reborn as a city, massive levels of investment have flowed into the city and many areas have been, currently are or have plans to be redeveloped. The most important being Victoria Square, Lanyon Place, The Titanic Quarter and the areas around the River Lagan.

Some Facts:

Population: 276,459    (579,276  Greater Belfast Area)

Official Language(s) : English (de facto)  Irish, Ulster Scots

Currency : British Pound (The Euro is widely accepted although not the offical currency)

Annual GDP Growth : 6%

Climate: Like much of the country, Belfast has a temperate climate with significant rainfall. Average daily maximums are 18 °C (64 °F) in July, 6 °C (43 °F) in January. There is significant rainfall on over two hundred days in an average year, and an annual rainfall total of approximately 846 milimetres (33.3 in), still barely half that received in Western Ireland and Scotland, though is still substantially more than Dublin or the south-east coast of Ireland. While sleet and snow fall occasionally in Winter, as an urban, coastal area, snow lies in Belfast on an average of only 2—3 days per year.

Transport: Belfast is served by both The George Best Belfast City Airport and Belfast International Airport. The Port of Belfast handles 1/4 of Irish seabourne trade and is the busiest ferry port on the island of Ireland. Belfast is well served by an extensive road and motorway network including the 10 lane M2 Motorway, by European standards Belfast is a car depandant city. Public transport is run by  the publicly owned Translink. Increased investment in recent years has upgraded the rail and bus systems and proposals have been relased for light-rail projects. Belfast is well connected with the Republic of Ireland via road networks and the Belfast-Dublin rail line.

Belfast remains a mainly Catholic and Protestant city, 47.2% and 48.6% respectively. However for many years the Indian and Chinese community have been an important factor in Belfast life. In recent years Belfast has also attracted increased levels of immigration, mainly African and Eastern European, many of which have come from Dublin to avoid higher living costs. However, as in the Republic increased economic activity has started pushing costs upward and inflation is above the UK average.

Belfast today is a peaceful city and a city that is still finding itself and creating a new identity for itself and its people. Belfast is no longer the city that was beamed round the world all those years ago. I know this may look long, and I will make changes and add/remove things.This is  the first thread on Belfast and I look forward to reading your comments, suggestions and your experiences of Belfast.

Northern Ireland Assembley Building (Stormont - Seat of Northern Ireland Government)

Belfast City Hall

Queens University Belfast

Botanical Gardens

Albert Memorial Clock (build to mark the death of Prince Albert, husband to Queen Victoria)

Belfast Castle, located at the foot of Cavehill

Victoria Square retail development, the largest retail project in Europe currently under construction

Obel Tower (An Obelisk in Old Belfast - that's what it's suppose to mean)

 

The Waterfront Hall, one of the very first redevelopment projects that kick-started a massive investment drive in Belfast

The Titanic Quarter -  a massive $1 billion project to redefine an area of Belfast with immense historical background and will be the largest waterfront development project in Europe

Finally, one of the iconic landmarks of Belfast, the Harland and Wolff Shipyard cranes

[jvlm.123 0]

Great pics!

I go to Belfast often too and it is a great city; unfortunately it has a bad international reputation...

[belfastuniguy 18]

I agree, many people still think Belfast is a war zone or at least looks like one. It's a great city to visit and people here are very warm and friendly. I didn't want to have loads and loads of pics so if anyone would like to see the new developments planned then have a look at. It also has some more information on Belfast

http://www.investmentbelfast.com/downloads/IB_property.pdf

Be warned that link opens an adobe file that is very large, best to have a good connection or broadband or it may take a while (8.5mb)

[Sunil 3]

woah woah woah whats will the posts?

[your_adress_here 11]

Oh my!

Edit: Good to see you've deleted them

[Menotyou 0]

Wow, that is nine posts in a row!

[Hawkeye9 0]

ok. whats up with the posts.

[belfastuniguy 18]

Belfast is characterised by five areas, West Belfast, East Belfast, North Belfast, South Belfast and the city centre. Within several of these are quarters. I'll be looking at two of them to start off with, The Cathedral Quarter and the Legal Quarter which takes in some new developments alongside the River Lagan.

And I have no idea what happened earlier to the posts, for those that may be confused, nine posts in a row appeared all saying the same thing, which looked very strange indeed!!

[Firebird 40]

Woah!!

I even took a pic of it!

You still have a long way if you want to break MC6Ash's 47 post in a row record. lol

Nice pictures by the way. Beautiful city.

[Micah 16]

For those that did, thanks for getting back on the subject.

[your_adress_here 11]

Originally posted by: Micah For those that did, thanks for getting back on the subject. quote>

Unlike yourself 

[Camaron 1]

Nice pictures, never been to Belfast myself, although I have some Irish background. Thank you for sharing.

[belfastuniguy 18]

Sorry about the delay in updating this thread, have been very busy with university work recently. However, as promised. Some information and pictures on the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast.

The Cathedral Quarter is also know as the artistic quarter due to the presence of the University of Ulster’s Art and Design campus, several art workshops and Writers Square. 

The university has recently finished a £30 million redevelopment and work has already started on the second phase of redeveloping the 60's style art block . The area over many years had become neglected and many buildings were left derelict as businesses left the area. This is now changing with the refurbishment of many of the old historic buildings and a new £300 million redevelopment plan which has already started, this includes the building of a new department store, talks are progressing with the exclusive Dublin retailer, Brown Thomas to loacte there.  

The area has recently become a popular place for nights out with the opening of new restaurants, hotels and clubs. The most famous being the new Merchant Hotel, one of the most luxurious hotels in Ireland and the Potthouse bar and club, build on the site of the oldest pottery in Belfast. One of the greatest buildings in the quarter is the Custom House that has had it’s square redeveloped into a new public space with fountains that trace the path of the River Farset that runs under the city.

The area is home to some of the most historic and beautiful buildings in Belfast; Customs House, The Albert Clock, The Northern Whig Building, Four Corners and the former Ulster Bank headquarters (now the Merchant Hotel) to name but a few.

The focus of the quarter is St. Anne’s Cathedral, the Anglican, (Church of Ireland) Cathedral in Belfast one of two in the city. The cathedral is to have a new addition in the form of a glass 130ft ‘Spire of Hope’ as part of the St. Anne’s Square development. The spire will signify the new beginning in the city and the quarter and hope for the future, in what is a fast changing and progressing city.

This link will take you to the development plans for the area;

http://www.investment-belfast.co.uk/downloads/Draft_NEQ_Masterplan.pdf

This will take you to the gotobelfast.com site which features a tourist promotion video that was filmed in the Cathedral Quarter;

http://www.gotobelfast.com/index.cfm/level/page/category_key/199/Page_Key/381/Parent_Key/0/type/Page/PaGeName/Sites_&_Sounds_of_Belfast.htm

OVERVIEW

St. Annes Cathedral (Church of Ireland/Anglican Cathedral in Belfast)

Custom House and Custom House Square

 

The Merchant Hotel (Former H.Q. of the Ulster Bank)

Malmasion Hotel (Former Grain Mill)

Talbot Building (Currently being redeveloped)

St. Annes Square Development (currently under construction) Also the the 'Spire of Hope' can be seen on top of the cathedral

Northern Whig Building

 

Assorted others

University of Ulster - Belfast Campus

[belfastuniguy 18]

The second feature for today is the Legal Quarter.

The legal quarter borders the Cathedral Quarter, city centre and is bounded by the River Lagan.

This area has undergone massive redevelopment in recent years, the founding project was the Waterfront Hall and Lanyon Place developments including the Hilton Hotel and the Northern Ireland H.Q. for British Telecom (BT). The Waterfront Hall today is one of the most iconic images of the new Belfast.

 It also contains two of Belfast’s most recent and loved artworks, the Big Fish and Statue of Thanksgiving. As the name suggests it is home to legal firms and some legal themed bars and restaurants, the best in terms of food and service would be The Advocate. 

The Belfast Royal Courts of Justice, the new Laganside Court complex, The Northern Ireland Bar Library, Belfast High Court and the Old Town Hall that houses the youth and coroners court also take up residence here. The quarter also benefits from having the last Victorian market in Belfast, St. George’s Market.

OVERVIEW

Belfast Royal Courts of Justice

Belfast Laganside Court Complex

Waterfront Hall

Northern Ireland Legal Bar Library

Lanyon Place 

The Statue of Thanksgiving and The Big Fish

[belfastuniguy 18]

This will be the last update to the Belfast Thread pre-Christmas, starting to get very very busy with present buying/wrapping and Christmas stuff, so I will return in 2007 with further updates starting with the Belfast News Quarter, Port of Belfast and the Belfast Harbour estates

A very Merry Christmas to everyone on Simtropolis and a very peaceful and Happy New Year

[MightyMugs AKA Mugs 0]

The city hall always looks nice at christmas, its going to be closed pretty soon for refurbishment. I wish I'd seen this thread before I was in belfast at the weekend and I could have taken some decend pictures with my phone.

[belfastuniguy 18]

Hello everyone and a very happy New Year to you all. I'm back to the Belfast Thread in 2007 with the Port of Belfast and the changing Titanic Quarter, of course named after the RMS Titanic that was built in Belfast and which sadly sank on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

The Port of Belfast is located at the foot of Belfast Lough and lies mainly on reclaimed land. The existence of Belfast as a city is due to a significant to the port and harbour.

The area was once home to one of the largest shipbuilding yards in the world, the Harland and Wolff Shipbuilding Company. This yard build some of the most famous ships in history including the

SS Canberra, HMS Belfast, RMS Olympic, RMS Britannic, USS President Lincoln and of course arguably the most famous ship in the world, the RMS Titanic

The ship yard up until the early 80’s was one of the world’s largest. The resulting years have seen massive decline in the yard which saw the last Belfast built ship lunched in 2003. The Harland and Wolff company now focus on bridge building, ship design, oil rig repair, ship repair and offshore construction.

The area also housed the Short Brothers Aircraft Factory which was destroyed during the Belfast Blitz in April and May 1941 by the German Luftwaffe. The yard also still owns the Belfast dry-dock, still the largest in the world.

The area is still dominated by the Samson and Goliath cranes, no longer used for shipbuilding but still an important landmark of Belfast and will be given a new status once incorporated into the Titanic quarter development. The Titanic Quarter is the largest European waterfront development ever undertaken, an area of 185 acres and a total investment in excess of $2 billion. The area will feature a Titanic Signature Project, designed by international architects and due to be completed by 2011 to celebrate the centenary of the launch of the great liner. The slipways where the ship and her sister ships will also be redeveloped. The quarter will also incorporate the Northern Ireland Science and Technology Park already established and occupied by Queens University, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland Technology Centre and the European technological development centre for Citigroup amongst others.

The port today is the largest passenger port on the island of Ireland handling over 2 million passengers a year It is also Ireland's leading dry bulk port, dominating the market with regard to imports of grain and animal feeds, coal, fertilisers and cement. Over 95% of Northern Ireland's petroleum and oil products are also handled at the Port. 57% of the Northern Irish population live within 30km of the port and it has recently become a destination for cruise ships, around 23 docked in summer 2006, with a total or around 30,000 passengers visiting the city. Along with passenger and frieght the harbour estate is also occupied by Belfast City Airport, now named George Best Belfast City Airport after the late Belfast born footballer.

Overview

Masterplan of Titanic Quarter

Titanic Quarter - The Building at the centre will be the Internation Titanic Centre

The Stena HSS - High speed ferry service to Scotland, the largest 'fastcraft' in the world

The Odyssey Entertainment Complex - consists also of the Odyssey Arena, home to the Belfast Giants Ice Hockey Team

The SeaCat high speed ferry service to the Isle of Man

 

Oil Rig development and repair now a major aspect of the present day Harland and Wolff

First phase of Titanic Quarter - now under construction

The Belfast shipyard crane and one of the new Northern Ireland Railway C3K Trains

Titanic and Olympic under construction in Belfast - crica 1910/11

The Belfast Harbour Commissioner's Office

Titanic and Olympic in Belfast Lough

[belfastuniguy 18]

Any comments are welcome and would like to hear from those have been to Belfast and hear what they thought of the City. 

The next part will be on the News Quarter followed by Belfast City Centre

[belfastuniguy 18]

As part of this thread I'll be posting information on the latest developments in Belfast and today the Aurora Tower was released. This new Belfast skyscraper will reach around 37 storeys and just over 300ft high. It will compete for the title as Ireland's tallest building alongside the U2 Tower being planned for Dublin.

If all things go as planned the project that will include 7,000sq ft of exclusive commerical space, 291 luxury apartments, an exclusive restaurant as well as energy efficent design features. The entire project should be complete by 2010.

The roof will have a night light feature that will recreate the Aurora Borealis, it is hoped it will redefine the 'Golden Mile' of Belfast, I will discuss this area later on when I get to discuss Belfast city centre as part of this thread.

[Mike the Mayor 51]

Nice pictures all of them. It will be interesting to keep tracks on how they are doing with the massive waterfront complex. It's HUGE!

[sc4portugal 10]

Cool tread

[belfastuniguy 18]

I haven't updated this thread in a good while due to RL and also been working on my first CJ, feel to visit and and tell me what you think. 

This update will focus on Queens Quarter, named after Queens University, the one I currently attend.

The area is 10 mins walk from the city centre and is located in south Belfast, one of the most prestigious residential areas in Northern Ireland. The university was established in 1849 by Queen Victoria and the main building was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, hence why it was named the Lanyon Building. The university has two campuses in the quarter, the main university and Stranmillis. Future teachers are educated at Stranmillis. The third is St. Marys which again trains teachers. The university is one of the best in the UK and has a highly important technology and chemical reseach centre, one of the best in the world. Current there are roughly 25,000 students enrolled with the univsersity.

The area around the university has some of the best clubs, bars and cafe's in Belfast and is one of most buzzing area in the city.



Overview of the Area




Queens Student UnIon




Lanyon Building





The Old Library and the New Library (under construction)





Stranmillis College


The Botanical Gardens, located beside the Lanyon Building site and the Theological College




Riddell Hall


University Square, where I read Economics


Graduation Day




[images were edited for violating the 800 x 600 limit] Mic

[belfastuniguy 18]

Just thought I'd post some pics on some of the new developments that are planned for Belfast, yes more I know. We are a growing and increasing wealthly city.


The Lanyon Place Developments, are located beside the Waterfront Hall in the Legal Quarter and Bedford Street is behind Belfast City Hall



2 LANYON PLACE -APPROVED







8 LANYON PLACE





STEWART STREET - OPPOSITE LANYON 8



BEDFORD STREET PHASE I (COMPLETE) HQ FOR INVEST NORTHERN IRELAND



BEDFORD STREET PHASE II -APPROVED






LINCOLN CENTRE OFFICES - APPROVED



CLARENCE STREET WEST - UNDER CONSTRUCTION



CENTREPOINT BUILDING - UNDER CONSTRUCTION

[Mike the Mayor 51]

Nice pictures again. Belfast is really on the move!

[younghappy 308]

Cool pictures.  It'll be good to see Belfast in 5 years time.  I live in Kilrea near Coleraine, Co Londonderry so I'm not that close to Belfast but  this redevelopment will be good for Belfast and it will attract more visitors and jobs.

There's another proposed site I'd like to add if you don't mind.  It's called "Giant's Park" it will be built on North Foreshore, which is currently a landfill site but it is being cleaned up...

Here is the link "Giant's Park"

Check out some of the FAQs and the sketches.

Here is a google earth picture of the whole area.  As you can see it is beside the M2 Motorway and the entrance is very close to the Fortwilliam roundabout so traffic can come of the motorway very close to the park.  They also plan to build a fott/cycle bridge over the M2 to connect it to the Commercial are of North Belfast.

As you can see this is my first post at Simtroppolis, I have been playing SC4 for a number of years now and I came across this website as I was looking for new stuff to download.  I don't have Rushhour yet, I will hopefully get it in the summer after GCSEs.

I was wondering if  you could post a few links to examples of  real World cities made in SC4.  The only one I have seen so far is Baton Rouge near New Orleans and I want to see some bigger examples-preferibly in Europe (and New York)

[younghappy 308]

Here is the Titanic Quarter websiteThe new developments lokk really exciting.

Again I ask:  I was wondering if  you could post a few links to examples of  real World cities made in SC4.  The only one I have seen so far is Baton Rouge near New Orleans and I want to see some bigger examples-preferibly in Europe (and New York)

[jacqulina 162]

beautifull pics my friend thankyou for showing your beautifull country

[homeandaway 1]

wow!, magnificent pics!, how many floors does the BEDFORD STREET PHASE II -APPROVED - have if it was built? - thanks!, cant wait to see them being built!, take care

~alex~

[Mike the Mayor 51]

Looks very interesting and attractive.