The project aims to develop an integrated approach to the development, management and maintenance of the public domain in urban historic centres. The project works with a wide range of activities involving public spaces, innovative facilities, events and security amongst others. It aims to promote social inclusion, boost economic prosperity and enhance the environment.

The North Sea region is home to many historic urban areas which share similar challenges include maximising the use of the public spatial domain to reflect existing and future needs, generate economic benefits, promote social inclusion, enhance environmental viability and increase the vitality and life of the city and surrounding areas while still protecting cultural and historic assets. "The Liveable City" project aims to improve the public domain in urban historic centres in the North Sea region by developing an integrated approach to the way they are planned, managed and maintained for application in any North Sea region historic town or city.

Expected Outcomes

The main outcome of the project is to ensure that a co-ordinated approach to the development and design of historic urban spaces. This will be achieved through creating accessible city centres that encourage exploration and enjoyment, developing a spatial framework which promotes and enables greater use of outdoor public urban space for a variety of activities, introducing activities, events and facilities to enhance city centres and their distinctiveness, and regenerating major public spaces within the partner cities. Finally, the production of a best practice guide will help promote these outcomes.

Activities

The project is divided up into three work packages, Planning in the Public Domain, Management, and Maintenance, each work package having a lead partner. Planning in the Public Domain will improve the public urban space through signing, paving design, landscaping, lighting, street furniture, water, public art and innovative facilities, such as intelligent information points and shoppers? lockers. Management involves promotion of eg. stakeholder engagement, participation and sponsorship, and security activities. Maintenance will model approaches to integrated maintenance regimes and monitoring systems. Project work is divided into three phases. Phase one will develop transnational frameworks to guide partner activity. In Phase two regeneration schemes involving capital improvements and collaborative research activities will be implemented, while phase three will evaluate the project against initial frameworks and result in a series of best practice reports, guidelines and tool kits for the dissemination to other North Sea region cities.

Reported Outcomes

1 Planning the Public Domain 1.1 Spatial Strategies, links and routes, large public urban spaces: Transnational good practice guidance on spatial strategy development. Spatial Strategies for each partner city developed.· Major capital regeneration of public spaces re-commissioned, including the St Peter Street Scheme the historic market place in Norwich, 2 public spaces in Lincoln, and public square in Ghent (Korenmarkt commissioned). A walkway along historic ramparts in Emden re-commissioned. Study for the development of the inner city is nearly complete. Comprehensive review of the role and structure of the public domain in Trondheim (proposal for the street plan is finished, plan for market place further developed and potential investor found), Odense and Ghent, leading to development of strategic recommendations (Ghent: public transport plan proposal, Odense: plan for the central areas, the city centre and the harbour almost complete). · 1.2 Information, signing, area theming: A transnational good practice guide on signing and ?theming?. Schemes implemented to create distinctiveness and character in urban historic cores, and secure effective links and routes, including a themed Quarter approach in Norwich, regeneration of 2 C19th boulevards in Ghent, implementation of signage strategy in Lincoln and Odense, and design methodology development in Trondheim. 1.3 Paving, landscaping, lighting, street furniture, water, public art: Transnational Urban Quality Guidance produced ? to include guidance on developing an integrated spatial framework & approaches to the use of paving, street furniture, landscape, lighting, art, water, facilities for users of the public domain. Practical schemes in partner cities produced. 1.4 Innovative facilities, intelligent info points, shopper lockers, other info media: Introduction and testing of innovative facilities to enhance the shopping experience, e.g.: shoppers lockers, intelligent information points in Ghent, and city trolleys and home delivery services in Odense and their application in partner locations. 2 Managing the public domain 2.1 Promotion, stakeholders engagement, participation, sponsorship: Completion of a research report, produced by the UK?s National Retail Planning Forum, examining links between retail and leisure activities as they relate to the public domain in the North Sea Region cities. Development and production of transnational Urban Management Guidance designed as an aid to promoting and managing events and activities, and the movement of people within the public domain in cities throughout the North Sea region, and to establishing methods of effective stakeholder engagement and participation. 2.2 Security and visitor management: Development and implementation of 24-hour management systems for city centres, to reflect multi-role and extended activity within the urban spatial domain, and to ?join up? the management. This will include addressing issues such as security and safety, public transport, accommodating the safe and effective transition of the city centre from daytime to night time activity, training of staff to perform visitor information role, e.g.: city stewards in Odense, Evening Economy Manager in Lincoln, and implementation of various Visitor Management Services to reflect the cities? needs. Application of IIC project studies to test the transferability of solutions relating to security, city centre management, city rangers, etc. in the new partner cities. 2.3 Activities, events and multifunctional use of public space: Development of a co-ordinated publicity programme for cultural events, activities and festivals in all the partner cities, for distribution across the North Sea Region and beyond. This will include speciality markets, festivals, traditional activities, e.g.: Ghent Feesten, and also the transnational events exchange programme. A transnational events/cultural activities exchange programme will be implemented between partner cities and a promotional campaign launched to promote the cities as an example of distinctiveness of the North Sea Region, with the aim of extending it to incorporate other historic North Sea Region cities and towns. Introduction of new activities and events in partner cities, maximising the use of the public domain, to increase attractiveness, generate economic benefit and promote social inclusion. Feasibility study to be completed into the use of electronic ?time-mapping? ? plotting the activity in public space for the 24 hour day, day of week, seasonal variation, to identify ?down-time? unlocking the potential of the space, and also enabling more effective direction of resources and maintenance regimes to reflect the need. Trial and evaluation of schemes to introduce local/visitor ?passes? in Odense and Emden, to promote accessibility and increased use of city centre facilities and events. 3 Maintenance 3.1 Effective maintenance approaches in Historic City centres: Transnational collaborative study into the development of effective monitoring systems for the cleansing and repair regimes in historic cities, undertaken by ENCAMS (Environmental Campaigns). Lincoln to implement the Visitor Management Strategy developed under the IIC programme, which will test the systems for maintenance identified, such as enforcement and ?policing? by City Rangers, and review of by-laws, and generate monitoring information for evaluation by the working group. Development of partnership approaches to city centre maintenance, involving public/private stakeholders, and exploring schemes to promote ownership and responsibility for the quality and maintenance of the centre within local premises owners and service providers, with tangible application of new schemes in Odense and possibly other cities. Development of Good Practice Guidance, designed to assist historic cities in identifying the requirements from urban maintenance regimes, - repair, graffiti, planting, litter, etc. and planning and implementing services that truly respond to the needs of the 24 hour city and multi-functional role of the public domain, and gaining ?ownership? and responsibility through education and promotion of service users.