Christmas Shop

Client: Belfast City Council

Overview

For Christmas 2019, USI converted an empty retail unit on the high street of Royal Avenue in Belfast. In collaboration with Belfast City Council, the aim of the hub was to involve residents and visitors in conversations around future uses of the high street through creative engagement.

The hub was fitted out in 'Soda and Champ' festive decoration - the Christmas theme for the year and coincided with city-wide festive animation. At first glance, the hub was a hive of creative festive activities for families and adults; from live music, a playful ballpit, Santa and Christmas elves and a series of creative decoration making workshops.

Fields of Practice

Community
Regeneration
Active Citizenship
Policy & Strategy

Services

Citizen Engagement
Concept Development
Policy Recommendations
Thought Leadership

But under the surface, we wanted to engage people in a serious conversation

  •  What are the current perceptions of Royal Avenue?
  •  What are the challenges, particularly for families?
  •  What are the challenges out of trading hours the evening and weekends?
  •  How might we develop a strategy for future highstreets in Belfast?

Over 5000 people came into the hub throughout December, to have fun in the run up to Christmas and voice their opinion on the future of the high street. This led to a series of reccomendations including extended trading hours, more city-centre cultural programming and animation, more green spaces in the city, and the permanent use of a highsteet hub for city consultation.

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310 Newtownards Rd, Belfast BT4 1HE
studio@urbanscaleinterventions.com

Designed and developed by USI