Urban Living discussed at 'Visible Women' event

White Ink Director Joan McCoy recently took part in the first ‘Visible Women’ event to speak about sustainable development in Belfast City Centre.

Organised by Cleaver Fulton Rankin, in conjunction with the Association of Women in Property NI, the event brought together three leaders from Northern Ireland’s built environment sector to discuss urbanisation in the local context.

Joan McCoy opened by daring the audience to imagine what it might be like if the Westlink were buried under a tunnel with a park built across the top, inspired by Hamburg’s Autobahn 7. Continuing with a theme of “grey to green”, Joan highlighted the role of green infrastructure in development proposals and pressed for higher standards in design elements such as open space, aspect and affordability. Drawing comparisons with city centre schemes in other cities, Joan noted that Belfast could make even greater use of its river frontage and challenged the city to start thinking of housing as infrastructure, á la Vienna, where high quality, affordable housing is offered to all citizens.” Cleaver Fulton Rankin

You can read more on Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s website or watch and listen to the video below which highlights some of the key points raised by Joan and other speakers.

Photo above courtesy of Cleaver Fulton Rankin.