Liverpool, United Kingdom
City population: 1060068
Duration: 2018 – 2025
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Project area: 360000 m2
Type of area: Public Greenspace Area
Last updated: October 2021

The Festival Park Liverpool project involves the transformation of the former International Garden Festival site into an internationally recognized riverside suburb with strong neighbourhood connections and leisure facilities. The 36-hectare site is split into three different zones namely 1) Development Zone 2)Southern Grasslands and 3) Festival Gardens. The project masterplan was created by K2 Architects and was launched by the Liverpool City Mayor Joe Anderson. (Reference 1, 4, 7). The Festival Park Liverpool masterplan consists of 1) a mixed-use housing including residential zone, primary school, medical centre and a culture hub 2) social heart of the residential area with hotels, bars and restaurants 3) a beachfront neighbourhood with residential apartments, pavement cafes, restaurants and bars, designed around an ‘Amsterdam’ styled canal frontage 4) festival gardens 5) grasslands to be remodelled into a natural habitat for wildlife and leisure activities (Reference 1). In 2017, a set of land surveys and environmental assessments, along with the first phase of site mediation, were carried out. A consent to develop 1380 residential units were provided with validity until December 2022 (Reference 1). Detailed site investigations have been undertaken in the Development Zone and now underway on the Gardens and Southern Grasslands (Reference1, 8). A 9.9M pound remediation programmed funded by a grant from Homes England will begin in Spring 2020 in order to prepare the site to deliver 1,500 homes with supporting retail leisure and community uses. Liverpool City Council has started to engage prospective investors, developers and operators in discussions for bringing forward the project. It has opened opportunities for investor involvement which includes equity partners, co-investment or development funding, offering a potential for a long-term relationship with a public sector partner or investor. The project will be built in several phases commencing in Summer 2021 (Reference 9).

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Parks and urban forests
  • Large urban parks or forests
  • Green corridors and green belts

Key challenges

  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Real estate development
  • Employment/job creation

Focus

Creation of new green areas

Project objectives

- To create a riverside suburb on 36 hectares of land including the former International Garden Festival site in Liverpool (Reference 1); - To deliver a major cultural and leisure destination with a piazza at the centre of the site, while maintaining existing public open space in the formal gardens and southern grassland with opportunities for sport and recreation; - Key aims of the masterplan include creating a 5km green corridor to the city centre, a remodelled coastal path and a new cultural ‘landmark’ venue along with the year-round waterpark attraction.

Implementation activities

-The City Council acquired single ownership of the site in 2014 (Reference 7) -In 2017, Architects K2 presented an outline for a new cultural garden suburb incorporating (ref 2): Improved formal gardens with new public realm and landscaped areas; Fisheries and wildlife areas in the southern grasslands -Detailed site investigations have been undertaken on the Development Zone and are now underway on the Gardens and Southern Grasslands. This will determine site composition and inform remediation strategies for future development (reference 8, Oct 2019). - ION and Midia have formed a joint venture company to develop a masterplan for the residential-led redevelopment of the Development Zone, supported by a number of strategies, including remediation and funding strategies (reference 8). - Prospective investors, developers and operators are currently being engaged in discussions for bringing forward a future residential and leisure development (Reference 8). - The Council has undertaken a soft market test on potential leisure developments including an indoor water park and a golf driving range, seeking expressions of interest from prospective investors, developers and operators. We are reviewing feedback and are considering other complementary leisure proposals for the Gardens and Southern Grasslands (reference 8).

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The City Council, which took control of the site last year, appointed K2 Architects to create the masterplan and held a public consultation (Ref 3) Liverpool city council has welcomed propositions for a public/private sector partnership to support the delivery of this opportunity. (ref 5). K2 Architects – created the masterplan of the project (Reference 1) ION and Midia – formed a joint venture company to develop a detailed masterplan for the Development Zone, In addition, they are also responsible to provide support on remediation and funding strategies (reference 8). Homes England - provided a 9.9M British Pound grant for the remediation program of the site (reference 9)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown (Underpinned by 10 Strategic Objectives that Deliver The UK Government's Sustainable Communities Agenda. (ref 5))
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (Regenerating Liverpool - it is part of a 1B British Pound budget for the city’s regeneration programme; a strategy designed to reduce the impact of the city’s regeneration programme, as well as advance measures to develop a low carbon economy (reference 9))

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public local authority budget

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area

Economic impacts

  • Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)
  • Generation of income from NBS

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved liveability
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1. Cosgrove S. (2017). Festival Park Liverpool masterplan featuring 5km green corridor to city centre set for council approval. Available at: Source link. Accessed 23 July 2020.
2. Culture Liverpool. (2017). Festival Park vision is unveiled. Available at: Source link. Accessed 23 July 2020.
3. Neild L. (2017). £700m Otterspool plan the biggest new build since Liverpool One. Confidentials Liverpool. Website not available on 2020.
4. K2 Architects. (no date). projects- festival-park. Available at: Source link. Accessed 23 July 2020.
5. Festival park webpage. (no date). Website not available on 2020.
6. Regenerating Liverpool website. (no date). Available at: Source link. Accessed 23 July 2020.
7. Festival Park (no date). Available at: Source link. Accessed 23 July 2020.
8. Liverpool City Council. (2019). Liverpool key project updates October 2019. Available at: Source link. Accessed 23 July 2020.
9. Liverpool City Council. (2019). Liverpool Development Update October 2019. Available at: Source link. Accessed 23 July 2020.
10. Liverpool Express. (2019). Multi-million boost for Festival Gardens site. Source link. Accessed 27 July 2020.