Liverpool mayor to discuss waterfront development with European leaders

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson is meeting European leaders at Cannes this week with a view to leveraging the economic power of the city’s historic waterfront.

Mr Anderson will today (March 16) join a panel with representatives of Hamburg, Rotterdam, Oslo and Belfast to discuss the roles that retail, tourism and leisure play in waterfront development and placemaking.

Additionally, the panel will examine the ways in which waterfront development can become more sustainable through private sector collaboration.

The presentation, titled Using Retail and Leisure to Unlock Waterfront Regeneration, will be hosted by real estate advisory firm Bilfinger GVA and regeneration company Liverpool Vision.

Along with Mayor Anderson, the group will comprise Prof. Jürgen Bruns-Berentelg, the chief executive at Hamburg-based Hafen City; Ellen De Vibe, Oslo’s chief town planner; Suzanne Wylie, Belfast City Council’s chief executive; and Hans van Rossum, Rotterdam’s chief development officer.

Mr Anderson said: “Our waterfront is a major USP for Liverpool, so it is important that we are at the forefront of bringing together European cities to discuss waterfront regeneration.

“Working with Bilfinger GVA, we brought a waterfront event to Mipim last year with Hamburg, so it is fantastic that these discussions are moving forward with the event at Mipim this year.”

He continued: “We also look forward to continuing these discussions at the International Waterfront Forum as part of the IFB in Liverpool in the summer, when once again Hamburg and Rotterdam will be joining the panel.”

Bilfinger GVA’s senior director for the Liverpool region, Stephen Cowperthwaite, will deliver a keynote speech at the event.

He commented: “We very much look forward to hosting and collaborating with our European waterfront city counterparts.

“We hope it will provide an effective platform from which to learn and share ideas and approaches to regeneration through retail and leisure.”