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Liverpool on road to recognition
Source: BBC News
Liverpool’s Hope Street been shortlisted for a national award aimed at recognising the best examples of urban places in Europe.
Hope Street is a contender for the Great Street Award, which is one of five categories in the Urbanism Awards 2013.
The academy uses the awards to learn from and promote best practice in planning and urbanism - but what makes a street a success?
Liverpool's Hope Street sits at the heart of the city's Georgian quarter with various cultural institutions either on or near to the road, including the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Everyman Theatre and the Unity Theatre.
The street is framed at either end by two cathedrals - the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King and the Anglican Liverpool Cathedral.
In recent years, work was carried out to make the street more pedestrian-friendly and inviting through the use of public art and a community space.
Matt Biagetti, area priorities manager for Liverpool Vision, an economic development company for the city, said the layout of the street before it was redesigned did not take into account its cultural and architectural significance.
He said: "The street was a typical vehicular street with a pavement and on-street parking but it didn't really reflect the importance of the buildings [on it] within the city centre."
Mr Biagetti said he thought lessons could be learnt from the project which could be replicated on other city streets.
"You need to involve all of the stakeholders to work together to get a really strong sense of community. We had the cathedrals, residents, business owners and theatre owners working together in a clear direction.
"Another lesson is to create an events space so people don't just walk along or drive through the community. It encourages local people to get out into the street more and take ownership of the space."
The winner of the Great Street Award will be announced on 9 November.
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