Features / Bristol
What could Bristol look like in 2034?
‘Downs to finally be built on,’ screams the Bristol24/7 headline on VR headsets.
You still can’t get a direct bus from Hartcliffe to St George but you could soon become a resident of a home on one of Bristol’s last green spaces yet to be built on thanks to a landmark deal made following the disbandment of the Merchant Venturers.
First touted five years ago, the idea of building thousands of homes on the Downs now looks set to become a reality as Bristol frantically seeks a solution to the housing crisis that doesn’t encroach further onto the greenbelt or spoil the city’s panorama with ever taller skyscrapers that make Castle Park View tower look squat by comparison.
is needed now More than ever
The Downs is finally set to be built on following the disbandment of the Merchant Venturers – photo: Martin Booth
The scheme will see a dense, low-rise new neighbourhood built with similar principles to Brabazon on the former Filton Airfield, which never got an arena in the end (the Brabazon hangars are now student accommodation) but has become Bristol’s most desirable postcode since the city border was extended to take in much of South Glos.
Housing remains a hot topic in the run-up to the first mayoral elections for 13 years following last year’s referendum when voters decided to return to a mayoral system of governance after a decade of bitter arguments. Bristol’s former mayor, Lord Rees of Frenchay, now lives in New York and chairs the UN Urban Forum.
So far, those standing for mayor in the 2034 elections include veteran Labour councillor and council leader Marley Bennett and Bristol East MP Lorraine Francis, one of Bristol’s six Green MPs since the creation of the new Western Harbour & Leigh Woods constituency.
Longstanding Labour councillor Marley Bennett has also thrown his hat into the ring for the top job at City Hall – photo: Bristol City Council
Quite a bit has changed in the last decade. Since the government stopped spending hundreds of millions on flying asylum seekers overseas and instead welcomed them and allowed them to work, the economy has been on an upward trajectory. It has further soared since the introduction of a free childcare policy to rival Sweden.
The economic lift has led to funding finally secured for Bristol’s underground with the first line now under construction running from the bottom of Park Street to the new neighbourhood on the Downs.
To celebrate, artist Luke Jerram has revived his water slide down Park Street. Cotham School alumna Maya Jama, now the breakfast show host on Radio One, will be taking the first ceremonial slide before heading to her former school to officially open their new sports facility, with PE lessons now taking place underground due to the city’s lack of green space.
Main photo: Historic England
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