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Visions for Aberdeen’s future

Building an Ideopolis – a city of ideas; creating the world’s most liveable city; and developing the Hanging Gardens of Aberdeen are just three visions for how Aberdeen City Centre could look in the future.

They are included in Genius Loci – Granite City Futures, a new publication co-ordinated and published by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce. A collection of independent visions provided by 20-plus individuals who live or work in the city, Genius Loci puts forward some interesting and thought provoking ideas about what a vibrant city centre could look like.

The definition of Genius Loci is “the prevailing character or atmosphere of a place; the presiding god or spirit of a place” and contributors were invited to put forward their thoughts on how Aberdeen can enhance its own genius loci

The publication acknowledges that the people who live here may feel that the city is losing its distinctive mood and atmosphere to piecemeal development, a lack of investment in consistent excellence, to the lack of a clear spatial plan, to neglect, to economic forces, and to torpor; members of the Chamber regularly raise the issue of ‘the state of the city centre’ and the ‘condition of Union Street’ in particular as a key concern.

The concept behind Genius Loci is that it is time to take a positive rather than a negative view and time to stop complaining about the problems, and what is not being done, and start to raise our game by thinking big; to articulate aspirations about what can be achieved; to gather together ideas and insights and to feed the debate on what we want our city centre to be.

Chamber members and others from across the City and Shire were invited to submit their own visions for the City Centre and to explain what they think could be done to bring about improvement. These form the basis of the publication which also includes an outline of the Aberdeen City Centre Development Framework which has been prepared as part of the City Council’s Masterplanning Process.

Chamber Chief Executive Bob Collier said: “Genius Loci will add some exciting new thoughts and ideas to the debate about how we want our city centre to look and feel like in the future. There is general agreement that Aberdeen needs a vibrant city centre which is safe and welcoming for everyone who works in and visits the area.

“But the condition of the city centre is an issue frequently raised by our members, many of whom believe that the current poor state sends out a negative message if we want to attract new investment to the city. Many businesses bringing clients and potential investors to Aberdeen avoid taking them near the centre because of the poor image it gives of the city.

“This is all about acknowledging the current situation and putting forward some aspirational visions as to how we can bring about positive change.”