Copper’s Zak Reid discusses key takeaways from the 2018 Bristol Development Plans event.

The Bristol Development Plans Conference on 6 December 2018 saw a range of experts across the property sector come together to discuss the future of development in the city. The country’s housing crisis is nothing new, but conversations looked at what can be done in the South West and what’s on the agenda for development and infrastructure in the area.

Too often, developers tend to build houses in an area without truly considering the wider benefits for a local community. A focal point for speakers at the conference was around creating a local feeling in a big city, developing sites to include parks, schools and business spaces to boost the local benefits, not just building homes.

Discussions concentrated on building relationships between developers and government bodies, stressing how they can collectively play a key role in transforming areas in Bristol and building sustainable housing to accommodate everyone. Their focus on joint partnerships would mean that sites should be easier to access and funding would be more readily available in theory.

Bristol as a whole is an area that arguably hasn’t reached its full potential. But can the city deliver on those ambitions and work together in order to create the high quality of life that is expected of the region?