A new boardwalk area for outdoor hospitality will be unveiled at Linenhall Street in Belfast city centre next month when it's hoped lockdown restrictions will be eased.
It's part of a £0.5m project involving Linen Quarter Belfast Improvement District (Bid) to create more outdoor space in the city centre as businesses and society emerge from lockdown.
And in May a parklet - a semi-enclosed outdoor area - will be installed outside the BBC featuring cycle stands and plants. There are plans for wider pavements and outdoor artwork on Adelaide Street over the summer.
Bid said plans for Blackstaff Square and Brunswick Street represented its "biggest intervention". The area between Great Victoria Street and Bedford Street is to feature a gravel court for French boules, a social hub, container cafe bar, 160 outdoor seats and a stage for entertainment.
Chris McCracken said: "Brunswick Street Social will become one of the most exciting new spaces in Belfast, driving footfall back into the city centre to enjoy a programme of film festivals, food events and live music when it is safe to do so."
But in an article for BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, Mr McCracken said a more long-term approach to improving the city was also required.
He said the city should appoint its own architect to lead redevelopment post-pandemic.
He suggested freeing up on-street car parking spaces as green and social space, moving car parking to more multi-storeys.
He writes: "Over the last five years Belfast has been successful in attracting urban regeneration and investment. We have been less good at urban renewal and quality of life.
"There is a lot of focus on bringing residential investment into the city centre, but not so much about the supporting facilities - the play parks, schools and surgeries - that communities require."
Regeneration: Chris McCracken says more should be done for urban renewal
And he said residential development in the city centre shouldn't just focus on homes for professionals.
"And before further developments are approved, we should put in place space standards and mixed tenures. We need to create proper homes for people and not just professional pieds-à-terre."
And more of a focus on mixed-use development was crucial, with a need for an architect focused solely on planning for Belfast's future.
"Why does Belfast not have a city architect? Why do we not have sustainable building standards? Why have we over-invested into mono-functional districts that have driven the creative sector from the heart of our city?" he writes
"We need much more emphasis on mixed use developments that work with the grain of our city, renewing communities and respecting the crucial role of arts and culture."
The Linen Quarter Bid has worked on the projects with the Department for Infrastructure, Department for Communities and Belfast City Council.
It said it would be spending £0.5m in total on the "tactical regeneration".
Bid carried out an online consultation late last year to seek views on its proposals to upgrade public areas.
It said the consultation had revealed an "overwhelming demand from the public for change to Belfast's urban environment".
