LIVERPOOL - Second city of the empire and world’s first global city.

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, United Kingdom along the eastern side of Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted a city status in 1880. In 2011, the population was 574,500 and is at the centre of a wider urban area, the Liverpool City Region.

Liverpool is noted for its rich architectural heritage and is home to many buildings regarded as amongst the greatest examples of their respective styles in the world. Several areas of the city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. 

As a major British port, the docks in Liverpool have historically been central to the city's development. The best well known dock in Liverpool is the Albert Dock, constructed in 1846, today comprises the larges single collection of Grade 1 listed buildings anywhere in Britain.

One of the major developments in the Liverpool region is called Liverpool Waters. The Liverpool Waters vision involves regenerating a 60 hectare historic dockland site to create a world-class, high-quality, mixed use waterfront quarter in central Liverpool.

The scheme will create a unique sense of place, taking advantage of the sites’ cultural heritage and integrating it with exciting and sustainable new development. Liverpool Waters will contribute substantially to the growth and development of the city.

It will accommodate new and existing residents, attract national and international businesses and encourage a significant increase in the number of visitors to the city, adding to Liverpool’s vibrant cultural offerings and providing a new and complementary destination.

In March 2011, the UK Government established four areas within the United Kingdom to give their special support to and called them “Enterprise Zones”. One of these Enterprise Zones was given the name of “Mersey Waters” which includes Peel’s flagship projects Wirral Waters and Liverpool Waters.

There are many specific and exclusive benefits deriving from this, some of which are :

• Potentially 100% business rates discount for five years
• A simplified and improved planning regime replaces the old legislation which means more flexibility in terms of changes of use of floor space
• Provision of super fast broadband in addition to the £13 million investment by Wirral Government to improve existing broadband facility

The iconic tower that will be erected in conjunction with the Liverpool Waters development has been named Shanghai Tower and is currently approved for construction. Standing at 200 metres tall, it reflects the strong and long-standing relationship between the city and China.

Liverpool is also one of the major university cities in the UK. Students are a huge boost to the city's economy. Millions of pounds are poured into cafes, restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs and shops in university cities every year. Many of the businesses are also staffed by students. With the majority being under 21 and willing to work long shifts for the lower level of minimum wage, business owners can save nearly 1 pound per hour in wages by employing students.

Michael Chan
RunningStream International