University showcases present and future at City Lab

The University of Derby has been wowing visitors to the Derby City Lab with visions of how the city can be reimagined.

Since the start of the month, the university has been at the St James Street venue, showcasing its DUST (Derby’s Urban Sustainable Transition) project.

DUST aims to reimagine Derby for a sustainable future, creating an augmented reality representation of the city, capitalising on its blueways and greenways to increase its vibrancy and prosperity.

And at the City Lab, visitors have been invited to use virtual reality headsets to see for themselves.

Professor Chris Bussell, who is DUST’s project lead, said: “If we look generations ahead, we will see a more socially conscious population coming forward who want liveable cities.

“We need to be looking at how we interface commercial, retail and leisure activity into a common space that has purpose and function.”

The university will continue at the City Lab this week, with its estates department then expected to take over the space to give an insight into the university’s City Masterplan, which focuses on the development of the area around One Friar Gate Square, Ford Street, Bridge Street, Agard Street and Nuns Street, in Derby.

The overall ambition is to create two distinct but linked areas in the city: an Academic Zone, centred around the university’s current Sir Peter Hilton Court site, and an Enterprise Zone, based around the Princess Alice Court halls of residence and Enterprise Centre area.

The first element of the plan is a brand-new Derby Business School – and demolition work has started to clear the way for the next phases of the project.

Created thanks to a partnership between the city council, Marketing Derby, the University of Derby and Lathams, Derby City Lab aims to engage, inform and inspire people about plans to shape the city.

Opened in July, the first exhibition to be staged by the lab involved Down to Earth Derby’s vision for a nature-led regeneration of the city. This was then followed by an exhibition by Derby City Council, showcasing its ideas for the future of Derby.

The university will be at Derby City Lab throughout this week.

For more information visit – Derby City Lab – Marketing Derby.