Introduction  The Belfast we now live and work in has been shaped in recent years by a relatively unconstrained development market and by an approach to infrastructure that privileges the car over the pedestrian. We seem to be losing our city, our streets and our spaces to the imperatives of profit and functionalist regulation. How can we start to create and envision a city that we can all enjoy: a city that is connected; a city that is open to all; and a city without barriers? We seem to be almost obsessed with barriers and boundaries; not just barriers between the ‘traditonal’ communities, but barriers between the rich and the poor, the city centre and neighbouring communities, and between the institutions of government and the people. Forum for Alternative Belfast aims to facilitate the development of workable ideas about how Belfast can be developed for all its citizens as well as for visitors. It hopes to encourage debate about how we can influence and affect changes to the built environment. It wants to explore how the mistakes of the past can be addressed and it wants to look imaginatively at opportunities for the future.