About the site

Love Lurgan takes a look at one of Northern Ireland's largest and least understood projects of recent past. That project was the building of the 'New City' of Craigavon between the towns of Lurgan and Portadown which began during the 1960's.

There was a naive sense of optimism that you could build a completely new city in the middle of nowhere from scratch. It was from this naivety that a lot of problems arose and to this day remain unsolved. Craigavon remains an unfinished black hole and is seen by many as an embarrassment.

LoveLurgan takes you back through the past 40 years looking at what went wrong with the ambitious and idealistic project that was Craigavon. Along the way you'll find out all the things you didn't know about the Lurgan/Craigavon area. A landscape littered with hidden cycle paths, disappearing roads and futuristic looking buildings.

The Craigavon Idea

The vision of a planned city came about due to a number of factors. At the start of the 1960's traditional industries were in decline. Nothing had emerged to take their place and housing was entrapped in tribal politics. They idea was to try and de-magnetise Belfast by luring some of the surplus population to a completely new city joining the towns of Lurgan and Portadown.

The spirit of the times meant that people saw planning as a science that would solve all their problems. The notion of planning new cities and new forms of infrastructure was seen as progress. Cash incentives were offered to people to entice them to this new city. In turn residents would become urban pioneers. This attracted ambitious young families who were trying to stake their claim in the future.

It Had It's Difficulties

Problems started to occur from the very start. A new city wouldn't work with out jobs. Planners faith turned mainly to hope that companies would materialise. A 'field of dreams' approach was taken by Stormont's Ministry of Commerce at the time. 'If you build it they will come' was the mentality of some.

The city was supposed to have a high-speed mass transit system, vibrant local neighbourhoods linked by road, rail and cycle path to a thriving city centre. Some facilities were built for 200,000 people. (The dry ski slope being a great example.) This was the estimated number of people who would move here but in reality only 20,000 turned up. This meant the original vision and plans wouldn't be achieved.

In 1973 the Development Commission was wound up. Craigavon was left in the hands of a number of direct rule NIO departments and quickly fell down their list of priorities. With the troubles breaking out some of the mixed housing estates worked, some didn't. Craigavon was struggling at this time.

Around the same time the government increased the allowance that they paid to the people who moved here. It was seen as a sense of desperation by some. It was also widely known that people would move to the area, take the money and leave a short time later.

By the mid 1970's the development of Craigavon had ground to a halt. The Brownlow sector of Craigavon was mostly finished but the Mandeville sector which would link Craigavon to Portadown was barely even started.

To add fuel to the fire, the main employer in the area, Goodyear, closed down in 1983. At it's peak, Goodyear was employing a quarter of the 'New City's' population. Once is closed, there were no jobs to replace them.

The Lost City

Due to it's incompletion, Craigavon became known as the 'lost city'. The gap where the Mandeville sector should be creates a strange landscape. Underused roads and over-grown cycle paths mark out an empty grid where a town should be. It is evident at some of the roundabouts that the road infrastructure is unfinished with a lot of possible exits blocked off or backing onto fields.

The Mandeville gap means that Craigavon 'City Centre' is now on the edge of Craigavon, and Portadown still remains out in isolation. Craigavon became an embarrassment to the very people who were involved in it's construction.

When people left the area, houses became derelict and were targeted by vandals. A lot of homes were targeted and either burnt out or boarded up. Vandalism was rife throughout Craigavon.

Unique urban planning

Roundabouts ultimately define the infrastructure of Craigavon. There are around 15, each with their own individual number or letter. There are no traffic junctions, simply roundabouts.

The main road linking the 'New City' to Lurgan is hidden away between huge trees and bushes. You can't see anything. It is also separated from any pedestrians. Motor vehicles are separated from the extensive cycle and path network. There are an estimated 60 miles of cycle network around the Craigavon area. Some however are unfinished and don't lead anywhere.

Housing estates were designed with security in mind. They only have a single road in and out. The estates all have their own self -contained shopping centres. Everything was evenly distributed on a planned basis. Some of the housing developments were very badly designed with inadequate materials and some became abandoned. A lot of people feel that it was this experimental architecture that was the main failing of the area. Some of the estates such as Burnside and Legahory suffered extensively from vandalism. Now only a handful of properties remain occupied in these estates.