Bid to put Bristol in European top-20 cities list

A plan has been unveiled to make Bristol one of the top 20 European cities by 2020.

The Bristol 20:20 plan is a 10-year strategy by the Bristol Partnership to improve the city in a number of key areas during the next decade.

The wide-ranging and ambitious plan pledges to provide employment opportunities throughout the city, help elderly and disabled people become more active, reduce teenage pregnancy, prevent ill health, increase walking and cycling, reduce energy use, provide more affordable housing and reduce crime.

But most are general ambitions, with specific targets kept to a minimum.

One is a promise to provide 5,000 low-income families with access to a home computer and broadband in the next two years "until the internet is as accessible as electricity".

The other is an already existing commitment to reduce carbon dioxide levels by a third by 2020.

To make the top 20, Bristol will have to improve in four categories that are used to measure sustainability, quality of life and achievement among European cities.

It will need to reduce inequalities in health and wealth, become more environmentally friendly, improve life for the city's minorities and raise the aspirations of young people.

Regarding education and young people the plan aims to "create an environment where aspiring to have a good education is something to be proud of, something to work for, and something that is regarded by young people's peers as normal".

Bristol came 34th in the last survey of European cities' incomes in 2005, with Frankfurt, Karlsruhe in Germany and Paris the top three.

A report to Bristol City Council claims that despite being England's seventh largest city "our communities give it a 'village feel'".

There are 39 areas in Bristol among the 10 per cent most deprived in the country, and four in the most deprived one per cent.

The Bristol Partnership is a group of organisations including the city council, the police and the NHS.

The report includes a statement from chairman Dick Penny.

Mr Penny said: "In terms of economic productivity, culture, education, sustainability, quality of life.. whatever performance indicators you choose, Bristol can and should be among the very best.

"There are some big challenges though: climate change, traffic congestion, deprivation and equalities are just a few of them."

Bristol City Council is due to decide whether to adopt the plan at a cabinet meeting tomorrow.