City of Bristol
United Kingdom
Bristol is a city in South West England, with a population of 437,500. It is England's sixth and the United Kingdom's eighth most populous city, the most populous city in South West England and a member of the group of UK Core Cities. Bristol also sits at the heart of a vibrant and varied City ‘Region’ with over 1 million inhabitants.
As an international centre of maritime trade and industry, Bristol's prosperity has always historically been linked to its port, which still serves as an import and export hub in the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth. In recent years, Bristol’s economy has depended on creative and digital production, high tech, and low carbon, aerospace and advanced engineering. The economy is robust and innovative; Bristol has more businesses per capita and more patent registrations than any core city in the UK. This is all underpinned by a dynamic research and development base. Bristol is home to two world-class universities and acclaimed research institutions including Toshiba’s European Telecommunications Research Lab, HP Labs, The Bristol Robotics Laboratory and The National Composites Centre.
It is a wealthy city, with the highest GDP per-capita and highest private rent levels outside of London. Despite this, Bristol is a ‘super diverse’ city in respect of its demographic; there are significant levels of economic and health inequality, disproportionately affecting particular communities and some areas face persistent deprivation. One in four children lives in poverty, compared with one in five nationally and average life expectancy varies sharply.
In 2013 Bristol joined the Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities initiative (100RC), along with ten other European cities, providing a platform to build on both existing and a developing range of sustainability initiatives.
There are also has a number of emerging initiatives which could make it one of the world’s leading smart cities; this includes ‘Bristol Is Open’, a joint venture between the University of Bristol, Bristol City Council and @Bristol Science Museum, consisting of high speed networks and city operating system.
Leaders from across the City have recently developed a vision, model and governance structure to develop ‘Bristol: A Learning City’ with the aim of championing learning for all ages in all settings, both formal and informal, as a way of engaging citizens and tackling a number of economic and health related challenges. Bristol is the first city in England to join the International Network of Learning Cities.
In 2014 the Independent voted Bristol the UK’s most ‘liveable city’ for its quality of life, economic prosperity and access to green spaces and in 2015 the city was awarded European Green Capital status.
Bristol plays host to several International Conferences and Events throughout the year; the International Balloon Fiesta, the Harbour Festival, St Pauls Carnival and the Bristol Festival of Ideas make for a colourful and varied cultural landscape.
Bristol won the UNESCO Learning City Award in 2017 – one of 16 cities selected by an international panel of judges form over 50 applicants worldwide.
The city was recognised for the good progress it made in building a Learning City. The ‘Love Learning’ campaign and Learning Ambassador programme were particularly praised by judges. More information on Bristiol Learning City can be found at this link.
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