Grand designs for rebuilding Bradford have been praised by regeneration leaders at a major UK conference.

Many of the UK's leading planners, developers and architects were asked if Bradford was a good model for regeneration and if its masterplan is delivering the goods.

Yesterday's Hilton hotel conference was organised by the British Urban Regeneration Association (Bura) and looked at how planners can earn the 'freedom to regenerate' without red tape and interference muddling their vision.

Speakers were also warned not to lose sight of who they are designing for - that people must enjoy living and working in their environments.

The keynote speech was delivered by Ted Kitchen, professor of planning and urban regeneration at Sheffield Hallam University, who said planners must deal with issues that matter to those who live and work in the spaces being designed.

He said fear of crime constantly tops residents' surveys of what matters, and so planners need to work closely with police: "It is important that crime prevention is not imposed but done through working with the community,"

He also described the record in Bradford as "patchy".

Professor Kitchen added: "This is about adding to the quality of people's lives - my own definition of planning is that it is about making places better for people.

"There is lots of good practice out there in planning and urban regeneration but we need to get people learning from it."

Chris Brown, chief executive of prestigious London-based Igloo Regeneration welcomed the Bradford designs of Will Alsop and compared them to early "utopian visions" of town planning.

He added: "There are recent visions that have delivered great spaces and we are hoping that this one is one of these."

He also joked that the image of the proposed City Hall lake is now so famous among planners that many have been fooled by it: "They are expecting that this is what Bradford now looks like - so expect some very confused tourists."

Mr Brown ranked the Bradford masterplan among the best in regeneration thinking, saying it was distinctive to the area and gave pedestrians a greater priority than cars.

He added: "One of the things I love in Alsop's vision is we bulldoze all the rubbish, and what we replace it with has to be better - what we are replacing it with here is really very good."

Gordon Cary, a Leeds-based architect and a director of Bura, said the conference worked: "We are learning that there are big ambitions in the UK for improvement of our urban areas.

"Bradford is one of the towns in which regeneration is absolutely critical - people have been excited by the vision.

"It is a town which has been dormant for many years and the people in the area believe it is the right time for that to change."