Developers tasked with breathing life back into Bradford have said the city is full of potential.

Two months ago, Alsop Architects were handed the brief to regenerate Bradford by the city's Urban Regeneration Company, which aims to attract new investment into the city.

And since then David West, Alsop's project manager, and his team have been touring the city to understand what makes Bradford unique.

"There is so much excitement and possibility. Don't let anyone tell you there isn't," he said.

Mr West spoke of his team's thoughts on how to meet the challenge at Bradford Vision's board meeting yesterday. He stressed that Bradford should be seen as a city in its own right, and not constantly compared to Leeds.

"The problem is that everybody is trying to make Bradford like Leeds and it doesn't work," he said.

"The joy of Bradford is its eclectic mix of city centre, mills and landmarks."

Picking up on the city's Capital of Culture bid slogan of One Landscape Many Views, Mr Ward described the city as nestling at the base of a bowl, with the hills and valleys adding to the city's appeal and potential.

His team have also been investigating the outer areas of the city to understand what will attract people from the rest of the district, and cities such as Manchester, back into the city centre.

"It's all about getting under the skin of Bradford and getting a good understanding of all the opportunities that will shape our thinking," he said.

Business investment would have a major part to play in any regeneration.

Mr Ward compared the city's business infrastructure to a rainforest.

"Hundreds of years ago the mills were the big trees supporting all the other trees in the rainforest, the medium and small-sized businesses. It was a relationship that worked," he said.

And he stressed that a similar relationship could be created again.

The issue of transport and roads will also be investigated, with one option being the removal of one of the city's ring roads to encourage public transport.

Answering concerns from some Bradford Vision board members that the overall plan was too ambitious, Mr Ward stressed it was still in the very early planning stages.