There is plenty to get excited about in the proposals for what the Will Alsop plan identifies as the Markets Neighbourhood of Bradford which were unveiled today. The area around Westgate, John Street and the Rawson Quarter particularly needs the sort of major boost this scheme appears to offer.

Although the businesses which have opened so far in the Rawson Quarter have given the top end of town a big lift, much more needs to be done to smarten up the streets around it and attract retailers to the many empty premises.

But the vision of the new scheme goes much further than merely filling existing shop premises. Turning the shop fronts in John Street into a cloistered retail arcade, utilising the old gates of Kirkgate Market as a new entrance, building a footbridge over Drewton Road to link the city centre with Manningham, creating a "World Mile" of specialist shops stretching from Ivegate to Whetley Hill, developing a residential "urban village" next to Drewton Road to bring more people to live in the area...All these are big ideas for Bradfordians to think about.

But as Councillor Anne Hawkesworth says, they are not set in stone. It is important that as many people as possible take the opportunity to study the plans and make their views known. This is about the sort of city in which we will be living, working and shopping in years to come. A chance to have a say in the way it's shaped is something not to be missed.