THE team which put together the Without Walls report had the bad luck to publish it as war erupted in Iraq. That inevitably diverted attention away from its findings.

So today we look in detail at the vision for the future of York as laid out in the report. It is a thought-provoking document, and its authors deserve our thanks for their hard work.

They have achieved their aim. Without Walls will prompt a lively debate in the run up to the Festival of Ideas conference later this month.

And we need that debate. York is changing fast, perhaps more quickly than at any time in its 2,000-year existence. Buildings are going up and coming down at a dizzying rate, the city's economic engines are constantly changing gear, and the population is shifting.

If we do not make our minds up soon about the sort of city we want York to be, we will find that the decision has been taken out of our hands. Change is inevitable and progress healthy: Without Walls is about shaping that development.

You would not expect a project which sought a diversity of contributors to put forward a single-minded blueprint for York. Some of the most formidable challenges are identified in the report's apparent incongruities.

It is apparent, for example, that we must carefully consider the future direction of tourism. While it is undoubtedly crucial to the economy, the industry is also criticised in the report for providing mainly low-wage jobs which keep a shocking number of York residents in poverty.

Similarly, York Central is viewed as key to the city's housing needs, and yet this massive project might well collapse as the property market stalls.

And the prospect of young-at-heart "third agers" viewing York as their playground is beguiling, if a little scary. The aim must be to provide a city for all ages, and that includes young residents whose needs have often been overlooked. They are our future, after all.

Updated: 10:28 Tuesday, June 03, 2003