The latest plan for Hamilton's waterfront has been massively scaled down from a $1 billion vision unveiled four years ago.

A public meeting last night heard that the new "preferred concept plan" would cost between $150 to $160 million and would revolve around a "small village" next to the water.

Varoujan Hagopian, from Sasaki Associates, architectural and planning consultants to the Corporation of Hamilton, said the capital needed a facility that doubled as a boutique hotel and convention centre.

He said that would keep the city thriving throughout the year, adding: "The idea is to keep Hamilton waterfront alive 24/7."

The latest development proposal includes a visitor and cultural centre, a "small assembly" of one-storey buildings to be used for entertainment, boat parking for residents visiting the city for a few hours and long-stay underground parking for cars and motorcycles.

Mr. Hagopian said ideally medium-sized cruise ships would be able to dock on Front Street and passengers could take advantage of the new facilities.

Last night's meeting at Number Six Shed on Front Street was organised by the Corporation of Hamilton in order to gather views on the future of the city. It was attended by about 60 people.

Topics under discussion were historic preservation of buildings; traffic and parking; housing; and building heights. There was also a presentation on North Hamilton from Erica Smith, director of the Economic Empowerment Zone Agency.

Alderman Pamela Ferreira, chairman of City Hall's development committee, opened the meeting by saying committee members were reviewing the City of Hamilton 2001 Plan, which sets out policies for the future development of the capital.

She said they planned to prepare a report to share with the Department of Planning and were canvassing the views of citizens.

City engineer Patrick Cooper said Hamilton had just one listed building — the Anglican Cathedral — but 47 buildings of historic significance had been identified, with seven deemed to be worthy of Grade I status, the highest level of protection.

An audience member asked for the full list to be made public and he was advised that the list was held by the Department of Planning.

Commercial and residential property in the city was debated, with city engineer Mr. Cooper explaining that 198 new dwellings have been granted planning permission since 2001.

He said three purpose-built apartment buildings had gone up and a fourth had been given planning permission.

City Hall planning consultant Brian Rowlinson said eight buildings had been approved that exceeded the 2001 Plan's maximum permitted height, with just one of those built so far.

Former Premier Sir John Swan, a developer, told the meeting that citizens needed to come up with the components of a "new Bermuda" since "tourism, as we have known it, is finished".

He said preservation of old buildings was fine as long as change and the need to attract international visitors was embraced.

"Tourism has failed," he said. "It's completely failed. It's gone to Dockyard and [cruise] ships."

Sir John added: "We have tourism at the moment by cruise ships. We don't have tourism by way of hotels and guesthouses. But what we do have a chance to do is look at our city and say what's going to make our city attractive enough."

He suggested Bermuda ought to be listening to the Bahamas, with its Atlantis resort, to learn how to bring visitors back to the Island.