Cardiff council have revealed their five-year plan which aims to "re-imagine and revitalise" the city centre following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The plan will focus on nine key themes including making the city centre a place of culture, creating a "blue city" centre that makes use of its rivers and canals, improving streetscape in the area, a fully-integrated transport network and creating and preserving green spaces.
The plans follow after a shift to working from home and the acceleration of online shopping due to the pandemic has led to fewer people visiting the city centre.
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By 2028, the council said that the city centre will see itself having closer links to streets surrounding the area such as Tudor Street, James Street Newport Road and Cardiff Bay, with a new Metro tram link between the city centre and Cardiff Bay.
There are plans for new station facilities at Cardiff Central and Pierhead Street which will eventually also be created in Newport Road and Roath Basin. Bus stops will also be created on Greyfriars Road, Churchill Way and Pierhead Street.
It comes as delays to Cardiff’s metro and bus station have been slammed amid calls for the city to be given mayor-style powers. You can read more on that here.
The River Taff will be opened up to be used as a transport corridor, the council said, with three new walking and cycling bridges planned at Central Quay, The Embankment and Channel View.
Cardiff council said it will focus on upgrading building and shop frontages, focusing on historic buildings such as the frontages on Castle Street. Cardiff Market will be regenerated as a place linked to the various historic arcades nearby in Cardiff.
The council said that a new high street will also be created following the historic central 'spine' from Cardiff Castle, through to High Street and St Mary Street, Callaghan Square and Lloyd George Avenue, ending at Cardiff Bay and the Docks. The street will include greenery, art and communal spaces.
New landmarks and public spaces will also potentially be developed for Canal Quarter, Callaghan Square, Central Quay, University/ Cultural Quarter, The Embankment, Mount Stuart Square, Boulevard de Nantes and Westgate Street.
Fans of Womanby Street will also be pleased to hear that the plans will see it developed as a new music quarter to "celebrate its significance as Cardiff's most loved music street".
A new festival will also be created in Cardiff known as the 'International Festival of Street Art' to boost customers and tourism to the city.
The council are also aiming to make the city centre more green and biodiverse by seeking to keep the Castle grounds open as a public green space, ensuring the inclusion of plants in all street cafes and installing green roofs and walls on new and redeveloped buildings.
There will also be a network of new public green spaces across the heart of the city, including developing major new parks at Callaghan Square, Lloyd George Avenue and the Taff River Embankment.
The award-winning Greener Grangetown project in the city centre will also be implemented in other areas around the city centre such as Riverside and Cathays, where these areas will see more rain gardens, also known as sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDs) in the area.
Cardiff council said they aim for it to become a "blue city centre", making better use of the rivers and canals going through the centre.
New public waterfront corridors across the city centre along Churchill Way which will become Cardiff's Canal Quarter, and along Lloyd George Avenue, they added.
The Leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Huw Thomas, said: "The Covid-19 pandemic had an extraordinary impact on city centres across the UK and indeed the world. It changed the ways we live our lives and do business.
"The shift to homeworking and the acceleration and use of online purchase has hit the retail sector in city centres. In many ways it has forced us to consider those longer-term trends, which were already coming down the track, but have now been accelerated because of the pandemic.
"However, far from these trends sounding the death knell for city centres we feel they offer exciting opportunities to evolve. Cardiff's city centre supports 70,000 jobs and is critical to the local, regional, and national economy. These are some of the reasons why we are embarking on a journey to look at ways in which we can revitalise Cardiff city centre in a post-pandemic world.
"We want a city centre that continues to be safe, clean, green, attractive and well maintained, but we also want it to become greener and even more welcoming. A city centre that offers visitors, and people who live here, great experiences in high-quality settings and a city centre which creates new job opportunities.
"Of course, Cardiff has already been on a process of successful change over the past 25 years. Our city centre has seen transformational improvements from major leisure, retail and business developments - such as the Principality Stadium to Saint David's Dewi Sant and the regeneration of Central Square, through to increased pedestrianisation of its streets making the city more inclusive and accessible.
"But as the city emerges from the pandemic it is essential that we consider the steps we need to take to accelerate recovery. Our aim now is to build upon the city's existing achievements, to create a vibrant destination, part of a great capital city which works for all residents, businesses and visitors."
Other aims in the five-year plans include:
- A more direct role in managing and coordinating the future of the city centre to reflect the needs of residents, workers, businesses and visitors.
- Establish effective partnerships with the Business Improvement District and key partners including residents.
- Make the city centre clean, safe, green and well maintained a core priority.
- A clear five-year plan and vision for the city centre to coordinate public, open and green spaces, events, markets and street animation into a year-round programme.
- An integrated city centre funding programme to support the key actions in this plan.
- Work with community safety partners to make the city centre feel safer for families, women and visitors.
- Establish high-quality design standards for shop frontages, public spaces, street furniture and all aspects of the environment.
- Create a world class destination business city centre, with a selection of high quality, sustainable, innovative and flexible office and co-working spaces that attract and grow knowledge-based businesses.
- Develop proposals for meanwhile uses and incubation spaces to ensure empty units and spaces are used productively.
- More flexible and low-cost spaces to help indigenous and independent businesses grow and become more productive.
- Develop a ‘smart city' digital infrastructure programme.
- Develop a business events strategy that showcases the city's competitiveness and establishes a programme of activity.
- Develop and complete major developments in the ‘Central Business District' (CBD), including at: Central Square, Central Quay, Callaghan Square, The Canal Quarter and Cardiff Bay.
- Work with partners to complete the Central Square Transport Interchange and upgrade the Cardiff Central (Metro Central), Queens Street and Cathays railway stations, delivering high quality accessible ‘gateway' entrances into the city centre.
- Create an enlarged ‘clean air' pedestrian and active travel core to the city centre to be developed alongside the new transport interchange.
- Integrate high-quality visitor services and tourist information into new transport facilities, including the Transport Interchange and Metro Central.
- Develop a new city centre taxi/loading/parking masterplan.
- Make Cardiff an exemplar for zero carbon transport including electric vehicle (EV) charging and EV public transport throughout the city centre.
- Prepare a streetscape design guide for the city centre to ensure that new and existing streets, spaces and buildings are developed to high quality architecture, landscape and biodiversity standards.
- Develop a programme of streetscape enhancements to upgrade and declutter, creating streets and spaces that are safer, more attractive and more accessible for all users.
- Better integrate existing major parks such as Bute Park and Cathays Park and green spaces within the core of the city centre through traffic calming measures and improved pedestrian connectivity, including through the Castle grounds and its west/ clock tower gate.
- Create new river bridges at: Channel View, The Embankment (Dumballs Road), Central Quay and Ely Mill. Deliver a new multimode road bridge at Ball Road, Llanrumney and refurbish Blackweir Bridge.
- Explore the opportunity to create ‘continental style' waterfront open spaces at Cardiff Bay, Channel View and Black Weir Bridge.
- Develop a 10-year river, water and flood plan for the city centre to help ensure that it is resilient to flood risk and also maximises access to the existing and new water opportunities across the city.
- Provide a wider range and choice of family accommodation across the city centre/Bay with supporting facilities.
- Establish a regular engagement partnership with residents and user groups.
- Commit to making the city centre safer, cleaner, welcoming and more attractive for people of all ages and backgrounds.
- Develop an equalities and all ages access strategy, supporting the city's Age Friendly City strategy.
- Work with the Welsh Government's Transforming Towns programme to support in city centre regeneration schemes, street frontage improvements and public space enhancements.
- Develop a fully child friendly city centre including the provision of play opportunities in new public spaces.
- Create great food destinations, with high quality street markets, restaurants, cafes, shops and supporting infrastructure.
- Develop a range of quieter seating areas and family/play spaces.
- Develop a new ‘home grown' events strategy and place animation programme.
- Develop proposals for a new creative hub in the city centre to support production and performance.
- Develop new city centre and Bay art/cultural centres.
- Establish a city centre artist in residence programme.
- Develop creative uses in meanwhile spaces, taking a dynamic approach to re purposing empty shops for artist activity where possible to ensure that empty spaces are used productively.
- Establish public spaces that can accommodate outdoor events as part of new developments.
- Establish a clear ‘Visit Cardiff' brand, bringing together key stakeholders such as FOR Cardiff and Visit Cardiff Network members, to ensure there is a cohesive approach to marketing and promotion through one place brand for the city.
- Explore the potential of a transport and attractions visitor card.
- Promote free access activities within the city centre such as public art and heritage trails.
- Progress key campaigns to help raise the profile of the city including Christmas, a waterfront city, major events and the Cardiff Music City brand.
- Promote the city centre's unique assets including Cardiff Castle, Cardiff Market, its Victorian arcades and sports/cultural venues.
- Build on visitcardiff.com and associated social media platforms to expand digital reach.
- Encourage more business events of all sizes in the city centre to attract more weekday visitors and promote the city centre as a competitive business location.
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