Cardiff Central Square ‘is an urban desert’
Martin Shipton
The aim to build a new square that would enhance Cardiff’s ambition to be one of Europe’s most successful cities has in fact resulted in the construction of an urban desert, it has been claimed.
Lyn Eynon, the planning lead for Cardiff Civic Society, argues that instead of creating soulless spaces dominated by characterless tall buildings, Welsh cities should be taking inspiration from concepts like the vertical forest in Milan.
A document created by Rightacres, the development company responsible for several tall office blocks in the Welsh capital, states: “Cardiff’s city centre has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last decade. High quality retail development and strong urban design have helped create a distinctive and contemporary city centre which is evident in the increasing numbers of visitors coming to Cardiff.
“Our Vision for Central Square is that it becomes a proud new Gateway to the Capital of Wales. A revamped Central Square will reflect Cardiff’s ambition to be amongst Europe’s most successful cities. It will build on its success and become a place defined by excellence in design, in quality, in diversity of offer. It will be a place that inspires and excites. Above all it will be a unique place – a place that captures the essence of Wales and Welsh values, as a place of warmth and welcome.”
‘Bleakness’
But in an article written for members of the civic society, Mr Eynon wrote: “Central Square is an urban desert There is little greenery across the whole area on both sides of Wood Street, beyond a few scattered trees and some urban drainage planting.
“The council prides itself on the awards it has gained, but bleakness dominates, with not even hanging baskets. The development behind Cardiff Central station is no better, the heritage Brains chimney cowering beneath its overbearing neighbours, and no trees to be seen.
“Now a 50-storey tower of glass and steel is threatened for the remaining plot between Wood Street and the Principality Stadium. Thirty five storeys have already been approved, but that wasn’t enough, so the developer has come back for more. Mine’s taller than yours.
“Cardiff has approved tall buildings in worse locations, but this tower will dominate the stadium. The bigger problem is lack of imagination. Our city’s planning is stuck in outdated late-20th century Manhattan envy in pursuit of developer profit. Why not do something different?
“Modern cities across the world are realising that we need to live with nature, not fight against it. Vertical forests now enhance several cities, such as Milan. These acknowledge that tall buildings add housing to dense cities but integrate trees throughout their height, not just at ground level. Nature lives in the city.
“Perhaps most impressive is the Trudo Tower in Eindhoven, not just for architecture but because it provides social housing, and proves biodiversity is not luxury.
“The UK does not yet have any comparable buildings. Why should Cardiff not be first? Cardiff council proposed a green wall within its regeneration of the Channel View estate in Grangetown, but then rejected it, quoting fire risk.
“After Grenfell, fire must be taken seriously. However, risks can be managed through fire resistant materials and plants, plus regular watering and maintenance. Besides, Cardiff has not built any city centre social housing, unlike other places such as Swansea.
“So, imagine. What if instead of yet more over-priced steel and glass, we built housing in Central Square affordable by anyone, and turned this concrete desert into a vertical forest?
“Wouldn’t that be something our city could be proud of?”
The Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) is a complex of two residential skyscrapers designed by the Italian architect Stefano Boeri and located in the Porta Nuova district of Milan. They have a height of 116 metres (381 ft) and 84 m (276 ft) and within the complex is an 11-storey office building.
Shrubs and trees
The distinctive feature of the skyscrapers, both inaugurated in 2014, is the presence of over 90 plant species, including tall shrubs and trees, distributed on the facades. It is an ambitious project of metropolitan reforestation that aims to increase the biodiversity of plant and animal species in the Lombard capital through vertical greening, reducing urban sprawl and contributing to the mitigation of the microclimate.
The Bosco Verticale has won numerous awards. In addition to the International Highrise Award in 2014, it was acknowledged by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat as the “most beautiful and innovative skyscraper in the world” in 2015 and as one of the “50 most iconic skyscrapers in the world” in 2019.
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Central Square demonstrates such a depressing lack of vision and inspiration for our capital city. A stark concrete plaza and bland, identikit office blocks. What kind of a first impression does this soulless jumble give? We could have a buzzing public plaza and open, tree-lined avenues leading to St Mary Street and the stadium, but instead we have miserable windswept rat runs between office blocks. The old bus station was a state, but I’m not sure what replaces it is any better – it’s shameful that so much public space was handed over to private interests. We didn’t even get… Read more »
It just needs finishing.
https://placesforeveryone.com/index.php/2018/06/23/placemaking/
Very dispiriting. It’s just a holding pen for big events in the stadium. Outside of that nothing. Apart from what other people have posted – it allows BBC staff from around the UK to not visit Wales. Horrible area.
Of course it is. They had a chance but some planner is a bit dim. It also cools with greenery, quite a shock to see the finished article when so many chances are missed but then we have council’s still strimming the area’s to the bone because “it looks neat” for people with fake grass lawns that complain..
Planners need to rethink.
Yes, please! Cardiff is a flattened architectural wasteland, ironic given how many ridiculously tall buildings block the view to anything interesting. Stripped of imagination, heritage and culture, what is the point of Cardiff anymore? It is the urban centre I enjoy going to least in all of Wales.
The “point” of Cardiff is that it provides an area for politicians, planners and all sorts of speculator businesses to hoard anything remotely income generating within a relatively small area. Too much has been poured into a relatively small area ever since the old Cardiff Bay Development got launched in 1980’s. Turning the Valleys, the Vale, and other adjacent areas into dormitories is not smart thinking but it’s a recurring habit among our so called leaders.
I couldn’t agree more with Mr Eynon. Most UK cities, including Cardiff are concrete jungles with very little greenery and nature. In comparison, I now live in Brisbane which is far greener that any UK city I’ve been to. We should be striving for excellence and incorporating nature into our cities. Nature based design solutions bring all sorts of benefits from improved human wellbeing, reduced urban heat and reduced flooding. It’s a no brainer.
I avoid Cardiff City centre as far as I can, but was there yesterday and it really is a soulless pit, in many places shops and offices vacant. On my walk back out, I did note at a distance, some residential high rise flats off City Road with greenery hanging from around the balcony areas. It may not be Milan, but it did make an immediate impact for the better.
Totally agree. Cardiff Council and the developers are an utter disgrace. Their strategy seems to have been “Anything is better than the old bus interchange.” A huge wasted opportunity.
Had a good look, up and around, the last time I was in Cardiff. It’s awful and, as many have commented, completely soulless. Visited two stunning capital cites recently in Helsinki and Tallinn. Very different but both have made excellent use of innovative architecture and, in Tallinn’s case, regenerating old industrial buildings. Cardiff is limp and doesn’t shout out its status as Cymru’s capital. I’ve friends from Devon who have visited Cardiff for decades for weekend breaks and sporting events. Both believe that it has gone downhill in the last few years.
London has an excellent balance between parks, residential and office spaces. To grow Cardiff City Region we need a ban on new office developments in the whole of Cardiff and a focus on Newports empty Debenhams store – next to bus station and is closer to London than Cardiff Central station. Wales seems obsessed with only focused on grown central Cardiff. In England media organisations moved out of London to media city Manchester; whereas in Wales BBC has moved to the most expensive location in Wales – this is not an appropriate use of public funding, they should sell that… Read more »
Sorry, I think Milan’s “vertical forest” is an ugly abomination.
A lack of coherent vision has brought us here! Central square is a hub for anti social behaviour with no soul or meaning.
Homeless people in abundance begging outside, drinking, drug taking and stealing from the shops, skateboarders and uber riders with electric bikes who cut through at speed which bring different risks.
Finally it appears to be the number 1 place for protest for things that have nothing to do with us!
I agree with everything you have said about Central Square although you did leave out the litter problem.
I will however agree to disagree with you on the current protests that do take place there.
Singapore has been leading the way with it’s “city in a garden” strategy and proves tall buildings and high population density aren’t a barrier to a green and pleasant environment.
https://naturalwalkingcities.com/singapore-a-city-in-a-garden-a-model-for-creating-an-integrated-urban-green-walking-network
https://www.archdaily.com/976437/how-singapore-is-pioneering-the-way-to-creating-a-greener-urban-environment
https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/11/11/how-has-singapore-learned-to-blend-nature-with-urban-living
It’s good timing for me is this article: I am back visiting Cymru for the week , and working out of Cardiff. I have been struck by the City Centre – it’s empty shops and the like…it just feels ‘beat up’ . I still think that the strength of Cardiff is, and hopefully will remain being, the very ‘liveable’ districts in it’s environs, but it has been a real shame to come to the City Centre, look for the positives in the urban realm, but seeing few of them.
There’s a ways to go before it’s the best city in Europe but others have recognised the progress:
https://www.timeout.com/uk/news/this-welsh-city-has-been-named-the-uks-best-destination-100623
Fair do’s , a decent accolade … and the skyline makes for a very distinctive view from the south IMO as per the photo in the link.
…but on the flipside though – the view of the city skyline from Penarth is, I find, very distinctive… hey ho !
Central square where BBC journalists arrive by train from Bristol and walk across the great concreate expanse to the new BBC building to make programmes warning us of the climate emergency and biodiversity loss. Meanwhile their pervious tree lined premises in Llandaf is now a housing estate. You know it makes sense. Cardiff is city where they moved the bus station away from the railway station to do it. Just as every other city is moving them together to encourage public transport.
Err…the bus station is right alongside the railway station. Or do you mean coach station? Agree with you there.
Have you used the new bus interchange?
I’ve not used it, because no coach or bus I’ve ever taken have stopped there 😂
This is something that has struck me this week also. Admittedly, I have a strong interest in transportation, so would look at the new station with perhaps a bit more scrutiny, but I have been disappointed that the new facility still has the feel to me of being something of ‘public transport as an afterthought’, and not at the planning forefront. The arrangement is still a bit fragmented also: for example, services are not entirely centralised – there is still the requirement to catch buses to certain areas of the city from stops which are outside of the station. I… Read more »
I don’t think they’ve finished integrating it, certainly the lack of east Cardiff services is a gap, as is the lack of coach services. There’s plenty of capacity but it might need a switch to dynamic bays that work more like airports. Reducing dwell time is important, which can be done by having the interchange as a stop on the route rather than a terminus.
Before we can discuss the beautiful aesthetics required to compare Cardiff with Milan or Singapore, we need to address the point made regarding the city being more equivalent to Sheffield in terms of economy – that factor which decides whether we can actually pay for the enhancements mentioned. I assume Cardiff Council is responsible for the public open spaces concerned, but is now more concerned with increasing their £30,000,000 annual spend on temporary housing, including buying up hotels to house newly released criminals from England. Considering this, maybe the open spaces are better to control the current levels of criminality… Read more »
You make a good point there – is there a source somewhere for looking at the relative economies of the various cities around the UK you know pls e.g. GVA per head etc. ? It would be an interesting exercise to compare different places.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_cities_by_GDP
All these things have to be done at the same time. Turning away visitors until all crime and antisocial behaviour is eliminated means never welcoming visitors who instead visit other cities that are rife with crime and antisocial behaviour like Bristol and London.
And it costs nothing to plant more trees and shrubs. Waiting until the economy is larger until making things nicer is also self-defeating. Just like wannabe celebs, cities have to fake it til they make it.
It was even supposed to be worse…