Reconnecting Cardiff
For Immediate Release
The barriers that hinder travel between Cardiff Bay and the city centre
need to be swept away if the city is to fulfil its ambitions to become
one of Europe’s creative capitals. This is the view outlined
by the President of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales in an
article in the latest issue of agenda, the journal of the
Institute of Welsh Affairs.
Jonathan Adams, Special Projects Director with the firm Capita Percy
Thomas, points out the “conundrum” most people encounter
of how to travel easily between the city centre and the Bay. The distance
of the journey would not seem to be the problem; rather it is the
desire to get through the area in between, which “contributes
little to the quality of the city”.
Adams argues that this square mile of city needs to be changed so
that the journey through it ceases to be a challenge. He advocates
the development of a grid pattern similar to that found in New York
and Barcelona. He says: “It should be just the one city, fully
connected, contiguous, and metropolitan. One day there will be no
more reason to complain about the journey from city to Bay, because
there will no longer be a gap to traverse.”
He identifies the problem in connecting the Bay to the centre as an
overabundance of linear north-south structures which represent a “formidable
obstacle” to Cardiff’s development as a vibrant city.
The River Taff is one of these straight lines, as is the long retaining
wall that runs along the east edge of Bute Street in a straight line
from the city centre to the Bay. The wall was originally constructed
during the docks’ activity period but, Adams argues, for contemporary
Cardiff it is “a shelf, a barricade, a fault line and immensely
destructive to the city”.
The problem is compounded by north-south barriers such as Atlantic
Wharf, the Tremorfa steel works and the Central Link dual carriageway.
The two parallel boulevards of Lloyd George Avenue and Bute Street
repeat the “impenetrable” linear network.
Adams argues that each of these linear structures “strangulates
north-south movement into channels so restricted that the routes struggle
to be places in themselves”.
Acknowledging the failure of Lloyd George Avenue to be “the
elegant metropolitan boulevard, the attractive link between centre
and bay, that we all hoped it could be”, he proposes a new solution
to successfully connecting the two parts of the city. “The north-south
routes must be punctuated with east-west links, cutting through the
whole way from Riverside and Grangetown to Ocean Park and beyond.”
This would result in mid-Cardiff taking on a grid pattern similar
to the successful networks of Glasgow, Barcelona, New York and Splott.
Adams admits the nature of the plan and its implications for the businesses
and homes in the area are far-reaching, but argues that “none
of it should be out of the ordinary for the capital city of a sophisticated
country”.
The new network would make use of the currently overlooked Dumballs
Road. Adams revisits an idea that first surfaced during Cardiff’s
Capital of Culture debate, in which the building of a ‘creative
quarter’ was proposed by developing the strip of city between
Dumballs Road and the Taff. This could fuse the current industrial
space with new homes, civic spaces, shops and studios to form a centre
for the wealth of creative activity found in Cardiff.
Further improvements could be made by developing causeways across
Atlantic Wharf to allow building to cross the water, whilst at the
same time retaining its waterfront ambience with more defined smaller
pools. In Adams’ proposal, the Bute Street wall would be taken
out into a gentle slope and the industrial zone of Ocean Park would
merge gradually with the grain of the city.
Adams states: “By setting out a grid of city streets you define
a swathe of new, valuable development plots.” This would boost
Cardiff’s appeal as a city because the increased value of the
land would offer opportunities for vibrant developments, a true mixture
of property uses, and the streets themselves would take on “the
proper texture of a city”.
A route from the Bay to the centre along Dumballs Road would form
a much needed new connection between the two areas. This, along with
the proposed creative quarter, would bring a revived sense of city
life to mid-Cardiff and an integrated, metropolitan city to be proud
of.
For further information please contact IWA Director John Osmond
on 029 2066 0865 or e-mail johnosmond@iwa.org.uk
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