I went to Cardiff this weekend with my partner partly to visit friends and to visit my parents who live in Gwent.

It is a few years since I have visited Cardiff and I was rather bemused by the redevelopment of the city centre. A whole vast swathe of the south central district has been ripped out, the scale of building is colossal something more appropriate to Canary Wharf in London ( I live in London so the comparison seem relevant). I do not think it is sympathetic and going by other completed developments of city apartments, out of proportion and sometimes ugly.

Huge developments of the sort mostly funded by private enterprise I think often have a sterilising effect on city centers, the finance institution get to control the areas and they become wastelands out of commercial hours. And they suck finance and attention away from other areas - a lot of the rest the centre of Cardiff looked rather shabby. It is as if we have learned nothing from the 60s.

Now I do not think all new developments are bad - the areas down from Atlantic Dock to Cardiff Bay were in much need of investment and the results are I think very positive (though some of the residential areas were a bit sterile and the flats too small).

I am though of the opinion that much of the redevelopment of Cardiff was as much a result of lax and speculative development from loose credit that would not have happened otherwise. I understand that Leeds, Nottingham, Manchester and Liverpool to name a few have suffered in a similar way.

I have an awful feeling some of this redevelopment will not be completed and that these will either remain unfinished building sites or that local authorities will be left to pick up the pieces because of the sudden reduction of business credit. Though I hope not, that would be a bad out come for everyone.

Stop being so cynical. Cardiff is going to be the epicentre of the forthcoming new revolution in the financial sector. The place will be awash with double-breasted suits driving 911 turbos or exhanging quotes from the film Wall Street in champagne bars or chatting away in mobile phones;

"'ere, Blodwyn"
"yes, Bryn?"
“Bloody buy Polly Pock, look you”
“Ok, will do. I bloody love you, I do”.
“That’s bloody lovely”

cardiff,along with
'Leeds, Nottingham, Manchester and Liverpool to name a few'.Finance jobs all round

My wife and I moved to Cardiff in 2006 (it was a homecoming for her, of sorts) and I must say I'm very fond of the place - to a large extent the city fathers have done a pretty good job of preserving the attractive older features, such as the Victorian arcades. However, the big development mentioned in the original post really concerns me. The two things you wouldn't want to be spending huge sums of money on right now are surely 'luxury apartments' and a massive shopping mall. Both are on target to be completed just as the economy reaches terminal velocity. The Bay area is great for a walk on a sunny afternoon, but between the waterfront and the city centre stand those 'sterile' apartment blocks. We bought some furniture off one of the residents and he commented that only a third of the flats was occupied in his block - and there are many many of these towers, presumably equally empty. Other Cardiff residents on here have predicted social housing rather than yuppie occupation is on the cards. Seems like a highly likely outcome. Ultimately, Cardiff is a small pocket of comparative wealth in the corner of what is actually a rather poor nation. I feel it could be swamped very quickly as poverty becomes a middle-class problem in the coming years.

I agree. I hope the lifts are big enough for the single mums to get their triple seat baby buggies in......