Urban Design Prof John Punter has warned that Cardiff Bay will be the slum of the future because of over developer. Anyone who lives in Cardiff will know that the Bay has exploded into a warren of flats and high rise appartments over the past few years. There are almost NO amenities for local people and Lorraine Barrett AM added thet there was a lack of community in the area which could lead to a "ghost town feel".
Prof Punter from Cardiff University told the BBC's Politics Show: "There are an enormous number of apartments in the Bay at the moment which are unlet and unoccupied.
"We know we've been building something like 1,250 apartments a year. I would suggest that probably one third to one half of those are unoccupied.
"I think some of them could be the slums of the future, especially the ones which are more remote, more poorly designed." Full story here.
I have to agree with Prof Punter. There are numerous problems with the Bay development. As a young professional, those apartments are meant to be aimed at people like me, but even in a job with an average salary, I can't afford to rent one! I last moved house in December, and then one bedroom flats in Cardiff Bay were going for about £550 a month, excluding Council Tax, bills etc. I only considered a move to the Bay for about 30 seconds - why would I want to live somewhere with NO SENSE OF COMMUNITY? Punter and Barrett are absolutely right.
Monday, 9 June 2008
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6 comments:
assuming this to be true, the one thing you are forgetting is that it already was slum BEFORE they began with the developement! I use the word "slum" loosely, I used to work and drink and drink in the docks, and you can believe me when I say it was a rough old area. so where's the problem?
For sure - the docks was never a great area of Cardiff, but the whole point about ploughing millions of pounds into the bay was to make it better! To improve standards of living, and to attract more people to live there!! What a waste.
if these predictions are accurate,(and lets not forget they are only predictions), it's a great tragedy for those people who invested masses of money on rediculously priced yuppie shoe-boxes, on spec, hoping that one day they would be worth much more, and of course developers like your mate charles church. my heart bleeds, not a lot though;-)
the fact it was a slum before shows how much of a balls the council and developers made of the bay.
To take something that is pretty much a blank canvas and devise a bland, mediocre development is shameful.
I agree totally with this, having lived in Cardiff Bay for 3 years in appartments (rented) I would say I really feel for the people who have invested their money. I've lived in ISIS (George Wimpey) for a couple of years that turned into a litter filled dump which smashed in cars, bits left unfinished by George Wimpey, utterly disgusting. Being English I am totally confused how such a patriotic country such as Wales whos national assembly building is but a 5 minute walk away can be apathetic about the situation. The WAG needs to get onto ebay, order some backbones and start kicking the ass over these developers and stop them from setting up Cardiff for a big fall.
Wow. We have the same problem with downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA. They (since government and lawyer types work there) want a lively downtown that would attract and keep young professionals and yet the expensive condos they have designed next to a new unneeded baseball stadium have virtually no takers. Its interesting to see whats happening in another part of the world...
http://fortwaynepolitics.com/2008/09/harrison-square-condos/
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