Cardiff Central Square 'is an urban desert'

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 a decent new bus station - the replacement is woefully undersized. Maybe in 50 years time we can knock it all down and try again?

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.

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.

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 site and move to the half-empty NPT County Council offices in Aberafan to reduce poverty levels following Tata Steelworks reducing jobs.

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!

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.

...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.

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 and associated drug taking, until we decide we want to welcome tourists instead of career criminal drug addicts.

It was even supposed to be worse...