IT'S DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN............

The Welsh Government have this week advertised seeking expressions of interest from those who might undertake research on Retail Planning & Town Centre Viability. The stated aim is to study the threats and opportunities facing town centres in Wales, the effectiveness of retail planning policy and advice in protecting them, and where changes or improvements are required to make appropriate recommendations. The stated objectives are:

•To undertake a quantitative analysis of the retail dynamics in Wales.

•To undertake a qualitative analysis of the impact of retail development on town centres in Wales.

•Consider the appropriateness of the current national planning policy in achieving the Welsh Government's aspirations for town centres and make recommendations for improvements to the planning system.

It would appear that the only outcome will be to advise the regional government as to how the stable door might have been locked long after the sellers of horsemeat have bolted.

In seeking to improve planning guidance on retail there might be several ways of avoiding what will probably be considerable expense in commissioning yet another roaming gang of 'regeneration experts' to squirt out yet more verbal diarrhea. They could, for example, refer to the advice in TAN 99 - How To Fuck Up A City. Whilst directed at the larger settlements these provisions are relevant to the health and well being of the Valley Towns.

As regards In- Town Retail, for example, TAN 99 notes that the collective pursuit of abundance is central to the urban experience and retail activity essential to ensure vibrant town and cities. Extensive research has established that people are most comfortable with familiar surroundings and, to this end planning policy has been formulated to ensure that the retail centres of our towns and cities look as much like each other as possible. It recognises that, in many cases little can be done about the architecture and urban space but illuminated signage of familiar brands can achieve a satisfactory level of homogenisation. The traditional shopping street presents challenges, not least those of the Welsh climate and enclosed shopping malls are to be encouraged. This may be achieved through an Exciting Town Centre Regeneration Scheme which can be carried out in partnership with a private sector developer. The Welsh Government no longer has the resources to assist such projects but local planning authorities are encouraged to enter into such arrangements with the private sector as they see fit. The public realm is there to be exploited in these straightened times and local authorties are to be encouraged to bundle it up and flog it off.

The Welsh Government has of course acted on the recommendations of TAN 99 to preserve the vibrancy of our traditional town and city centres. There are already strict controls on out of town shopping development. Planning consent for open retail may only be granted to two more of each of the major foodstore operators on each of the main distributor roads at the edge of Welsh towns or cities. The only exceptions to this is development associated with stadium development (See Sport), regeneration, community enhancement or at the Ministers discretion. Certain other exemptions may apply where such development is deemed to be in the public interest, contributions to party political funds being included in such definition. And of course planning 'gain' - such as a new roundabout or traffic lights.

Town centre shopping is of course largely a leisure undertaking now but a sub heading of 'retail leisure might deal adequately with the purchase of other forms of self- gratification. Much exemplary work has been carried out in this area, particularly in historic commercial centres where banks and places of business have been converted to Boozeramas. Where such areas are duly designated a Café Quarter planning consent and necessary licensing for such establishments should be considered automatic.  When buildings of some architectural merit are not available former shops can be converted into drinking establishments. These may be unsuitable for a ‘Café’ or Boozerama but provide adequate space for an Autolout. The distinction is to be considered one of licensing and operation rather than planning policy. Bouncers are mandatory at all times for Autolouts and after 6pm for Boozeramas, after 8pm for Café Bars and discretionary for Cafes. Similar licensing provisions apply to clubs for which consent may also be treated as automatic within areas designated a Café Quarter. (NOTE: The term ‘Working Mens Club’ is now proscribed over large parts of Wales under the Property Misdescriptions Act.)

As noted in TAN 99 there is little need for supplementary guidance on traditional public houses as these are fortunately falling into extinction.The guidance also notes that the pedestrianisation of café quarters is not essential as civilian traffic into such areas can be managed as necessary by using the necessary police vans and ambulances as temporary roadblocks.

I have quoted from TAN 99 but, since the publication of such guidance, the National Government has also addressed the issue of town centres. Their approach has perhaps been more innovative in introducing to town planning the proven success of the televised game show. The Welsh Government might adopt a similar approach and have towns compete for funds in an endless televised contest with the obligatory breathless commentary. All regional news and current affairs programmes in Wales are clearly well rehearsed in the appropriate style. Opportunities for spin off series and merchandising could keep the fun factory at Porth Teigr fully occupied and benefit the 'Creative Industries' we have heard so much about. Badly failing towns could, for example, compete in another series with a catchy title such as 'It's A Shithole' the prize being additional policing and other emergency services.

We wait, with breath only slightly bated, for effective action.

ENTERTAINMENT, EDUCATION and EXPERIMENT

On first reading, the Cardiff Council green paper Rebuilding Momentum appears to be littered with numerous contradictions, clichés and lazy assumptions. Section1 is entitled A New Economic Vision and appears to offer little that may be considered original or visionary. It opens, for example, with the claim that perceptions of the city have been transformed from ‘an industrial backwater’ to ‘a vibrant small European capital. However, one of the challenges listed later in the green paper, is that the city still suffers from a general poor perception, and that the traditional image of heavy industry and coal mining valleys still pervades the consciousness of many people outside Wales.

It would be interesting to see some evidence to support this. One might claim that the image outside Wales is one of flashy, trashy waterside development, litter, binge drinking and related casual violence. A quick search of ‘Cardiff’ on Youtube will quickly demonstrate negative imagery. The same word search on Google reveals an entirely positive aspect of the city whilst ‘Cardiff night’ in Google Image reverts to the negative. Clearly any external perception of the city will depend on the source of available information - but neither of those sources offer coal mining valleys by way of an initial impression. What is consistent is the presence of cultural and educational institutions on both sources.

Leisure and culture are associated with the beneficial transformation of perceptions of the city in Section 1 of the green paper. It is claimed that the ‘new cultural vibrancy has succeeded in attracting and retaining talent’ particularly in respect of higher education. These elements no doubt play a part and it would be interesting to see a definition of ‘culture’ and to what degree that attracts and retains post-graduate and international students. The dominant culture which has been supported by the City may be said to be populist and collective as exemplified by the mono-culture periodically imposed on the city centre by the Millennium Stadium. At risk of going over very old ground, the support for the Millennium Stadium over the proposed Cardiff Bay Opera House had a lasting impact on perceptions of Cardiff as a centre of ‘high culture’. The proximity of that and other new stadia and sporting arenas may well be an attraction to students. This may not be the case among those who control the flow of investment and development capital, who we must assume are a principal target for this document. For those, Cardiff may be considered a place of ‘low culture’. Opera may be performed at the Wales Millennium Centre but for many outside Wales the abiding associations of that building are with Torchwood not Tosca.

In claiming youthful vigour the city once again demonstrates its adolescence. As with aspects of commercial development in this green paper, which I will address elsewhere, the city has little by way of historical achievement in ‘high culture’. Those associated with the Welsh National Opera and other institutions will contest this but name a creative artist of international reputation born and bred in Cardiff? My point is made if the first name that came to mind was Shirley Bassey. Cardiff is principally in the entertainment business and culture, such as it is, remains a fringe activity. In the visual arts, that which is of truly international quality is a legacy of Victorian patronage in the form of an outstanding national art collection and a unique architectural set piece. These are supplemented by some excellent initiatives and facilities of purely regional reputation. It is only in sport and the performing arts can Cardiff claim any recent international distinction. The failure of the Centre for Visual Arts is now long forgotten in the afterglow of several Grand Slams and the windfall international exposure when the Millennium Stadium was temporarily the home of English Football. Cardiff, and for that matter Wales, is primarily associated with sport and popular entertainment. The ‘assets and attributes’ that the city has to build upon relate to these. No matter how many times the word ‘culture’ is used in this green paper it is to event led tourism and leisure activity that proposed investment in our ‘cultural infrastructure’ is being directed.

The point to be considered by the average citizen and ratepayer in the city is to what extent they will be the beneficiary of this? Presumably there is some economic development rationale given the context of the proposals for a bigger, better indoor arena, a conference centre and other mega projects. At this point in time I cannot see the linkage to the stated aspiration of the green paper for higher value jobs and higher wages. The principle beneficiaries of event led tourism appear to be the hotel and catering sector together with transport and security. Detailed studies will no doubt evidence that job numbers are impressive but the quality of such employment is, in the majority of cases, low. A bigger, better indoor arena will still be a privately owned and operated commercial venture as may a conference centre. These are not civic assets in any sense other than being perceived to be an essential part of the standard offer of a city. Page 14 of the green paper proclaims Towards a New Approach but there is no innovative or original thinking here. It is interesting to see that the third paragraph mentions both an International Conference Centre and that Cardiff Central station does not meet the aspirations of an international city. It is interesting that the latter was built by the Great Western Railway who were advertising Cardiff – The City of Conferences back in 1932

Perhaps it is an idea whose time has come? It might even be of some use to the Universities whose role appears to have been fully recognised by this green paper. I have made a point in my preceding blog about the remark in the foreword that ‘they need to be central to our ambitions in a way that they have not been in the past’. On reflection I may have read that incorrectly the first time and, in re-interpretation now take this to be a sincere mea culpa on the part of the author of the foreword. What is being admitted is that the City has previously excluded the Universities from its strategic thinking and that henceforth they will be central to it. My sincere apologies for misinterpreting the statement on first reading. The recognition of the Universities as equal partners in the strategic development of the city is to be welcomed. Their involvement may bring to the process what it currently appears to lack – innovation and originality.

 For example, a strategy based largely on accommodating private sector property development has neither quality. It is entirely predicated on a recovery of the property market. Furthermore, what appears to be required in the words of the green paper are ‘funds for speculative development and new business development’. As regards property development what we should be aspiring to is serious long term investment not short term 'hit and run' speculative property development. That needs to be coupled with aspiration for much higher quality of both the development and the public realm. Such aspirations are presently notable by their absence, particularly in relation to proposed new public spaces. The present hiatus in commercial property development should afford the opportunity for a serious re-think about future development, both its physical form and the funding and development partnerships. I am wary – if not weary – of proposals for ‘high density Scandinavian style living’ and would like to see some detail. Is the paper proposing architect designed cooperative low cost housing development or simply lots of apartments built close together and filled with stuff from IKEA?

               As to funding for business development it is here that the Universities may work with the city to innovate. As Jane Jacobs said back in 1961 “new ideas need old buildings”. God forbid that the temptation to repeat the recent disaster of ‘Techniums’ or other shiny edifices may be too much for both academics and local politicians to resist. Before new Grade 1 offices are built we could, for example, think about taking out the significant overhang of vacant offices by acquisition or head lease and making it available at low cost, easy in/ easy out terms for business start ups. The City Council would of course need to take a long hard look at its business rates policy in respect of business start ups for, in the current market, rates are higher than rentals in many cases. The intentions for the Coal Exchange and Mountstuart Square are perhaps among the most encouraging aspects of the green paper. I make a plea in passing that ‘Mountstuart Square’ has been a perfectly adequate address for a hundred years or so and there is no need for it to be re-branded as a ‘Creativity Quarter’.

This does however prompt a caution alluded to in foregoing comments on culture. Cardiff has little history or tradition of creative enterprise. Mountstuart Square perhaps epitomizes its former fortune as a place of the agent, middle man and bureaucrat. It saw a brief revival as a place where the ‘creative industries’ flourished but these have since dispersed. Or disappeared together with the financial subsidies of the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation. Much is made of the ‘creative industries’ in the green paper and indeed the Welsh Government has itself backed that particular strand of enterprise. To date the greatest evidence of creativity has been that of the ju-ju men of ‘regeneration’ in milking it for consultancy fees. What can be conceded is that the green paper is not confusing such enterprise with ‘culture’. Knocking out soap operas and cheap reality TV shows in Porth Teigr is an industrial process involving creativity. It is rarely innovative. That quality may come from working with the Universities in other media and the infrastructure for that needs to be in place. However, for ‘creative industries’ to flourish, and for culture to develop there has to be creativity. This is where attention then turns to the Universities, FE colleges and schools and the education system itself. Cardiff Council could test that by providing a few hundred thousand feet of low cost accommodation for business start ups and say “fill her up…….”

In conclusion I would suggest we revisit the concept of Cultural Capital as outlined by Pierre Bourdieu i.e. forms of knowledge, skills, education, and advantages that a person has, which give them a higher status in society. The principle may be applied in equal measure to a city which can earn and retain higher status.

 

 

Re-Open for Business?

One can broadly agree with what is being said in the foreword of Rebuilding Momentum, the green paper issued for consultation by Cardiff Council. One can also have reservations regarding the manner in which it is being said. This is a paper which is being written about business for business and perhaps purports to be no more or less than that. As such it signals the priorities in city governance for the future, which are for economic development. The consequent impact on city and regional planning are subordinate to those objectives. The first reservation is that this should, in itself, trigger a wider debate as to what we want this city to be and that this is unlikely to happen.

We may examine this proposition from the first paragraph. “The successes of the past are there for all to see, but it is now over a decade since the last major investment was secured and the city’s performance has dipped as a consequence. The foundations were laid, but not exploited. We need to rebuild momentum.”

Much may be made of this opening statement. We might, for instance, seek clarification of investment and performance which may be assumed to relate solely to commercial investment, employment and the local economy. In that decade we have seen significant investment in the infrastructure of higher education with the opening of new facilities by the University of Glamorgan at the Atrium and the Welsh College of Music and Drama. Cardiff University appears to have lost none of its momentum in the ongoing development of new facilities at Maindy, nor Cardiff Metropolitan at Llandaff. In culture the decade has seen the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre, refurbishment of the Sherman Theatre and Chapter Arts and a new Central Library. As regards more populist entertainment the new Cardiff City Stadium and athletics stadium were opened in that period. A new visitor centre was opened at Cardiff Castle. In terms of commercial business and employment the extension of the St Davids shopping centre and opening of John Lewis have had a significant impact.

What may be read into this opening paragraph is the assertion that few of the foregoing projects were initiated under the city administration between 2004 and 2012 but are a legacy from the previous Labour controlled council. That leadership is now back and Rebuilding Momentum is no more than a clear signal to investors and developers that things will be as they were prior to 2004. Development is the priority and consent and support for such development will be forthcoming from Cardiff Council. Investors and developers like clarity and certainty and the message here is unambiguous. We are people you can do business with. The well- meaning amateurs who were in charge for eight years have gone and we are re-open for business. That this message is directed at the private sector  is underlined in the closing sentence of the following paragraph and re-iterated in following paragraphs. The willingness to accommodate such interests is stated in the third paragraph.

Some thought needs to be given to the comment in the fourth paragraph that; Our universities also have an important role to play. They need to become central to our ambitions in the way that they haven’t been in the past. This may be a positive statement, an acceptance of the position asserted by Sir Brian Smith, the Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University in his dealings with the Labour administration at that time. That was that Cardiff University was by far the biggest game in town and the City Council needed to wake up to that fact. Smith was awarded a knighthood in 1999 in recognition of his efforts in building university links with industry and commerce assisting the Welsh Development Agency in opening up Chinese and Indian commercial markets for Wales. The Universities role would appear to have advanced the aspirations of this document and a robust affirmation of that fact may be forthcoming from that quarter. In that respect the author may need to be careful in what he wishes for in provoking any ‘town and gown’ conflict.

We may then turn to a few telling points in the fundamental principles set out in the foreword.

In the second of these is the need ‘to ensure big city projects’. Some of those are outlined in the main body of the paper and signal a return to the regime that supported the Millennium Stadium and the less successful  strategy of International Sports Villages, Mega casinos and the like. The stadium itself required a massive public subsidy, both overtly and covertly. The latter hardly evidence the success of fully embracing ‘the full potential of public private partnership which has served the city so well in the past’ referred to in the following paragraph. What that paragraph does clearly establish is that, in the view of the author of it,  ‘Cardiff must re-build a reputation as ‘open for business’. Therefore, by implication, it is suggested that an impression has been created among developers and investors that the city has been closed for business for a decade. As to whether this is a fact or merely a party political point needs to be examined.

The fourth point of principle concerns the role of Cardiff as the driver of the city-region and economy and raises a number of important issues. City regions are, in my view, a given - economically, socially and culturally. One key issue that we have consistently failed to address is one of governance. Hopeful someone in the Welsh Government will take issue with the statement in the green paper and open out this debate. It has been the view of the city that its role has not been ‘acknowledged and exploited’ by the regional government and that may very well be the case. Those who drafted the ineffectual Wales Spatial Plan in 2004 found it hard to even use the word ‘Cardiff’ and the recent working party on the city region avoided the issue of governance from the outset.

Such a debate will of course necessitate a frank discussion as to whether we have a surfeit of government and a paucity of sound governance in Wales. The current economic situation may precipitate acceptance of that rather than any political will to face up to the hard fact that we simply cannot afford the number of unitary authorities that we have presently. In the meantime we must, however, remember that there should be equal and balanced regard given to region in a city region. The adjoining counties are not there to simply accommodate low cost dormitory housing, waste disposal facilities or park and ride schemes for the city.

The closing paragraphs merely emphasise that this paper is about doing business. For many it is going to be difficult to separate the policy from the personality in considering the issues arising. The signatory to the foreword, Cllr Russell Goodway was, as leader of Cardiff Council until 2004, well regarded by the property and construction industry and some other business sectors. Rebuilding Momentum will be welcomed warmly as his personal manifesto in those quarters, as will be the return of ‘someone who gets things done’. Others may be more cautious and agree with the conclusions formed by Prof Kevin Morgan in in his paper Governing Cardiff: politics, power and personalities in Capital Cardiff 1975-2020. Among these reference is made to the conclusions of the Lyons Report of 2004 and the suggestion that ‘ Cardiff will have to attach the same political priority to public services as it hitherto bestowed on landmark projects and iconic buildings’. Given that the green paper was preceded by ‘consultation’ on the proposed closure of many public services and possible disposal of ‘unprofitable’ custodial assets of the city many would not be assured that this will be the case.

All the emphasis here is on assuring commercial investors and developers that Cardiff is very much back in business. The initial conclusion in reading the foreword of Rebuilding Momentum is that it may be dangerous to assume that the outcome of this paper will be a purely Platonic relationship between Cardiff Council and private sector business. The wider public may therefore need to pay attention to what may be the thin end of a large wedge for, as Plato himself said; “The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men”

Deja Bayview

Q Why is our evening paper called The Echo?

A. Because we’ve heard it all before

In tonight’s South Wales Echo is the revelation of a masterplan which will connect the city centre with its waterfront. Given that this was a primary objective of the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation (CBDC) which received £500m in grant aid from the Welsh Office and Assembly someone may perhaps need to revisit the Auditor General for Wales’ report of June 2001. "Securing the Future of Cardiff Bay"? Both Lloyd George Avenue and Callaghan Square, constructed by CBDC under a Private Sector Initiative scheme are identified as areas for development in the new masterplan. The Western Mail reported on 7 September 2011 the Welsh Government revelation that the full cost of the PFI scheme, including its 25 year payback period, would be £188.8 million.

The default setting of the present Welsh Government is, if course, that everything is someone else’s fault but it is understood that they may have become stakeholders in part of this proposed new development. That will be worth investigating further.

It is also interesting to note that the new proposals include a light rail transport system connecting the city centre and Bay. That was an integral part of the original proposal for the, then, Bute Avenue project proposed by CBDC and designed by MBM Architects of Barcelona fame but that element failed to secure funding. The ‘Great Wall of Butetown’ presented by the existing railway embankment thus remained to separate the indigenous residents from new development. Critiques of the much diluted outcomes may be found in several editions of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales journal ,Touchstone, and Capital Cardiff edited by John Punter and Alan Hooper published in 2006.

There is probably consensus that both Callaghan Square and Lloyd George Avenue are nowhere near as good as was originally intended they should be. The question we now face is whether they will be any better? Both these and the several other key areas identified in Cardiff Councils green paper Rebuilding Momentum must be the subject of close scrutiny and wide debate if we are to avoid a repetition of past mistakes. We must also avoid the assumption that such mistakes may be attributed to the long defunct Development Corporation.  Some of us clearly have longer memories than others and will recall the Atlantic Wharf development, a predecessor of the larger Cardiff Bay redevelopment. As I recall, credit for that was claimed by an individual now associated with its proposed redevelopment.  That may allay any suggestion that the almost explicit criticism of CBDCs developments in the green paper evidences some personal score settling on a grand scale

The green paper may of course be just another piece of wishful thinking on the part of the City Council, a bit of optimistic flag waving in the depths of a serious recession in the property market. I have so far successfully avoided the use of the dread word ‘regeneration’ but at first blush their green paper has some of the thumbprints – or all- pervading smell of bullshit- that marks it as the cliché ridden output of ‘regeneration experts’.  Instead of ‘continental style boulevards lined with restaurants and cafes’ we now have ‘significant public squares’ and ‘high density Scandinavian-style living’. Should we assume that the latter will happen if and when the current low density occupation of unoccupied apartments in Cardiff Bay has been absorbed by a much improved property market?

Within the proposals is another interesting suggestion which is to extend the pedestrianisation of St Mary Street to Callaghan Square. Students at the Welsh School of Architecture proposed this as an outcome of a design charrette held there to look at an alternative to the traffic hub that Bute/ Callaghan Square would inevitably become. Their solution was perhaps even more radical than that now proposed in treating Mill Lane (the Café Quarter, remember?) and what is now Callaghan Square as a whole - a large urban square with an elevated railway running across it and some buildings in it. Despite the dreadful Marriott Hotel building there were, then, a number of interesting buildings which had not yet been the subject of compulsory purchase and demolition or arson. It would have been an altogether more interesting place than the central business district now proposed.

Again, we have heard it all before but back then no-one was listening. Their ears were clogged up with the bullshit of ‘urban regeneration’ and we should not let that happen again. We need to make urbanism an electoral issue in Wales.

More will follow as these plans are revealed further………

 

The paper is open for a six week public consultation from Friday. Views can be submitted from Friday at www.cardiff.gov.uk/rebuildingmomentum