VISION Swansea Bay - Issue 1

Believe
you can
and you’re
halfway
there.
Theodore Roosevelt
An Attractive
City Centre with
More Green Space
The vision for Swansea City Centre
is to create a more attractive
environment, with more green
space, and more reasons for people
to spend time in the city centre.
Swansea should be somewhere
you want to take a walk, let the
kids play, relax over coffee, catch
a movie, take in an exhibition or
have a meal. Somewhere nice to go
just for a ‘day out’. We can’t
depend on retail alone to bring
people into town. It’s right
to have higher aspirations
for what our city centre can
offer, in terms of lifestyle,
leisure, culture, and events.
Swansea Council’s plan is
to create an urban park
along the south-facing
side of the Kingsway, transforming a
tired, busy, unattractive street into
a green lung for the city.
In Castle Square, the Council has
made clear its intention to retain
ownership of the land and
maintain it as a public space –
a greener and more attractive one.
More green spaces will be opened
up around St Mary’s Church as well.
And then of course our greatest
asset, our stunning beachfront that
is within a few minutes walk of the
centre. The demolition of the old
Civic Centre will enable us to create
a destination and make the most of
our world class beach.
Maximising the potential of our world-class beach
In all, the future is bright for the city
centre if we hold fast to the vision.
With the signing of the City Deal,
Swansea Council has released a
3D flythrough that provides an
inspiring vision for our city centre.
The proposals deserve your
wholehearted support. They offer
a real chance to create a more
inspiring place to spend time, a
thriving local economy, and a new
identity for Swansea, as the city
and the region enters a new era
of investment and opportunity.
Against the backdrop of Brexit
and Austerity Britain, Swansea is
choosing to focus on the future -
and we can too.
Sure, the council is not perfect and
we all have our gripes. But the role
of leadership is to put forward a
compelling vision for the future,
and this Labour council has done
that. With collective buy-in and a
sense of shared vision, we have the
opportunity to transform our city
and our own fortunes.
It’s easy to be cynical and critical.
It takes zero effort to point out all
the reasons the plans won’t work,
to bitch and moan about everything
that’s wrong with the place. What
takes courage is to have hope. To
have positive expectations for the
future, and to keep working at them
until they materialise. That’s an
empowering choice, and it’s ours to
make.
”
I love living in Swansea
and I'm excited about the
future of the city.
Dawn, Uplands
So, let’s stop talking down our city
centre. Talk about the future, see
the potential, and focus on the
good things that are happening. As
residents we can help generate the
buzz and the business needed for
the city centre to thrive.
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The biggest change to
our city in 70 years is
happening now
A vibrant cultural and
creative community on
the High Street
A leisure destination that
capitalises on our worldclass
beach front location
More green spaces in the
city centre and and a nicer
environment
A digital city with a Tech
Arena & Digital Districts
More people living and
working in the city centre
Celebrating culture and
the arts with a City of
Culture bid
Investing in the growth
sectors of the 21st century
The City Deal: Creating Opportunities
The central idea of the Swansea Bay City Region City
Deal - a deal which is touted as being worth £1.3bn
to the regional economy – is to focus resources on
key sectors which have been identified as offering the
best potential for growth and opportunity. These are
Energy, Health & Life Science, Next Generation Digital
Services and Smart Manufacturing – things that we can
all recognise are going to be central to the economy of
the future.
One of the highest aspirations we can have is to
provide young people across Swansea Bay with access
to interesting and rewarding careers. They have been
short-changed by the decline of industry and the rise
of call centres, distribution centres and zero hours
contracts. As more jobs are taken over by computers,
the problem will get worse.
We need to invest in and train a generation of young
people for careers in the industries of the future, and
the City Deal will now enable us to do this.
#sharethevision
Watch the 3D Flythrough of Swansea at www.visionswanseabay.org
#sharethevision
Learn about the Swansea Bay City Deal at www.swanseabaycityregion.wales