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Cardiff City Centre
| |
|---|---|
| Central Business District | |
 The Hayes, Cardiff with Cardiff Central Library (right) | |
  Cardiff City Centre Location withinCardiff | |
| Principal area | |
| Preserved county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CARDIFF |
| Postcode district | CF10; CF11; CF24 |
| Dialling code | 029 |
| Police | South Wales |
| Fire | South Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
| 51°29′N3°10′W / 51.48°N 3.17°W /51.48; -3.17 | |
Cardiff city centre (Welsh:Canol Dinas Caerdydd) is thecity centre andcentral business district ofCardiff,Wales. The area is tightly bound by theRiver Taff to the west, the Civic Centre to the north and railway lines and two railway stations –Central andQueen Street – to the south and east respectively. Cardiff became a city in 1905.
The city centre in Cardiff consists of principal shopping streets: Queen Street, St. Mary's Street and the Hayes, as well as largeshopping centres, andnumerous arcades and lanes that house some smaller, specialized shops and boutiques.
The city centre has undergone a number of redevelopment projects, includingSt. David's 2,[1] which extended the shopping district southwards, creating 100 new stores and a flagshipJohn Lewis, the only branch in Wales and the largest outsideLondon. Compared to nearby cities, the new St David's Centre has more retail space than the whole ofNewport orSwansea.[citation needed]
In 2008–9, the annualfootfall of shoppers was 55 million, and is expected to have risen to 66 million by 2009–10.[needs update][2] Cardiff is the sixth most successful shopping destination in theUnited Kingdom – behind London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.[3]
Cardiff was granted city status byEdward VII in 1905.[4]
In the 1960s, planners described Cardiff city centre as "worn out, inconvenient, drab and dangerous". The centre had escaped the extensive wartime bomb damage inflicted on other cities, so little redevelopment took place in the 1950s and 1960s. The Buchanan Plan of 1964 envisaged a highly ambitious extended city centre, crossed with urban motorways. The council scrapped the proposed motorway network and focused on the small commercial core of the city; its proposed redevelopment scheme, in partnership with a private developer, would have seen almost all of the city centre (except St Mary Street and Working Street) demolished, replaced bymodernist office towers of up to 21 storeys and pedestrianised decks linkingmulti‑storey car parks to covered shopping malls.[5]
By the time the legal agreement to implement 'Centreplan 70' was signed, the 1973 property crash had made it unviable. However, one legacy of the scheme was the future segregation of office and retail development, with the west end of Newport Road as the principal office area with secondary concentrations on Churchill Way, Greyfriars Road and Westgate Street.[5]
Development in the 1970s and 80s was more piecemeal than envisaged in Centreplan, with the building of the St. David's Centre and St David's Hall, new multi‑storey car parks, and the grant‑supported construction of the 14‑storey Holiday Inn (now the Marriott) and World Trade Centre (now the Cardiff International Arena), which gave a fillip to the city's conference and exhibition business. In the mid–1980s developers returned to Queen Street, creating three medium‑sized malls, helping it to become one of the best performing shopping streets in the country in terms of footfall and rental levels.[5]
In the 1990s the Mill Lane cafe quarter was developed in partnership with theWelsh Development Agency, a pedestrian forecourt was created for the refurbished Central railway station, a new walkway was constructed alongside the Taff and theMillennium Stadium was built on the site of theNational Stadium andEmpire Pool. The latter became, according to official publicists, one of the icons of Cardiff's new image.[5]
TheCastle Quarter includes some ofCardiff's Victorian and Edwardian arcades: Castle Arcade, High Street Arcade and Duke Street Arcade, and principal shopping streets:St Mary Street, High Street, Castle Street and Duke Street.
Development andPedestrianisation of the area began in February 2010 and was completed by October.Cardiff Council says that work to create the Castle Quarter as a pedestrian friendly environment for High Street and St Mary Street is designed to enhance the city centre.[6]
Castle Street follows on from Cowbridge Road East fromCanton and begins after Cardiff Bridge, over theRiver Taff. It becomesDuke Street after the junction with High Street before turning north and becomingKingsway, leading toCardiff Civic Centre. From west to east, streets that begin from the southern side of this stretch are Westgate Street, Womanby Street, High Street (St Marys Street), St Johns Street (The Hayes), Queen Street and Greyfriars Road.Cardiff Castle andBute Park dominate the northern side of the street. On the southern side are pubs, bars, retail and hotel units. Castle Arcade and Duke Street Arcades begin from this stretch.
St. Mary Street (Welsh:Heol Eglwys Fair) andHigh Street (Welsh:Heol Fawr). The former street is named after the 11th century church of St. Mary, the largest in Cardiff until it was destroyed by theBristol Channel floods of 1607. Today the stretch of road is the home of a number ofbars,night clubs andrestaurants, as well as branches of many majorbanks. Also fronting onto the street isHowells department store, which stretches from just afterCardiff Central Market to the corner of Wharton Street. From August 2007 the street was closed to private vehicles, leaving only buses, cycles and taxis allowed to access the whole street.[citation needed] The street is usually closed to all traffic every Friday and Saturday night to allow the efflux fromnight clubs andpubs located in that part of the street to clear. It is also closed when major events take place such as at theMillennium Stadium.[7] The Prince Of Wales is a prominentJ D Wetherspoon establishment at the junction with Wood Street, which leads to Central Station. At the northern end of the street is Castle Street andCardiff Castle. To the south is Callaghan Square.
Womanby Street is one of Cardiff's oldest streets. It is known for its small, independent live music venues and is home toClwb Ifor Bach. It is accessed from Castle Street, between Westgate Street and High Street.
Queen Street (Welsh:Heol y Frenhines) is the main thoroughfare in the city, now wholly pedestrianised. Most of Queen Street, from the castle moat to Dumfries Place, used to be calledCrockherbtown (Crockherbtown Lane can still be found off Park Place),[8] but the street was renamed in honour ofQueen Victoria in 1886.[9] Queen Street was pedestrianised in 1974 and is served byCardiff Queen Street railway station on Station Terrace. It meets Dumfries Place/Newport Road at its eastern end, Duke Street/Castle Street at its western, and Park Place approximately halfway along. Further down Park Place is theNew Theatre, a local landmark is Principality House, head office of thePrincipality Building Society.[10] To the north running parallel is Greyfriars Road, referring to the site of an old monastery, a traditional office location that has recently seen conversion to bars, apartments and hotels as offices move to the new business parks on the edge of the city, or to the better connected southern end of the city centre.
Charles Street, named after the landowner (and twice Cardiff mayor)Charles Vachell, was originally built in the 1840s as luxury housing.[8] When Cardiff's new drainage was being devised, in 1849, Charles Street was described as Cardiff's "principal street".[11] It joins the north side of Queen Street about halfway along its length. The street became more commercial later in the 1800s. In the 1970s it became the home of theWelsh Arts Council'sOriel gallery.[8] It is also the location ofSt Davids Catholic Cathedral.
Cathays Park is thecivic centre of Cardiff. TheEdwardian architecture ofCardiff City Hall,National Museum and Gallery of Wales,Cardiff University,Cardiff Crown Court, and the administrative headquarters of theWelsh Government dominate the area. Behind the City Hall is theWelsh National War Memorial.Bute Park also dominates the northwest of the area, running behindCardiff Castle along the River Taff southward to Westgate Street and northward toGabalfa. Cardiff's Winter Wonderlandice rink and fairground returns to the front lawn of the City Hall every winter.[12]
Boulevard deNantes andStuttgarter Strasse, named after Cardiff's twin cities, run through the southern end and act as a northern bypass of parallel Queen Street for the A4161. To the west, it is connected to Kingsway (leading to Castle Street and St Mary Street), and Dumfries Place/ Newport Road to the east. Park Place runs north to south through the area, linking it to the A470 in the north and Queen Street in the south
Dumfries Place is named after theEarl of Dumfries, a courtesy title given to theMarquis of Bute's eldest son.
Newport Road, the major road leading east from Queen Street towards the neighbouring city ofNewport, has been one of the prime office locations of central Cardiff since the 1960s. Some of the original buildings have been converted from office use to residential (e.g. The Aspect, Admiral House[13] or hotel use including theMercure Holland House. Occupancy of the remaining commercial property has increased, reflecting a shortage of office space in the city and there is now little scope for further conversion. Newport Road is also home to several buildings owned byCardiff University, and Shand House, occupied byCardiff Institute for the Blind.
Newport Road is also the site for theCardiff Royal Infirmary, now providing long-term care and rehabilitation. The hospital once housed 500 beds and provided the main A&E service for Cardiff before theUniversity Hospital of Wales took over these functions.
Churchill Way runs parallel to the west of Station Terrace (Cardiff Queen Street station) and joins Queen Street in the north and Bute Terrace in the south. TheCapitol Centre is on the corner with Queen Street. Further along this road are office and modern apartment developments. The Cardiff office of theDriving Standards Agency, formerBritish Gas offices inHelmont House (now aPremier Inn), and anIbis Hotel are located on this street. The Cardiff office of the DSA subsequently closed.[14][15]
Cardiff Masonic Hall occupies a major site on the corner of Guildford Street, adjacent to Churchill Way.[16]
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Wood Street is the main access point forCardiff Central railway andCentral bus stations, with the latter undergoing reconstruction since early 2008. The street also had bus stands running along the length of the street as well. St David's House, which ran most of its length, was demolished in 2019.[17] Travelling westwards along this street are theMillennium Stadium, Millennium Plaza (with bars, night clubs, comedy clubs and aVue cinema),Stadium House,Media Wales (offices of theSouth Wales Echo andWestern Mail) and Southgate House, (which houses among other organisations the Cardiff offices for the Armed Forces).
Central Square is a large public space between Wood Street and Cardiff Central railway station. It includes Cardiff bus station. In 2012 plans were announced to redevelop the square and rename it 'Capital Square'.[18]
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Westgate Street runs parallel just west of St Marys Street for about half of the latter's length, linked by several alleys and lanes. Linking Castle Street and Wood Street,Cardiff Arms Park and theMillennium Stadium dominate its western side, whereas pubs and bars and hotels dominate its eastern side, with theAngel Hotel at the north end and theRoyal Hotel to the south.
The Hayes (Welsh:Yr Ais) is where thedepartment storeHowells,Bwyty Hayes Island Snack Bar,Spillers Records,St David's Hall, and elegantVictorianarcades are found. At the northern end is Cardiff's Grade II* listedOld Library building (location of theCardiff Story people's museum).
The Hayes used to be home toDavid Morgan department store, an historic local landmark that dominated the shop fronts on the western side of The Hayes. Since its closure in 2005, the Grade I‑listed David Morgan Buildings have been subdivided into several retail units, and the upper floors converted into 56 luxury apartments. The exterior of the building received a comprehensive refurbishment, with the street clock being reinstated and the façade being restored to its original design, following many alterations since its construction in the late 1800s.
The eastern side of the Hayes is fronted by the newSt. Davids 2 shopping centre. Prior to this it was home to Oxford Arcade, a post war construction that dated quickly and was underused given its central location.
The southern end features theJohn Lewis department store and the newCardiff Central Library, which opened in March 2009. The previous Central Library closed in 2006 to make way for the construction of the St. David's 2 shopping centre and was located a few hundred yards north-east on Bridge Street.
As part of the St Davids 2 development, the Hayes was pedestrianised and repaved. A new public square was created at its southern end with a large, interactive public artwork as its centrepiece calledAlliance, a 25 metres (82 ft) high sculpture consisting of a large stainless steel and enamelled metal ring and an arrow column, which was initially meant to feature lights that would rise and fall with the tide.
Caroline Street is a pedestrianised link between St Mary Street and The Hayes. The street has been a host to all kinds of stores but has seen a surge in chip and kebab shops, and as such is commonly known asChip Lane orChip Alley. Around 2003, the north side of the street was redeveloped after the demolition of the oldBrains Brewery. In its place were luxury flats encircling theOld Brewery Quarter, where new shops, bars and restaurants were erected. The pavement on the street was re‑tiled as part of this development.
This development, built in 1999, extends the central business district south of the mainline railway. Eventually the main development will include approximately 850,000 square feet (77,000 m2) of office space and other uses, of which approximately 350,000 square feet (33,000 m2) is complete (with the largest occupiers being Eversheds and British Gas). Further phases are unlikely to be built on a speculative basis. The initial masterplan suggest that the final phase, yet to be commenced, will also include hotel and residential use. Nearby offices on Tresillian Way (housing The AA, and Lloyds TSB Black Horse finance amongst others) plus further potential developments have turned the area relatively quickly into one of the largest office locations in Central Cardiff. Within a few years total office space in the area will exceed 1 million square feet (90,000 m2).[citation needed]
These two roads have traditionally formed the southern and southeastern boundaries of thecentral business district of Cardiff, and in the 2000s have seen a great deal of new development. Recent developments such as the 23‑storeyAltolusso apartment complex, and the Big Sleep Hotel were set to be joined by (from west to east), a new 11‑storey office building (on the site of the 120-year-old Central Hotel – destroyed by fire in early 2003;[19] theMeridian Gate development (consisting of an 11‑storey apartment block and a 21‑storey Radisson SAS Hotel); a new John Lewis department store as part of the St. David's 2 shopping expansion; Harlech Court (consisting of apartments and a rooftop restaurant); theUniversity of South Wales'sATRiuM campus (which opened in 2007) along with the 21‑storeyTŷ Pont Haearn student halls; and 3 further residential towers (of up to 13 storeys) with lower floor retail and commercial use.
From the north, North Road (A470) meets the city centre at the junction with Castle Street and Boulevard de Nantes, with the latter route forming a northern and eastern by‑pass, meeting Newport Road (A4161) and then Callaghan Square, just south of the city centre.
From the west, the centre is accessed from Castle Street (A4161), Wood Street and Penarth Road (A4160), with St. Mary's Street connecting the three, but is restricted to no‑car traffic. Penarth Road terminates at Callaghan Square.
From the south, Lloyd George Avenue (A470), Bute Street and the Central Link (A4234) originate fromCardiff Bay and meet the city centre at Callaghan Square.
The vast majority ofCardiff Bus services run to or through the city centre, approaching from the west along either Tudor Street or Westgate Street, from the north along North Road or Newport Road, from the east along Newport Road and from the south along Callaghan Square. Most services circle the city centre, creating a "bus box". Some terminate or pass throughCardiff Central bus station, off Wood Street, which is currently being redeveloped. Other major interchanges include The Hayes, Dumfries Place, Westgate Street, Greyfriars Road and St. Mary Street, with taxi stands being located next to most of these.
TheBaycar service circles the city centre every 10 minutes before continuing toCardiff Bay.
The city centre is served by two railway stations.Cardiff Queen Street is in the east of the centre and is the city's main hub for urban services to the rest of Cardiff, itsvalleys and theVale of Glamorgan.Cardiff Central, located in the south of the city centre, is the largest station in the city and one of the busiest in the United Kingdom, focusing on mainline services. Central railway station is located next to Central bus station forming an interchange.
Cathays railway station,Grangetown railway station andNinian Park railway station are all within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of the centre serving edges of the city centre.
TheA470 bypasses the centre to the east running southbound toCardiff Bay and northbound toNorth Cardiff,Pontypridd,Merthyr Tydfil andBrecon. The A470 road meets theA4232 atCardiff Bay, leading toCulverhouse Cross and theM4 motorway, and also meets theA48 Carmarthen–Gloucester road atGabalfa, north of the centre.
Some city centre taxis can be hailed. They are usually, but not always, black with a white bonnet or hackney carriages.
TheCardiff Waterbus has stops at Cardiff Castle and Taff Mead Embankment, next to theMillennium Stadium, with services toCardiff Bay.
A cycle hire system, similar to those in other large cities, launched in September 2009, and included 70 bikes and 35 hire points (initially 7) around the centre and the south of the city. The cycle hire system was shut down in 2012.[20][21] In early 2018, Nextbike offered a new cycle hire scheme with docking stations throughout the city.
Media related toCardiff city centre at Wikimedia Commons| Pontcanna | Cathays | Roath |
| Riverside | City centre | Adamsdown |
| Grangetown | Butetown | Splott |