Welsh Journals

AN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROFILE OF THE CARDIFF BA Y AREA J.D.Alden, M. Batty, S. Batty and P. Longley CAMBRIA Alden J. D., Batty M., Batty S.E. and Longley P.A. 1988. An economic and social profile of the Cardiff Bay area. Cambria, 15, 61-87. ISSN 0306-9796. ABSTRACT The rejuvenation of Cardiff Bay is a major project for Wales, South Glamorgan, Cardiff and, not least, the Bay residents themselves. Here data are analysed from a range of published and unpublished sources in order to view econorrtic and social conditions in the Bay area in their urban, regional and national contexts. Relative strengths and weaknesses of the area are assessed using data on population and demography, social class, industrial structure and errployment, and housing. These econcmic and social conditions provide the planning context for the regeneration task ahead for the Cardiff Bay area. The article illustrates a nurnber of distinctive sccio-economic features of the Bay area and the substantial contribution it currently makes to the economy of both Cardiff and South Glamorgan. AUTHORS ADDRESSES Dr J.D. Alden, Dr M. Batty & Dr P.A. Longley, Department of Town Planning, University of Wales College of Cardiff, P.O.Box 906, Colum Drive, Cardiff CFl 3YN. Mrs S.E. Batty, Department of Estate Management and Quantity Surveying, The Polytechnic of Wales, Treforest, Pontypridd, Mid-Glamorgan CF37 1DL. (Paper received November 1988) INTRODUCTION The Policy Context The establishment of the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation in April 1987 and the publication of its regeneration strategy in 1988 herald one of the largest urban renewal projects in Britain at the present time, and for Cardiff and Wales perhaps during this century. When the Secretary of State for Wales, the Rt. Hon. Nicholas Edwards (now Lord Crickhowell) announced in December 1988 the plan to transform Cardiff docklands, he described the task as "the opportunitv to develop a superb environmental setting which