I feel like I am para phrasing the late Eric Morecombe here, but it seems to me for the last 50 years we have been building all the wrong kind of stuff, in all the wrong places. Homes, hospitals, shops, offices, cinemas, leisure centres, etc all designed and located around car access.
The Climate Emergency and our mode shift targets demand that we completely re-think our approach to land-use and in so doing embrace Transit Oriented Development and Placemaking to augment the development and implementation of the South Wales Metro.
In this chapter I cover:
- 11.1 We are building all the wrong stuff in all the wrong places
- 11.2 Transit Oriented Development (TOD) & Placemaking?
- 11.3 Look at places like Malaga, Vancouver, Denver, Freiburg…
- 11.4 The fifteen-minute city
- 11.5 What does TOD mean for Metro
- 11.6 A Metro Development Corporation?
- References
11.1 We are building all the wrong stuff in all the wrong places
Given the threat of climate change, perhaps the biggest challenge we face is how we build places that reduce our carbon emissions; and perhaps most importantly how we reduce our need to drive in our own personal vehicles as often as we do today (See The Climate Emergency and car dependency).
There is an ongoing debate in Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) about homes; there are not enough and for many people they are too expensive and/or in the wrong place. Furthermore, the homes being built are, in some cases, subject to criticism around build quality and lack of transport provision. I also think there are broader issues and questions we need to better articulate and address; what sort of homes do we really need vs what we think we need and where should they be?
More generally in the UK the housing ecosystem has been shaped by volume house builders who have been selling low-density, car dependant green field houses (so 3- and 4-bedroom homes with a garage) for decades. It’s no wonder we know no better. The lack of affordable homes and an often poorly regulated rental sector exacerbating an already bad situation.
Worst of all, since the 1970s we have inadvertently turned our homes into tradeable assets which has, in my view, had a negative and volatile impact on the UK economy. It is also worth noting that house price inflation is more associated with oversupply of finance rather than under supply of homes. As a consequence, some argue (Josh Ryan-Collins, Roby Lloyd, Laurie Macfarlane)[1] it is this fact and our dysfunctional relationship with land that has contributed to the failings of our housing market (including the major reductions in public house building since the 1980s) and contributed to growing inequality.
It’s not just homes. One of the major contributory factors to excessive car use and the induced demand for more road space, has been the development of offices, shops, hospitals, etc, in locations which can only be accessed by car. There is a long list of such places in the Cardiff Capital Region, including: Cyfarthfa Retail Park, Trago Mills, Spytty Park, McArthur Glen, Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff Gate, Celtic Springs, Langstone Business Park, etc. The opening of the M4 and the dualling of the A470 in the 1970s accelerated this car-based development trend. Newport has been particularly badly affected as have many local town and high streets across the region. Now we do need roads (we have enough now) but we also need more proactive planning so that subsequent development does not increase demand for car use, which is evidently what has happened over the last 50 years, leading to more congestion ( See 10 The Climate Emergency and car dependency and 10.4 Induced Demand ).
Welsh Government (WG) and our Local Authorities also have a number of car dependent, carbon hungry offices, to which one can add the UK Government Patent Office, ONS and DVLA; there are more. WG Health Department and Health Boards also have a terrible record on locating major healthcare facilities – they are generally in places poorly connected to public transport, so encouraging more car use. Llanfrechfa is a case in point and the proposed Velindre hospital in Cardiff has plans for 800 parking spaces. Seems like Hywel Dda’s new hospital in Carmarthenshire, could go the same way. This cuts right against WG’s own planning policy set out in Future Wales [2] and will further complicate our decarbonisation efforts.
As referenced above via research from Welsh Government[3] and Audit Wales[4], it is now abundantly clear that much of the damage to our high streets has been caused by the vast amount of car based low density sprawl, especially housing, offices and retail that over the last 50 years have sprung up at the edges of, or between our towns and cities.
In this context, and as I have often replied to the challenge of, “Metro is just sucking the life out of valley towns”, is no, that is clearly an ill-informed assertion. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that it is cars and car-based planning and development over the last 50 years that has destroyed many once vibrant local high streets (See 10.5 The development impact of cars and induced demand).
The stark reality is that the best way to help regenerate our town and city centres is to disincentivise car based out of town development and to encourage the relocation of many “out of town” car-based offices, retail, leisure, housing, etc back to places with good public transport accessibility, especially city and town centres; this is “Transit-Oriented Development” (TOD). These are key considerations in the new Wales Transport Strategy[5] and the National Development Framework[6].
In a post Covid world with more flexible working this is essential. This is not going to be easy as much development has already been consented. We perhaps also need to develop incentives for out of town/edge of town property owners, developers and retail/business park operators to support repurposing such locations. Although still mainly car dependent, converting some of this space to residential uses will be far more sustainable than more greenfield encroachment.
Government bodies, local government and public services have to lead and plan over the next twenty years, to relocate much of their car-based estate back to city and town centres and places connected to the public transport network.
Collectively these measures will help town and city centre regeneration and at the same time help make public transport more attractive and affordable by reducing the subsidy burden on government given the increased patronage.
The development of the integrated transport systems in Wales via the various Metro and/or regional transport development programme TfW initiated in 2020, and soon to be regional transport plans AND strategic development plans via Combined Joint Committees, presents an opportunity. This is not something Transport for Wales can address on its own, other parties and especially local authorities, need to take this seriously and focus their energies on the need to encourage much more development in/around public transport hubs and corridors and away from car dependent green field sites.
Metro and more of it, is essential to provide the public transport capacity we need to help deliver our decarbonisation obligations, alongside a transit-oriented development-based planning revolution and a focus on high street and community regeneration across Wales.
11.2 Transit Oriented Development (TOD) & Placemaking?
Figure 150 Illustration of “TOD” from Institute of Transportation and Development Policy[7]
Whilst there are many definitions of TOD[8] I tend to focus on the following key features, which I think we in Wales need to embrace:
- Mixed use and higher density development around transport corridors and stations
- Aligning new housing, public services and employment sites with public transport – some real transport/land use planning
- Improving safety and quality of urban realm – especially our urban streets
- Integration with Active Travel
- Inclusion of open/green spaces
- Community engagement and involvement in scheme development and implementation.
It’s an approach to development focussed on people, public spaces and public transport, leading to reduced car dependency; and is an approach that delivers benefits, for example:
- With higher density it becomes easier and less costly to provide public services
- Local shops and retail have a higher local demand that can be accessed via active travel
- In many cases schemes for new housing can be linked to local and town centre regeneration projects and greening urban realm improvements
- TOD also means public transport investment becomes easier to justify because higher numbers of people can more easily access transit services (helping build fare revenue and reducing the operational subsidies of new transit – bus or rail).
Collectively, and more importantly TOD reduces our need to use and own cars – given the present danger of climate change this perhaps is the primary reason for us in Wales to embrace TOD. This intent has also been set out in the National Development Framework[9] and will I hope, flow through into the regional Transport Plans and Strategic Development Plans anticipated across Wales.
The move toward more widespread TOD is a must and is perhaps as, if not more, important in order to deliver our decarbonisation obligations, than the necessary investment in public transport infrastructure and services.
In pursuing this agenda, we have to acknowledge that in most cases, we don’t need skyscrapers in the same way we don’t need low density car-based sprawl. Many practitioners are advocating, high quality mixed use, “gentle density”. I recommend a book by Chris Johnson[10] which explored the kind of urban form we need, the so called “missing middle” Figure 151 . Almost to complement, a recent book by Thalia Verkade and Marco te Brömmelstroet[11] set out their ideas to put people at the centre of urban design and not cars. A weightier tome and a guide for all of us interested in city development, transport and land use planning, equity and sustainability, is Peter Hall’s book[12], “Good Cities, Better Lives”.
As well as TOD, more broadly the Metro also illuminates the increasing emphasis on Placemaking in development of our urban realm and which is seeping into the collective thinking of planners and developers. Like “Metro” there are plenty of TOD actors and definitions – all different but all similar. For example, Project for Public Spaces[13], who are a not-for-profit organisation based in Brooklyn, offered this definition:
“Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community. Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share, placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value. More than just promoting better urban design, placemaking facilitates creative patterns of use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place and support its ongoing evolution.”
This neighbourhood guide to placemaking in Chicago[14] is also useful and says:
“Placemaking is a people-centred approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. Put simply, it involves looking at, listening to, and asking questions of the people who live, work and play in a particular space, to discover needs and aspirations. This information is then used to create a common vision for that place. The vision can evolve quickly into an implementation strategy, beginning with small-scale, do-able improvements that can immediately bring benefits to public spaces and the people who use them.”
I’d like to think we can adopt this type of approach in the development around every Metro station in Southeast Wales. For me re: the South Wales Metro, in no particular order, the following ought to be considered in any such approach:
- Community Involvement & Engagement
- Wayfinding
- Use of local narrative – history, green infrastructure, art/culture, etc..
- Safety/Security
- Integration & multi-modal interchange (especially Active Travel)
- Environmentally friendly
- Mixed & multiple uses
- Accessibility and Inclusion
- Scale appropriate Transit Oriented Development, Economic Development & Regeneration Interventions
- Welsh Legislation: Wellbeing of Future Generations, Environment, Planning
Closer to home for us in Wales, the Design Commission for Wales (DCfW) has also set out Placemaking principles[15] which are a valuable source of insight and guidance; it is worth a watch.
Figure 151 The Missing Middle (Source Opticos Design)[16]
In discussing TOD, I also have to pay thanks to the Design Commission for Wales (and Carole-Anne Davies and Jen Heal) who have provided an occasional sounding board for me, and many others, over the last twelve years re: the broader developmental and regenerative potential of the Metro.
Perhaps most notably, just before Covid hit in 2019, the DCFW and Jen Heal worked with me to run a “Transit Oriented Development” Charrette at Cardiff University’s School of Geography and Planning. That event took head on one of the biggest challenges we face in trying to maximise the benefits of the Metro. The event was focussed and included representatives from Welsh Government, Cardiff Capital Region, local authorities, development companies, housebuilders, Registered Social Landlords, regeneration consultancies and Transport for Wales. Whilst we did not produce a silver bullet we did nonetheless shape some of our collective thinking – this was illustratively captured by Laura Sorvala Figure 152. The actual record of the day is available from my blog site[17].
Figure 152 Laura Sorvala Illustration of TOD Charrette 2019
In the UK, The Urban Transport Group has also published advice and guidelines related to TOD[18]. This concept has also been explored through recent local events and publications; for example, I helped organise “What Metro Might Do”[19] in 2016, “Metro and Me”[20] in 2018, and the DCFW TOD charrette I mentioned above in 2019.
There is also joint venture project in progress to develop a Placemaking Toolkit for Wales[21] to support the work of local authorities in designing the public realm in town centres. The venture includes Cardiff University’s School of Geography and Planning and Welsh School of Architecture and includes a multidisciplinary team of architects, planners, urban designers, architectural and urban historians, and human geographers led by Patricia Aelbrecht (who is a Senior Lecturer in Urban Design, Planning and Intercultural Studies at Cardiff University’s School of Geography and Planning), and with a steering group including DCFW, The Urban Design Group and Living Streets.
11.3 Look at places like Malaga, Vancouver, Denver, Freiburg…
There are plenty of good international examples where holistic planning of transport and land use have been combined to reduce car dependency. In fact, in many places this just happens and is seen as normal.
On urban design and especially in somewhere like Malaga, the most striking features are the types of homes and development density. Malaga city municipality itself is nearly 570k people in an area smaller than that of the urban extent of Cardiff (370k). Malaga like many older European cities, I guess has a population density at least 3 to 4 times that of Cardiff and possibly more. It’s easy to see why, in Malaga town most people live in apartments that are typically 6 to 10 stories high Figure 153 and Figure 154. On the ground floor shops and other uses provide vibrancy and nearby services. Compare that to a typical low-density UK city; your front gate may be a walk from your front door and then tens if not hundreds or thousands of meters from other places like shops, pubs, restaurants, jobs, etc. This encourages us to use our cars.
Whilst not perfect, Malaga is well endowed with public transport with good local rail, LRT and bus services. The big benefit though is that active travel can really work well given the density of the city. For the compact and denser urban core nothing is really too far away. This results in mixed uses on ground floors and the ability of people to access services, shops, employment, open spaces, etc more easily and more often using active travel and public transport.
Figure 153 Malaga with density built in
Figure 154 Malaga generally a 7~10 story city
Looking further field there are other examples. Places like Barcelona do it by default given its history, layout and density Figure 155 and cities like Vancouver are embracing it and integrating it into their planning. Even sprawling US cities like Denver are trying to better link land use planning to their developing transit network Figure 156 Figure 157 and explicitly looking to exploit development opportunities around its growing Metro network[22]. The example of the development in progress around Belleview station in South Denver provides an example for us in the Cardiff Capital Region (Figure 156 Figure 157 ). More recently Barcelona has embarked on a radical plan to remove cars from huge areas of their city with its “super block plans”[23]. Freiburg is another place with a track record of integrated transport land use planning and TOD[24].
Figure 155 Barcelona – TOD by default (credit ?)
Figure 156 Denver, Bellview – New density around transit
Figure 157 From Denver’s TOD Plan 2014[25]
All these international exemplars provide lessons for us in the Cardiff Region. Whilst a little less common, we can look to good examples of TOD in Wales. For example, The Mill[26] Figure 158 on the old papermill site in Cardiff. The development includes density, streets, mixed use and mixed tenures and multiple development partners. The masterplan was developed and curated by Tirion Homes, funding was led by Principality Commercial and delivered in partnership with Welsh Government, Tirion Homes, Lovell and Cadwyn Housing Association. The only thing lacking is the Metro station at Ely Mill/Victoria park that the development was predicated on!
Figure 158 The Mill, Cardiff (Tirion Homes)
11.4 The fifteen-minute city
The TOD and Placemaking narrative also flow neatly into the 15-minute city concept and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN); terms now dragged into controversy by some conspiracy theory disinformation I addressed earlier in this book (The Climate Emergency and car dependency). In fact, the LTN is not a new idea. I remember growing up in Grangetown Cardiff in the 1970s when the local authority closed off the ends of many streets Figure 159 to prevent rat running and thus make streets safer for those who lived and played in them. As children we often played football in the street, something you rarely see today. Most street corners in my part of Grangetown at that time also had a corner shop; one of which was Dimascios Coffee and Ice Cream bar on the corner of Newport St and Holmesdale Street. The vast majority have gone and been forgotten, replaced by car based shed retail. The freedom of mass car ownership clearly has a cost; progress eh.
Figure 159 Merches Gardens in Grangetown has been “blocked” off since the 1970s
Despite the recent dystopian conspiracy theory associations, the 15-minute city is really about planning and building places that enable more of us to do more of what we need to do, more locally and without having to use a car. It’s about choice. This is how we lived in Grangetown, Cardiff in the 1960s and 1970s; and is still true of many places today (See 11.3 Look at places like Malaga, Vancouver, Denver, Freiburg). There are many contemporary descriptions and definitions, for example, this is from an article by Andrew Duany and Robert Steuteville in 2021[27]
…..the 15-minute city is defined by its ability to provide access to all human needs by walking or bicycling for a quarter hour or less. Transit should be provided within the 15-minute city, but cannot accurately define its scale
The Royal Town Planning Institute have also weighed in[28], as have organisation like Deloitte[29]. An associate of mine, James Brown of The Urbanists, penned a good summary in 2023[30]:
…A 15-minute city is a concept for urban planning in which a person can meet most of their daily needs within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from their home. The idea is to create self-sufficient neighbourhoods that are designed around the needs of the residents, with amenities such as shops, schools, healthcare facilities, parks, and public transportation all located within a short distance. The term itself was first applied to districts of dense cities, such as Paris, where the term was first used, but it has increasingly been applied to other cities and urban settlements.
Edinburgh University also published a very good article[31] trying to disentangle the conspiracy theory narrative from the core of the 15-minute city concept.
“The 15-minute city itself is a simple idea. If you live in one, it means that everything you need to go about your daily life – school, doctors, shops and so on – is located no more than a 15-minute walk from your house”.
“While the 15-minute city has nothing to do with creating ghettos where people will be locked in, fake news like this circulates broadly and quickly, making it crucial for policymakers to convey clear messages about what’s at stake”
Ther is no authoritarian compulsion here, it’s about building places that facilitate more choice for more people. As I set out above, this is how we lived in most places until the 1960s/1970s.
To counter the growing and ill-informed negative narrative associated with the “15-minute city”, Carolos Morena, who first coined the phrase, published[32] his latest thinking on the subject earlier in 2024.
11.5 What does TOD mean for Metro
Whilst the implementation of the South Wales Metro will deliver many direct transport and decarbonisation benefits, I feel the biggest impact is its potential catalytic effect on planning and development. However, these benefits are perhaps the most difficult to achieve given 50 years of car-based development and the need for an entire ecosystem to re-configure its approach around public transport.
To respond and with specific reference to the Metro, I favour a multi scaled approach, similar to that more detailed proposition Francesca Sartorio and Wendy Maden set out conceptually in “Metro and Me” in 2018[33], and which also builds upon the work of The Urbanists who prepared the Regeneration report[34] in the 2013 Metro Impact Study[35].
In summary I see three distinct “scales” and perhaps a 4th consideration Figure 160:
#1 Station focussed – this is the actual design and operation of a “Metro station”, predominantly within the red line of the station and is about the branding, design treatment, function, aesthetics and safe operation of the station itself. There is ongoing thinking and development (inc. Placemaking) within TfW to further improve this function.
#2 The area immediately in/around a station and goes beyond the red line and needs to
consider integration with local urban realm, Active Travel (AT) access, bus integration, etc and engagement with local communities and land/property owners. Any proposals have to include immediate station related commercial, community and development/regeneration opportunities.
- Prime examples of station-based TOD opportunities in/around Cardiff include Cathays, Gabalfa, Newport Rd (Tremorfa), Ty Glas, Roath Park, Cogan, Grangetown Gas Works and Ely Mill/Victoria Park, Cardiff Parkway
- I think the work of Mhairi McVicar, Ali Abdi, Matluba Kahn, Neil Harris, Tom Smith and colleagues at Cardiff University, and the community involvement and engagement as part of the Grangetown Hub project, and especially young people, provides a good template for community engagement[36].
#3 The wider sub-regional and local impact in the area perhaps 1-2 km around a station or new stations/route. This could impact major developments and enable in future more transit focused development if based on new routes or services (ideally more dense and mixed use – and for us in the CCR more housing, including public housing).
- For example: the NW Corridor and City Line in Cardiff and its impact on Plas Dwr or the Mill development; the bay line and its impact on LGA/Butetown and Crossrail expansion to serve the new Arena and future development at Roath Dock and the station at Cardiff East on Newport Rd; the town centre regeneration work in Caerphilly, Merthyr and Pontypridd; the entire Trefforest Industrial Estate; In/around Neath station; and Wrexham Gateway etc.
- The potential negative impacts of gentrification also need to be appraised and mitigated where appropriate. Prof Aseem Inam’s research and practice with regard to democratising urban planning[37] is also a valuable source of insight in this regard.
#4 Wider Economic Benefits. There is also perhaps a 4th, which goes beyond land use and planning and relates to Wider Economic Benefits (WEB). This relates to the longer-term and positive structural changes one can enable in the local/regional economy. As an example, the 2013 Metro Impact Study, whilst setting out the primary Metro public transport (PT) options for the CCR, also set out many of the economic development, regeneration and WEB that could be secured if other parties developed complementary initiatives enabled by the investment in Metro.
A 2023 Arup study commissioned by the DfT[38] explored the wider impacts of transport investment via a literature review. They found that:…
Impacts on productivity, wages and land values are generally significant and positive for all modes. Impacts on population were found mostly for areas where population was already growing or moving before the intervention. Evidence on employment impacts is varied and suggests that displacement is an important part of the picture.
Figure 160 Illustration of scale of TOD and Placemaking Impacts (based on in part The Urbanists)
Whilst TfW ought to be focused on #1 and #2, Local Authorities, Developers, Welsh Government and the Cardiff Capital Region, etc have to lead on #2, #3 and #4.
It also provides the context I hope, for how we begin to re-shape our regions to be less car oriented and more people, Active Travel (AT) and transit oriented; I also think this is pivotal to how we regenerate town/community centres, high streets, etc and reduce the amount of car based out of town shed retail, offices, etc that blight our modern world. I did begin to cover this issue in a 2019 blog[39] on Transit Oriented Development.
11.6 A Metro Development Corporation?
The big question for me, is, does the Cardiff Capital Region have the capacity and capability to really take on this challenge? Does the region need a Metro Development Corporation to complement TfW? I raised these questions in an informal briefing I provided to the Leaders of the ten local authorities in Wales in 2022 (See Appendices Mark Bary Briefing for CCR LA Leaders/CEOs June 2022).
Looking back, perhaps we did throw out the baby out with the bathwater re the winding up of the Welsh Development Agency[40] in 2004 (and included the Land Authority for Wales which was absorbed into the WDA in 1998). Whilst I was and remain critical of some of its activities toward the end of its life, the WDA did possess a very effective land use, regeneration, and development capacity that would be ideally placed to take up this Metro TOD challenge.
So, I think we do need a new body with an operational and delivery focus to embrace the opportunity for the Cardiff Capital Region, especially with the development of the South Wales Metro, for Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and help build a more sustainable city region[41]. The expectations of Wales’s “Well Being of Future Generations” Act, Welsh Governments 2019 Review on Affordable Homes[42], Welsh Government’s Town Centre Position Statement[43] and various articles from industry experts, academics and observers provide further local context and support the need for a more strategic leadership and capacity in this space. More importantly the emphasis on placemaking within national planning policy[44] demonstrates a pressing need for the exploration of how and where to promote sustainable homes, great placemaking and TOD in strategic locations. This challenge goes beyond TOD and needs to address the fundamental issues impacting the supply of homes (especially affordable homes) across southeast Wales as well as the complementary and likely synergistic need to addressing the issue of failing high streets.
This is not a new approach. As mentioned earlier, the Denver Transit Agency RTD has published its own Transit Oriented Development Plan, and places like Freiburg and many others overtly link transport and land use planning.
There are also plenty of real opportunities to progress. For example, in Newport the UK Government could work with Welsh Government to relocate the ONS and Patent Office to Newport City Centre (cf HMRC Hub and BBC in Cardiff). These facilities, even with a smaller footprint through more flexible working, would then be much easier to access using public transport from across the region, whilst at the same time helping to regenerate Newport City Centre.
There is also a need for a more coherent and strategic effort to develop and implement a wider range of station focussed economic development and regeneration initiatives, including housing, right across the Cardiff Capital Region. These will complement the delivery and operation of the Metro by TfW and range from major property led schemes like Metro Central, Central Quay, Cardiff Parkway; city/town centre regeneration in Newport, Pontypridd, Bridgend and Merthyr to more locally focused and community-based interventions in places like Porth, Pencoed, Butetown and Maesteg. Post Covid there is also an opportunity to explore the development of more town/community focussed shared workspaces right across the region – in a model originally championed by Indycube.
It is also clear that when combined with the urgency of supporting our failing high streets we need to respond at scale. Whilst the Transforming Towns[45] initiative is well meaning, it lacks the capacity and resources to strategically address this challenge. It is also true that a little bit more of the same won’t fix the problem either.
To address these opportunities at scale, strategically and efficiently, I believe there is a need to introduce a new agency into the development ecosystem to help choregraph & accelerate the introduction of Metro TOD schemes. Whilst this is a nascent requirement and clearly subject to further debate/discussion, its key features should include:
- Scale in term of skills and experience
- Planning (CPO) powers to acquire land
- Focus on curation, master planning, outline planning and land assembly with aim to support a broader mix of uses including and especially residential (and mix of tenures), business, leisure, public services – with some minimum standard expectations for scale and quality. Mixed use gentle density should be at the core of our thinking
- Primary focus in/around the planned Metro network; combination of a range of smaller sites and some new Metro connected green and especially brownfield development
- To proactively work with Registered Social Landlords (RSL), private developers, investors, etc to establish project-based delivery partnerships to bring forward schemes (but with capacity to undertake development as well)
- A capacity to work with WG to develop measures to incentivise investors and retail/business park owners, so that over time out of town/edge of town retail and business parks can be repurposed – for more residential for example
- More flexibility in dealing with floodplain issues. Yes, there are risks, but different building design and layouts can be adopted (eg all essential services on 1st floor or above, ground floor non-residential and with mitigation designed in, etc). This would enable densification and repurposing of some sites currently “ruled out” because of floodplain issues. (eg most of the Netherlands is below sea level and mitigation features are designed into its urban fabric).
To conclude, I don’t think we can expect to secure the more transformational benefits from the South Wales Metro unless and until we more aggressively pursue a TOD based approach to planning, development and regeneration.
References
[1] Josh Ryan-Collins, Roby Lloyd, Laurie Macfarlane, ZED, 2017, “Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing”
[2] Welsh Government, 2019, Future Wales: the national plan 2040 | GOV.WALES
[3] Welsh Government 2021, Foundational Economy Research Unit, Small Towns, Big Issues: independent research report (gov.wales)
[4] Audit Wales, 2021, Regenerating Town Centres in Wales (audit.wales)
[5] Llwybr Newydd, Welsh Government, 2021, Llwybr Newydd: the Wales transport strategy 2021 | GOV.WALES
[6] National Development Framework
[7] What is TOD? – Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (itdp.org)
[8] Examples of descriptions of TOD:
City Beautiful, “Transit Oriented Development Explained TOD Explained – YouTube
The Urban Transport Group, 2019 The place to be: How transit oriented development can support good growth in the city regions
Brent Toderian on sustainable mobility – YouTube
Urban Village Planning Checklist | Planetizen Blogs
[9] Welsh Government, 2021, National Development Framework, Future Wales: the national plan 2040
[10] Chris Johnson, Land Humphries, 2021, “Mid Rise Urban Living”
[11] Verkade & Brömmelstroet, Scribe, 2022, “Movement”
[12] Peter Hall(with contributions from Nicholas Falk), Routledge, 2014, “Good Cities, Better Lives – How Europe Discovered the Lost Art of Urbanism”
[13] Project for Public Spaces, Home — Project for Public Spaces (pps.org)
[14] Placemaking Chicago, What is placemaking? – Placemaking Chicago
[15] Design Commission for Wales, “Placemaking”; PlacemakingGuideDigitalENG.pdf (dcfw.org)
[16] Public Square, 2016, The missing middle response to urban housing demand | CNU
[17] Mark Barry, 2019 Transit Oriented Development in the Cardiff Capital Region #2
[18] Clare Linton & Jonathan Bray, The Urban Transport Group, 2019, The place to be – Urban Transport Group
[19] Mark Barry 2016, What Metro Might Do? October 2016 – Mark Barry (swalesMetroprof.blog)
[20] Mark Barry & Capital Law, 2018, Metro & Me—new South Wales Metro report launched (capital-law.co.uk)
Mark Barry, 2018, Metro & Me, October 2018 – Mark Barry (swalesMetroprof.blog)
[21] Cardiff University Placemaking Toolkit for Wales: Improving the public realm in our towns and cities
[22] Denver Government, Transit Oriented Development – Welcome Message (denvergov.org)
Belleview Station | Denver, CO
[23] David Roberts, VOX, 2019, “Barcelona’s radical plan to take back streets from cars” Superblocks: Barcelona’s radical urban plan to take back streets from cars – Vox
[24] Michael Beim & Martin Haag, “Freiburg’s way to sustainability: the role of integrated urban and transport planning” Freiburg’s way to sustainability: the role of integrated urban and transport planning
[25] Denver Strategic TOD Plan, 2014 TOD Strategic Plan (denvergov.org)
[26] Tirion Homes, The Mill THE MILL – Tirion Homes
Media Wales, Sept 2024, The brownfield regeneration scheme that has delivered 800 affordable homes in Cardiff
[27] Duany and Steutville, Public Square, 2021 “Defining the 15-minute City”, Defining the 15-minute city | CNU
[28] RTPI RTPI | 15 Minute Cities/20 Minute Neighbourhoods
[29] 15-Minute City | Deloitte Global
[30] James Brown, 2023, 15-minute cities – When urban planning became a conspiracy theory
[31] Calafiore, Nurse & Dunning, Edinburgh University, May 2023 “15-minute cities: separating reality from conspiracy”; 15-minute cities: how to separate the reality from the conspiracy theory (theconversation.com)
[32] Carlos Moreno, Wiley, May 2024, “The 15-Minute City: A Solution to Saving Our Time and Our Planet “
[33] Sartorio & Maden, Metro and Me (p24) : “Beyond the map of colourful lines” MetroAndMeDigiFinal.pdf (iwa.wales)
[34] The Urbanists, Welsh Government 2013, “A Cardiff Capital Region Metro: Impact Study – Regeneration and the Metro” a-cardiff-capital-region-Metro-impact-study-regeneration-and-the-Metro.pdf (gov.wales)
[35] M Barry, Welsh Government, 2013, “A Cardiff Capital Region Metro: Impact Study” south-wales-Metro-impact-study.pdf (gov.wales)
[36] RTPI, February 2023, RTPI | Making plans – it’s child’s play!
Cardiff University, February 2023, Young people say what they want for the place where they live
[37] Aseem Inam, 2023 Community-washing in urbanism? | LinkedIn
Aseem Inam, 2022 Representing the Under-Represented: Labor Unions as Urbanists
Representing the Under-Represented: Labor Unions as Urbanists
[38] DfT, Arup, 2023, Transformational impacts of transport
[39] Mark Barry, 2018, Transit Oriented Development in the Cardiff Capital Region….
Mark Barry, 2019, Transit Oriented Development in the Cardiff Capital Region #2
Mark Barry, 2024, Transit Oriented Development in the Cardiff Capital Region #3
[40] The Welsh Development Agency (WDA) was established in the 1970s to help remediate old industrial sites (especially mines and coal tips ) in Wales and to drive economic development and regeneration. It was very successful in the 1970/80s vis a vis inward investment and had a very capable land/property development capacity. Following devolution, it was eventually wound up in 2004 with functions being absorbed into the Welsh Government Civil Service.
[41] M Barry 2024, Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR)#3
M Barry 2024, Wales, Metro, TOD & Devolution… – Mark Barry (swalesMetroprof.blog)
[42] Welsh Government, 2019, Independent review of affordable housing supply: report | GOV.WALES
[43] Welsh Government, 2023, Town centres: position statement [HTML] | GOV.WALES
[44] Welsh Government 2021, Future Wales: the national plan 2040 | GOV.WALES
[45] Welsh Government, Transforming Towns: support to improve town centres | GOV.WALES