Today the city of Cardiff was at that very venue in the French Riveria trying to put itself on the world map as a city of fast growth and as a city open for business.

Cardiff is now into its third day at MIPIM 2014 – an international conference which sees 80 countries trying to promote their development plans hoping to attract interest from investors and companies.

The capital has joined the likes of Leeds, London, Birmingham and even smaller towns like Derby and Stoke in competing for potential business and investment.

Set amongst thousands of other cities, banks and businesses, Cardiff’s blue and white stand looks the part. A large screen shows constant video material of what can already be found in the city and its successful developments to date like the Millennium Stadium and Wales Millennium Centre.

Near the front stands an impressive model of what Cardiff’s Capital Square could look like. Similar models are used by other cities at MIPIM.

But Ken Poole, head of economic development at Cardiff council, said this is just the start.

This is the second year Cardiff has sent staff to MIPIM and Mr Poole said they have already been commended on them coming back bigger and better making MIPIM 2015 looking likely to be on the horizon.

Staff are on hand at the stand to answer questions, make contacts and set up future potential meetings and Mr Poole said this has already been happening.

Mr Poole told the Western Mail how he was approached by an Israeli investment fund looking to invest in Cardiff. He said they told him London wasn’t an option and that they were looking for cities which are cost effective for now and for the future.

He explained how interest had been shown in investing £500m in high quality student accommodation in the city perhaps by converting existing university buildings.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/cardiff-makes-impression-cannes-property-6807728


this is a total waste of time , can we possibly believe this?

Seems the practice of thinking big has been lost, if this represents an effort to regain some momentum for the city than that has to be good. Cardiff needs to start shouting, we are all aware of its faults but only by being attractive place to work and live can we hope to iron out some of the infuriating and begin to develop and grow (I don't just mean size wise)

Cardiff should be able to compete, closest capital city to London, cultural heritage which is criminally underplayed, young workforce with a fair bit of pride in the place, 4 universities churning out some of the brightest and best, those universities with some schools that are world class. It's all possible.

Exactly cardiff should have the business district seriously invested in it's a no brainer! I truely believe cardiff has the potential to become a truely notoriable city! it has all the factors with the bay and the space for development! it may take centuries but admiral know whats up


anyway out of context can you please sign this petition ?! <3


http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/kansas-government-disband-the-westboro-baptist-church?share_id=FlHCIsyAoh&utm_campaign=friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=permissions_dialog_false#

Sorry for the spam i just dont want these people to abuse their children anymore for the love of cardiff <3

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/cardiff-cannes---city-speaks-6807770



Vision for Callaghan Square, we can dream right!?!?

that's the masterplan and yes I think ultimately it will look like that. I'd also like to see two things. firstly, more cohesion with the northern part of the square and secondly I'd like to see the middle of the square developed along the lines of Manchester Piccadilly Gardens reducing the size and scale of the central open space. As it stands it is just to windswept to be a city centre square of note.

this actually caught my eye

Any way we can get a transcript to find out what this list of projects is?

Actually I think it looks like Cardiff would have looked like had the planners' dreams in the 1970s turned into reality i.e. pretty crappy indeed. It might turn the heat up on Stoke, but really...

As for the square bit, then it's windswept because (a)you have to cross busy roads to get to it (that point, at least is addressed in the re ordering of the square as a whole) and (b) there's f..k all of interest or pleasure when you do get there. Why not loads of mature broad canopy trees ,some grass, even cafes ...i.e. somewhere NICE to go and have your sandwich, rather than the sub-Blair planning -student- thesis cum inner city skateboard park type thing we've got now...... which looks so DATED and is so BORING.

"I truely believe cardiff has the potential to become a truely notoriable city!"

I can't help thinking that you may have ....unwittingly... hit the (true)nail on the head there.

Whilst an admirer of your vigorous enthusiasm, it must of course always be tempered by a realistic assessment of the ability to deliver, and the ability to spell would ( to my mind,at least,) be a pretty reasonable starting point for that. Certainly not a trivial one. A bit of a metaphor for Wales's and Cardiff's inability to thrive, perhaps

There's a church near the stadtmitte u-bahn station in Berlin that has the sort of trees you speak of...delightful. Iirc it's called Gendarmenmarkt

here

Callaghan Square is an abortion. It started off so well with the Eversheds building (although this could have been a few stories taller). Vaguely classical, simple yet graceful with decent materials. The other buildings are poor in my opinion which is bad enough but the road layout is disastrous.

This is a bang in the middle of the city centre site, it couldn't be more 'urban' if it tried and yet the road configuration is almost as bad as Culverhouse Cross. What were they trying to achieve? I think the wrong developers were involved from the start - MEPC are out of town business park specialists and it shows.

Even with the square expanded and even if it was planted with trees it would still be a glorified traffic island and not a square in the real sense. That ridiculous roundabout with the non working puerile fountain thing in the middle that faces St Mary St is an outskirts of Swindon job and has no place in what is supposedly the heart of a capital city's commercial district. When you go under that bridge at the southern end of St Mary street you should emerge into business district with good urban form, decent height and commercial activity. Instead you look at a big grassy roundabout as you wait at traffic lights wondering what the hell has happened to the city centre.

The render of what it would look like if the south side is completed looks considerably worse than Newport Rd, the former commercial heart of the city and was developed ad hoc over a 30 year period. Newport Rd has some shit buildings but it does at least look like it belongs in a city and not off a motorway junction. What does that say about the whole bloody fiasco - that it isn't a patch on a hotch potch of 1960's/1970's buildings that were thrown up with no coherent plan?

And possibly the worst thing for me is that far from acting as a bridge between the city centre and the Bay and breaking the psychological barrier of the GWML it actually makes the Bay seem farther away. It acts as a no mans land between the city centre and bay and in addition to the GWML introduces a new barrier of a six lane dual carriageway to cross.

In terms of urban realm (I'm sure people will point to the jobs that it supports as a counter argument) I can think of very few places in the city that are worse. Utter shit.