Key questions What are the main issues facing Swansea’s CBD? What are the solutions to these issues?

Issues facing Swansea CBD The main issues facing Swansea CBD are: Congestion, accessibility and transport issues. Retailing – ‘Clone towns’ and decline of CBD retailing. Office and entertainment district issues.

Traffic congestion at the River Tawe bridges Where east - west flows meet north - south flows

Park and Ride Scheme – A solution to the traffic congestion issue? There is a £2 charge per car which includes all –day parking and return bus travel for up to 4 people. The Bendy bus! A new solution?

Modernised public transport – Central Bus Station and the Rail Station The Council demolished the old Quadrant bus station in June 2009. The new bus station includes 20 bus bays, three coach bays, a modern passenger waiting area, as well as retail units, toilet facilities and Swansea Mobility Hire. 2011 New-look Swansea station opened after £7.6m upgrade - 2012

Decline in retail in the CBD. While the expansion of the CBD appears to have been largely successful - for example Parc Tawe and the Quadrant Centre - the St David's centre was successful: Many of the shops, including a large supermarket, have closed   and many of the units were empty. Demolished 2013 The rise of the clone town – Swansea is starting to look like any other city centre around the country.

CBD RETAILING - competition from out of town Retail Parks Fforestfach Retail Park to the NW of Swansea – more affluent suburbs; car owners Morfa Retail Park in the Enterprise Zone near the Liberty Stadium

CBD RETAILING – competition from other cities But what has added to Swansea's city centre retail problems is the opening of the £675m St Davids shopping centre in Cardiff two years ago which attracted 36m visits in its first year

CBD RETAILING – competition from the Internet Online trading in general represented 18.6% of total non-food sales for the final month of 2013, an increase from 16.5% a year earlier. Amazon has a ‘fulfilment centre’ (warehouse) in Swansea

Solutions Swansea Business Improvement District or BID, is a co-operative of businesses that together fund improvements to the city centre. City Centre Rangers are employed to monitor litter and graffiti around the shopping areas .

Office and entertainment districts There is currently over 11,000 square feet of office space available to rent in the centre. Differences between day and night, as well as weekdays and weekends.

Solutions? More houses/apartments built in office areas. Making office space more attractive. Closure of Wind Street to traffic on weekend evenings. Police patrols and taxi issues.

Key questions What are the main issues facing Swansea’s CBD? What are the solutions to these issues?