New plaza earmarked for Swansea’s Kingsway

A NEW plaza could be introduced on Swansea’s Kingsway to help attract office and residential developers there in future.

The pedestrian-friendly plaza could be put in place where the city centre road’s central reserve now stands. It would have a large green space at its heart with lots of trees, public spaces and seating areas.

Swansea Council says environmental improvements are integral to its plans to transform Kingsway into an employment district and boost the number of people living and working in the city centre.

A specialist study into Kingsway that’s been on-going for some time has also concluded that major investment in the road’s look and layout is needed to make it an attractive proposition for office and residential developers in years to come.

The council will soon be pursuing funding for the improvement scheme.

Cllr Rob Stewart, Swansea Council Leader, said: “It’s clear there aren’t enough people currently working or living in Swansea city centre to generate the kind of footfall and spending needed to support our existing traders and attract more investment. Urban employment in Swansea is estimated at 19%, while the figure for comparative cities elsewhere is over 30%.

“Transforming Kingsway into an employment district will help Swansea close the gap and revive the city centre’s fortunes, but major investment in the look and feel of the area is vital if we’re to generate an environment that will attract office and residential developers there.

“It’s not just potential investors and specialists who have been telling us this for some time. Swansea residents gave similar feedback during our recent consultation on the revised City Centre Strategic Framework – a document that will guide the city centre’s regeneration over the next decade.

“These are early days and the next challenge is to explore potential sources of funding for our ideas, but a new plaza at the heart of Kingsway would help generate an environment that would attract high-quality jobs. This will add to existing plans to see a significant re-greening of large parts of the city as we redevelop.

“Our transportation team will also need to work closely with public transport operators to consider the potential implications and solutions for traffic flows, but it’s an idea we’re determined to comprehensively further explore.”

Swansea Council’s Cabinet has already approved the regeneration of Kingsway forming the basis of the authority’s priority submission for future European infrastructure funding in future.

In-depth talks have also now started with developers on the shortlist to regenerate the Civic Centre and St David’s sites. Swansea Council hopes to have development partners for the two sites on board by the end of the year.