CardiffWalesMap

What do we think. You have the civic centre - if only they'd bulldoze the police station but there is a complete lack of open space in the city centre. That would be understandable if there was huge demand for every plot of land but there's all this derelict space. I'm surprised the BBC is being given the bus station which I would have thought could be an open space. Not to be. Are there any other options? South of the railway line might not work so well. Seems like an opportunity lost.

I've been thinking this for a while. The bus station plot may have been the best option for it. Hopefully when the Callaghan Square developments are complete, something will happen there.
That being said, I do like the area in front of the library on The Hayes.

The city lawns and lots of space around the civic center is in desperate need of redevelopment. Look at the work that's been done in other cities and the city lawns are very under used, mostly the homeless after 5pm. A cafe or something next to the fountains would be great, better still get rid of those crappy fountains and do something more spectacular. I've always envisaged removing the small triangular park in front of the Hilton, moving the road over it and then incorporating the road space as part of the city lawns and incorporating the space in front of the law courts. Imagine the triangular park with the law courts as a backdrop. See how much nicer and usable the space is in front of Belfast city hall, we have more space to use if reconfigured and could mean a purpose built environment for winterwonderland and other events. If you think about it there's not even a bench around city hall to sit on.

Belfast City Hall by Dee Mc, on Flickr

You cans ee here the space is nowhere near as large as that around teh museum, city hall and law courts

City Hall in Donegall Square - Belfast Northern Ireland by mbell1975, on Flickr

I feel Cardiff has enough green lawn space in the parks and not enough mixed use green and urban space. In front of city hall is the perfect place for those water fountains kids run through and a cafe to enjoy the view, not everyone wants to sit on the grass.

Definately agree with the principle of an urban/mixed green sqaure somewhere with plenty of seating and cafes etc - like most good large cities have in the UK and Europe.

It's a nice idea but doubt it would ever happen though - do we have the space in the city centre anywhere? Also there is arguably no large financial benefit when compared to a big office or retail complex.

Knock down the shambles that is the millennium stadium. Frees up a lot of parkland with riverside views to boot. Everyone's a winner

Cardiff isn't a crowded city. Our city centre is tiny by most standards and to have the castle and the parks behind it a stone's throw away is a big thing. Plenty of open space. More could be done with the lawns outside of city hall and the museum but there's Gorsedd Gardens in the middle of the civic centre.

If they'd planned Callaghan Square properly and built an actual square with buildings around it instead of a bloody dual carriageway between the north and as yet undeveloped southern end we could have used that. Arguably we still could if the Welsh Assembly and the Council wanted to.

As far as Central Square is concerned I like the plan as it is, nice and dense with a little bit of space between the outside of Central Station and the new BBC offices.

EDIT : If you look at the amount of space in the image below between Central Station, the new bus station development and the BBC offices it's not bad, hardly too packed in.

No.

The temporary green space where the Admiral building now stands was really well frequented by people.

Amoore wrote:The temporary green space where the Admiral building now stands was really well frequented by people.

That's true but that was a small urban park not a large public square. Personally I think Trafalgar Square is one of London's least attractive public spaces. It's pretty desolate most of the time. There are far better public spaces in London - and in Cardiff for that matter.

The new Central Square would look lovely with a nice fountain!