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City Region Exchange

Strengthening the economy

One of the main drivers for the development of the Cardiff Capital Region is the desire to strengthen the local economy.

Cardiff bay

The Cardiff Capital Region already plays a very important role in providing important employment and wealth-creating opportunities. It has a Gross Value Added (GVA) of approximately £25bn and accounts for 51% of the wealth of the Welsh economy. However, more needs to be done to capitalise on this and also spread the benefits more widely across the region.

Cardiff is one of the best cities in the UK in terms of quality of living in the UK, yet in economic terms it fails to punch its weight.  Research shows that while UK cities generally contribute over 60% to the region's Gross Value Added measure of the value of goods and services produced, in Wales it is only 33%. The Cardiff Capital Region has significant untapped economic potential.

The University plays a critical anchoring role in the region's economy.This role is multi-faceted. The University is itself a major employer; it is also a provider of skilled, graduate labour; it also provides valuable knowledge and innovation expertise for businesses; and it develops research and analysis which can inform policy decisions.

We want to strengthen the University's support for the local economy by improving the University's capacity to link local needs with its resources of knowledge and people. Engaging with broad interest groups across the Cardiff Capital Region will be critically important in helping us identify projects and activities that will translate the opportunities provided by the city of Cardiff's growth and development into wider opportunities for the city region.

In particular, our project will seek to better understand the opportunities and challenges that are manifest in the city region and how these are distinctively shaped by the uniqueness of the local and regional context. Understanding the nature and effectiveness of the economic relationships between the city of Cardiff and its neighbouring areas will be a critical focus for this project.