Swansea has been named one of the UK’s top five green cities to invest in.
According to expert-led independent research, Swansea scored excellently in areas including the number of environmentally friendly office buildings.
Factors including CO2 emissions and roadside air pollutants were also considered by international banking group BNP Paribas as part of a real estate study called Next X that focussed on environmental data.
Swansea is the only Welsh city to feature in the study’s top ten environmental scores.
Cllr Rob Stewart, Swansea Council Leader, said: “We are facing a climate crisis so the council and our partners are doing a huge amount of work for Swansea to become a net zero city by 2050.
“We also need to create a greener Swansea to attract more private sector investment and employment opportunities which include zero carbon office developments, the introduction of far more greenery across the city, and the installation of more and more charging points for electric vehicles.
“This will this continue to cut our carbon footprint and make the city more biodiverse, and it will also raise Swansea’s profile as a place to invest while opening up jobs for local people. That’s why it’s so pleasing to be named as one the UK’s top five green cities to invest in.”
Examples of recent work led by the council include lots more greenery being introduced on The Kingsway and Wind Street as part of multi-million pound improvement schemes, along with green walls and green roofs at several buildings and a new, temporary pop-up park at the former St David’s Shopping Centre site.
A revamped Castle Square Gardens with far more greenery is also in the pipeline, following-on from schemes including the 1.1-acre coastal park next to Swansea Arena.
The new office development providing space for 600 jobs at the former Oceana nightclub site on The Kingsway will be carbon zero in operation, with construction work now well under way. The development will feature trees on each level and a green roof.
Very close to the Kingsway development will be a ‘living building’ scheme, led by Swansea-based Hacer Developments.
Earmarked for completion by the end of 2023, the scheme – one of the first of its kind in the UK – will include green walls and green roofs, an educational facility, retail, offices, a landscaped courtyard, rooftop solar panels, battery storage and gardens.
Pobl Group will manage 50 affordable apartments forming part of the scheme.
Further scheme features include an urban farm-style greenhouse set over four floors. Plants and vegetables will be grown in water and fed by waste pumped from fish tanks at the bottom of the building.
Other cities featured in the UK’s top five greenest cities to invest in include Cambridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Milton Keynes.
