urban design in wales

Reading current reports about Cardiff turning into a ‘theme park’ (in the Western Mail and on the Rudi site), having visited a number of towns in Wales and having viewed a number of plans for future development - is the standard of urban design and placemaking in Wales being compromised??

I wonder whether the attitude towards urban design and the seemingly submissive stance towards the demands of developers are major causes for concern and are threatening the very character of the country’s urban areas.

There was a paper written in the Journal of Urban Design a few years ago titled “Urban Design in Wales: Confusions of Policy, Problems of Practice“.

I would like to know if any of these issues have been addressed and whether examples of good practices from the rest of the UK and Europe have been adopted/adapted in Wales? I’m not so sure!

Does anybody have any views on this or any examples of quality design in Wales??

Thanks