The data here is taken from the recently published Cardiff Local Development Plan, which outlines the way the city can evolve in the next decade or so in the light of current trends.
2.17 Cardiff is the most populated local authority in Wales, with 317,500 people living in the county in 200613 - over 10% of the total population of Wales. Some 1.4 million people live within 45 minutes drive time of the city.
The very concentration of people in the south-east of Wales, within and not too far from the city makes for powerful economic growth potential. Cardiff planners are already talking about the 'city-region'. How do neighbouring local government areas perceive this? Are we on the way towards becoming a Metropolitan area, like Manchester or Birmingham, managed as one big super-authority, like London? The larger the population area, the greater its diversity, but is local government genuinely able to manage diversity as well as it (legally speaking) should?
2.18 Since 1981 the population of Cardiff has been steadily increasing at about 0.4% per annum. Birth and death rates have remained relatively stable over this period but migration has fluctuated considerably, with an overall trend of net in-migration of 300 persons per annum. More recently, between 2001 and 2006, Cardiff's population has increased by 1,500 per annum with net in-migration of around 600 persons per annum.
Net in-migration is certainly contributing towards greater diversity, with the arrival of Eastern European workers in their thousands over the past three years.
2.19 Compared with Wales and the UK, Cardiff has a higher percentage of population in age groups 15-39 years but a lower percentage in age groups from 40 upwards. The impact of the student population is particularly significant. According to the 2001 Census, the growing student population comprised around 11% of the city's total population.
2.20 Ethnic minorities comprise 8.4% of Cardiff's population, broadly similar to the average for England and Wales.
Cardiff is an averagely 'young city'. A high proportion of its migrant workers are young, and come from places where religion is practised and is still a feature of public life. Whilst the same may also be true of many foreign students in Higher Education here, by way of contrast, the majority of students of British origin (possibly four out of five of them), will have been raised in a secularised social environment, and have little knowledge or experience of what it is to be part of a faith community or follow traditional religious practices. What will be the impact of the 'religious' minority upon the secular majority - and vice versa?
2.21 128,400 households resided in Cardiff in 2003 – representing 22% of all households in South East Wales. Average household size continues to fall in line with the national trend; in Cardiff it fell from 2.54 in 1991 to 2.37 in 2004.
2.22 The number of households in South East Wales is projected to increase by 108,900 (18.6%) between 2003 and 2021, reflecting the net effect of births, deaths, migration and the continuing trend towards smaller households.
The fall in average household occupancy is due to the growing number of people living alone, older people as well as young single professionals. With increased prosperity, demand for homes in Cardiff continues to rise, and the demand for consumer goods to equip them. This contributes to the above average 'carbon footprint' of the city, three times bigger than it should be for the population size. Whatever measures succeed in building carbon neutral dwellings for the years to come, only a radical change in lifestyles with increased sharing of energy consuming resources will produce the kind of reduction of carbon footprint to a just and sustainable level.
Who will challenge future citizens to share resources and live responsibly in relationship to the environment, when the social emphasis dwells so much on satisfying individual needs in ways that are hard to justify morally?
Faith communities of all kinds seek to generate and build on a sense of community and values that concern sharing and mutual support. Recognition of this social contribution is, or should be an important consideration in any sustainable long term development plan.
2.17 Cardiff is the most populated local authority in Wales, with 317,500 people living in the county in 200613 - over 10% of the total population of Wales. Some 1.4 million people live within 45 minutes drive time of the city.
The very concentration of people in the south-east of Wales, within and not too far from the city makes for powerful economic growth potential. Cardiff planners are already talking about the 'city-region'. How do neighbouring local government areas perceive this? Are we on the way towards becoming a Metropolitan area, like Manchester or Birmingham, managed as one big super-authority, like London? The larger the population area, the greater its diversity, but is local government genuinely able to manage diversity as well as it (legally speaking) should?
2.18 Since 1981 the population of Cardiff has been steadily increasing at about 0.4% per annum. Birth and death rates have remained relatively stable over this period but migration has fluctuated considerably, with an overall trend of net in-migration of 300 persons per annum. More recently, between 2001 and 2006, Cardiff's population has increased by 1,500 per annum with net in-migration of around 600 persons per annum.
Net in-migration is certainly contributing towards greater diversity, with the arrival of Eastern European workers in their thousands over the past three years.
2.19 Compared with Wales and the UK, Cardiff has a higher percentage of population in age groups 15-39 years but a lower percentage in age groups from 40 upwards. The impact of the student population is particularly significant. According to the 2001 Census, the growing student population comprised around 11% of the city's total population.
2.20 Ethnic minorities comprise 8.4% of Cardiff's population, broadly similar to the average for England and Wales.
Cardiff is an averagely 'young city'. A high proportion of its migrant workers are young, and come from places where religion is practised and is still a feature of public life. Whilst the same may also be true of many foreign students in Higher Education here, by way of contrast, the majority of students of British origin (possibly four out of five of them), will have been raised in a secularised social environment, and have little knowledge or experience of what it is to be part of a faith community or follow traditional religious practices. What will be the impact of the 'religious' minority upon the secular majority - and vice versa?
2.21 128,400 households resided in Cardiff in 2003 – representing 22% of all households in South East Wales. Average household size continues to fall in line with the national trend; in Cardiff it fell from 2.54 in 1991 to 2.37 in 2004.
2.22 The number of households in South East Wales is projected to increase by 108,900 (18.6%) between 2003 and 2021, reflecting the net effect of births, deaths, migration and the continuing trend towards smaller households.
The fall in average household occupancy is due to the growing number of people living alone, older people as well as young single professionals. With increased prosperity, demand for homes in Cardiff continues to rise, and the demand for consumer goods to equip them. This contributes to the above average 'carbon footprint' of the city, three times bigger than it should be for the population size. Whatever measures succeed in building carbon neutral dwellings for the years to come, only a radical change in lifestyles with increased sharing of energy consuming resources will produce the kind of reduction of carbon footprint to a just and sustainable level.
Who will challenge future citizens to share resources and live responsibly in relationship to the environment, when the social emphasis dwells so much on satisfying individual needs in ways that are hard to justify morally?
Faith communities of all kinds seek to generate and build on a sense of community and values that concern sharing and mutual support. Recognition of this social contribution is, or should be an important consideration in any sustainable long term development plan.
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