Renaissance Vision’ for regeneration of Southampton city centre...

The city heart of Southampton is “poised for transformation,” according to plans released by the municipal council.

Enhancing the waterfront, encouraging innovation, making the city more sustainable, assisting both new and existing

neighbourhoods, boosting connectivity, and building a network of tourist locations are the six main focusses of Southampton’s

“Renaissance Vision.”

West Bay, a significant new urban district, as well as the revitalisation of Mayflower Park, Town Quay, and Ocean Village are among

the waterfront proposals.

On innovation, the council is keen to support Southampton and Solent universities in their operations and provide a series of creative

and enterprise hubs throughout the city centre.

There are plans for new urban neighbourhoods at West Bay, Mayflower Waterfront and St Mary’s Waterfront, plus the renewal of the

city’s public housing stock.

To maintain Southampton as a top destination for visitors, there’d be significant investment in sports and entertainment around St

Mary’s Stadium, a regeneration of the Civic Centre and the introduction of independent cultural, food and art venues across the city.

All this would be supported by a new mass rapid transit system for Greater Southampton and improvements at transport hubs like

Southampton Central Station – as well as, in the long term, a new water mobility hub at Town Quay.

That was the vision laid out at a launch event last week attended by key representatives from the city’s development and property

sectors.

“Southampton has a once in a generation opportunity,” the prospectus for the project reads.

“Our city core is about to enter a new era, one that will drive us ahead by leveraging Southampton’s rich history and global perspective.

“Our main objective is to transform Southampton into a thriving, dynamic city that realises its amazing potential by uniting the public

and private sectors with our major institutions around a common growth agenda.”

In light of this, the project is currently looking for investors to supplement a new fund that the council has proposed, which would see

£8 million in public funding spent annually through 2028–2029.

‘Renaissance Vision’ for regeneration of Southampton city centre unveiled