City profile: Cardiff and the shift to city-regionalism

The Welsh Government has revived its interest in city and city-region policies. Couched within the broad rubrics of sustainable economic development and economic renewal, focus is now steered toward enabling the dynamic economic development opportunities that the city-region is seen to latently possess. With policymakers looking to arrangements in Greater Manchester with some admiration, this paper sets out how policy and governance is being fashioned in Cardiff, mindful of the shifting but ongoing inter-dependencies between city and hinterland. A story of a shift to “city-regionalism”, working through the parameters of mimicry, aspiration, political palatability and experimentation, is presented in this profile.