RISING property values and Newport’s ‘gateway’ location into Wales will be key factors in helping the city's economy to grow, according to a renewed council strategy.

Newport has become a more competitive city with a growing influence in high value sectors and a “rapidly expanding” tourism industry since 2015, it says.

The updated economic growth strategy also highlights challenges facing the city, such as falling city centre footfall, M4 congestion and the challenges of maintaining a skilled workforce.

Making Newport a better place to live is another aim of the 10-year strategy, originally adopted in 2015 but now being updated.

Perceptions of the city from the people who live in it paint a mixed picture. Under half - 48.9 per cent - now think Newport is a good place to live, down by 1.8 per cent from a 2015 survey. But 39.5 per cent of residents think the city is becoming a better place.

READ MORE:

Much has been achieved since the strategy was first adopted, according to the renewed strategy report, , with business start-up rates doubling since 2015, and more businesses now surviving than in the last decade.

Weekly wages have gone up by 11.7 per cent, visitor numbers have increased by 1.7 million, and 5,642 new homes have been built between 2011 and 2019, including 803 affordable houses.

Unemployment has fallen by 2.8 per cent from 2015, and the percentage of people with qualifications is also increasing.

However, there has been a 6.5 per cent increase in the gender pay gap, and two per cent fewer residents are registered as self-employed.

Several aims to drive economic growth have been highlighted, including supporting the provision of high quality office space, addressing skills shortages, and increasing the flexibility of city centre uses to sustain it as a place to live, work and visit.

Improving transport connectivity, exploring opportunities to develop a digital Business Improvement District (BID), and supporting new hotel accommodation are also priorities.

Four key outcomes which aim to deliver “a vibrant and growing city economy” are also identified in the strategy.

These are to enable people in Newport to achieve their potential; to have a “competitive environment”; to make the city a better place to live; and to offer businesses the opportunity to prosper.

The city council’s cabinet will consider adopting the updated strategy at a meeting next Wednesday, February 12.