NEWPORT has undergone massive changes since the last council election.

Shortly after the 2004 poll, urban regeneration company Newport Unlimited unveiled its masterplan for the city.

Its 21st century vision covered a range of proposed developments including business, shopping, transport and tourism.

Many of those are now in place such as the Riverfront Theatre and the footbridge over the River Usk.

Kingsway Shopping Centre has undergone a huge improvement programme; a business centre around George Street and Lower Dock Street has created new jobs and the Southern Distributor Road is in operation.

Others are well on their way with the riverfront experiencing a renaissance. Derelict areas such as Old Town Dock were cleared to make way for new homes and other developments.

Work has yet to start on Friars Walk, the shopping centre which it is hoped will revitalise the city centre, and finally bring Debenhams to Newport after years of speculation.

A city centre campus for the University of Wales, Newport, will soon be rising up.

And there are more proposed developments in the pipeline such as Crindau Gateway and the building of a new community on the former Llanwern steelworks site.

While jobs have been lost over the last four years, new businesses have also come to the city including leading Irish company Quinns and government agencies such as the Prison Service.

With the announcement that LG Electronics was to close, the LG dream finally collapsed in 2006 - ten years after Newport was promised a £6 billion investment and 6,000 jobs.

Earlier this month, it was announced that the semi-conductor plant which had lain empty for eight years would finally be used as a data-centre.