Commercially speaking

THE name chosen for the city region of South Wales is most likely to be the Cardiff Capital region.
The argument is that it will be easily recognisable around the world however that feeling is not universally felt here in the city of Newport which believes the focus may well be drawn solely onto the capital city leaving the rest included under the umbrella well and truly in the shade.
The ultimate aim is to bring a boost to the entire region included in the new city region and that may well happen. However, with an emphasis on the name of Cardiff and clear and obvious economic benefits of being the capital city already very evident in Cardiff, fears are that it may be much more of the same for the capital and perhaps just scraps for the other areas.
Newport’s Conservative leader Matthew Evans is unequivocal in his view saying recently: “Newport has got its own unique identity. We should be fiercely proud to talk about the city. A sub division of Cardiff is not my preferred choice.”
To those outside the capital, this renaming may lead you to believe that the spotlight will again be narrowed to focus only on the City of Cardiff itself.
Although it is understandable that any project needs to carry recognition outside the UK, the success of such a project will need to be felt in areas that need it most, namely the City of Newport and South Wales Valleys. Only time will tell if the theory behind the name change is successful.”
On the one hand it can be seen as a very positive and constructive move to identify Cardiff and the environs on a local map. It will serve to ensure the region easily identifiable nationally and internationally.
So externally it’ll perhaps offer a huge bonus however on a more, dare I say parochial level, there may be the feeling that Newport and the South Wales Valleys and other significant towns in the area will be swallowed up by Cardiff in this all enveloping South East Wales region or is it all just going to be swallowed up by Cardiff?
Newport, which as result of a variety of economic factors in recent years is already struggling to define itself, may well lose its unique identity. This, it is argued has already started to happen with the renaming of the University of Newport to the University of South Wales. Newport is a recognised gateway to Wales and is the first city many people reach when they come into the country. It has maintained this position for very many years and will need to maintain a strong presence and voice if this to go ahead.
Briefly the benefits of the scheme are: it will be good for the area generally to get a presence on the national stage which should help Newport; the inclusion in the capital region should generally be good for the area even if by an 'outwash' effect from Cardiff, showing that certain areas are in close proximity to the capital city may help create more investment to theses areas and the projects planned, such as the region metro links will aid connectivity and again increase investment.
Set against this is the feeling that the majority of those outside Cardiff may feel that the focus may fall on the capital and feel divorced from the whole programme, the  major investment in infrastructure and job creation is required ion the edges of the region, namely the valley areas and it may take a long time for this to be achieved if at all if the focus starts with Cardiff and doubts that investments, which should start on the periphery of the region with large public sector projects and assistance with job creation in these areas, will actually be the case?