Economy of Swansea

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The

rural hinterland in Gower; the city has been described as the regional centre for South West Wales.[1][2][3] Swansea's travel to work area, not coterminous with the local authority, also contained the Swansea Valley in 1991; the new 2001-based version merges the Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot, and Llanelli areas into a new Swansea Bay travel to work area.[4]
Formerly an industrial centre, most employment in the city is now in the service sector.

History

See also: History of Swansea

19th century

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there were attempts to establish Swansea as a fashionable seaside resort.[5] An engraving of the town in 1818 is described as showing a place which was "distinctly Arcadian, reminiscent of a landscape by Claude sprinkled with civilised Georgian architecture".[6]

However, the growth of the

copper ore was imported from Cornwall, Cardiganshire and Ireland, but by the 1820s Swansea was receiving shipments from as far afield as South America, Africa and Australia. The copper industry reached a zenith in the 1880s, when the majority of copper ores imported to Britain were shipped to Swansea and local works employed around 3000 men at any given time.[8]

From the 1870s,

McKinley tariff in 1890.[9]

20th century

By the end of the

City and County of Swansea are: public administration, education and health (38.3% of local jobs); distribution, hotels and restaurants (24.2%); and banking, finance and insurance (19.9%). The high proportion of public sector employment is common to Wales as a whole.[10]

Today

Major employers

Major employers in Swansea include manufacturing facilities operated by

City and County of Swansea council, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, HM Land Registry, Welsh Government, Department for Work and Pensions, Swansea University, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, and Swansea NHS Trust.[11]

Employment

In May 2008, 70.7% of Swansea's working-age residents were in employment. The largest single occupational group in Swansea is associate professional & technical occupations (comprising 14.3% of employment), although compared to the Welsh and UK averages the city also has large shares of administrative & secretarial occupations (12.9%) and sales & customer service occupations (11.2%).[10]

Employment in Swansea grew by 14,800 or 16.2% between 2001 and 2006, greater than equivalent increases in Wales and the UK as a whole. However, manufacturing employment in Swansea fell by 2,100 (-25.2%) between 2001 and 2006, a larger fall than recorded in Wales or the UK as a whole.[10]

Commuting

The city is a centre of net in-commuting, with around 16,100 people making a daily journey outside the authority for work (principally to neighbouring Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire) and 28,300 commuting in (again, mainly from Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire).[10] Swansea is part of the Swansea Bay travel to work area.

Income

Surveys show that annual full-time gross median earnings for Swansea residents (£21,577) are lower than the UK average. The annual gross median earnings for those who work in Swansea are even lower, only £18,993. Similarly,

transfer payments.[12]

City centre

Although some surveys place Swansea as the 18th-largest retail centre in the UK – a high placement considering the size of its population – in rankings of shopping attractiveness and competitiveness, Swansea is usually placed outside the top 50, largely because of the low quality of the city centre retail offer.[13]

A peculiarity of Swansea is the lack of employment in the city centre, relative to other towns and cities of similar size. Many major employers have moved to the Enterprise Park or other fringe locations. Only 4,510 office jobs are now[when?] located in the city centre, compared to 13,910 in Cardiff. This reduces spend in the city centre economy and underpins the weakness of the local retail sector. Low demand prevents speculative development of new commercial premises, which has created a vicious circle of city centre decline.[13]

In January 2008, developers were appointed to lead the regeneration of several major sites in the city centre and the waterfront. Proposals include 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m2) of additional retail space, 1,000 residential units and new leisure, office, hotel and conference facilities.

Life Sciences at the university, which it is hoped will generate more highly skilled, high value-added jobs.[17]

Trend of regional gross value added of Swansea at current basic prices.[18] Figures in millions of British pounds sterling.
Year Regional gross value added
1996 2,095
2000 2,536
2005 3,238

References

  1. ^ Swansea 2020 Swansea's Economic Regeneration Strategy Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "City Profile: Swansea", Cities, Volume 22, Issue 1, February 2005, Pages 65-76
  3. ^ People, Places, Futures. The 2008 Wales Spatial Plan update, Welsh Assembly Government. Archived 2009-02-13 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ National Statistics, Introduction to the 2001-based Travel-to-Work Areas Archived March 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Boorman, D. (1986) The Brighton of Wales: Swansea as a fashionable seaside resort, c. 1780 - c. 1830. Swansea Little Theatre Company
  6. ^ BBC – South West Wales Swansea – Exploring the Georgian buildings of Swansea
  7. ^ BBC – South West Wales Swansea – Exploring Georgian Swansea
  8. ^ a b Jenkins, P (1992) A History of Modern Wales 1536-1990. Harlow: Longman.
  9. ^ Miskell, L (2004) Swansea Bay 1904, Old Ordnance Survey Maps. England & Wales Sheet 247
  10. ^ a b c d e All aged 16 and over[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ Sullivan, Gareth, Forward Archived 2008-02-07 at the Wayback Machine, City and County of Swansea's Business Directory for 2007, retrieved 2008-06-22
  12. ^ Welsh Assembly Government | Wales:A Vibrant Economy[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ a b Swansea City Center Strategic Framework Archived 2007-09-19 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2008-06-22
  14. ^ City and County of Swansea - Developers appointed for £1 billion Swansea city centre regeneration Archived August 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Swansea City Centre – City Centre Strategic Framework Archived 2008-03-18 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ City and County of Swansea – SA1 Swansea Waterfront Archived 2007-08-17 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Swansea University - ILS Archived 2007-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ Regional Gross Value Added Archived December 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, National Accounts Co-ordination Division, Office for National Statistics, London, retrieved 2008-06-20

External links

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