i was born and bred in this city. the streets where i grew up haven't changed much. you can't say that for the beating heart of the capital. now, i know not everyone enjoys hearing a cardiff accent, like, and many people around wales view my city with suspicion. they tell me that almost daily on my radio show. and, in a way, i can see why, because, let's face it, cardiff has benefited just from being our capital city. but fair play to the place, it's taken its chance, reinventing itself against all the odds. i used to come to butetown to go to the mosque. it was the docks back then — derelict and depressed. old, heavy industries were shrinking, as was cardiff's population. but then things began to change. just look at cardiff now. this city has completely transformed itself in around 20 years. the jobs are in government, they're in media, in leisure and also in shopping. it describes itself as europe's youngest capital and it's got even more growing to do. my dad used to be a bus driver and finished up on this very route, taking tourists around. the city's population is predicted to go up by another 80,000 over the next 20 years, an increase of a quarter. i've really enjoyed watching it grow, but i've got my concerns too. tonight i'm trying to find out what the future may hold for my city. first up, peter finch. he's been charting the changing city in his real cardiff books. he remembers the old days well. well, they were dark. the buildings were dark. everything was grubby. street lights were dim, pavements were cracked and narrow, by comparison to what we've got now, and you felt that the place was a place of work, a place for people who went to work. dirty work. cardiff wasn't the place that you came to because you wanted to come here, you would pass through it. of course i'm going to say it it was wonderful, and it was. but it wasn't the same as it is now. this ability to go around to so many different destinations, this ability to sit in a cafe on the street. you didn't used to be able to do that, but now we've got cafes on the street everywhere. the place is riddled with eateries from one an end to the other, which makes it a tourist city, a destination. it makes it a great place to live. that's why we've got so many houses going up all around the city. they cannot build them fast enough, as more people are drawn here. people like spoorthi and santosh. hi,jason! nice to meet you! the couple first to cardiff bay from swindon, when she got a job in insurance. yeah, myjob brought us the cardiff and once we came here we kind of liked this place and also he studied in cardiff, so he actually had a natural orientation towards cardiff from the beginning. although you haven't told your wife about your student days, no? no, i have not! don't talk about that! i'll have to explore that with him! from cardiff bay they then moved here, to pontprennau, in north cardiff, for a bigger house. now we are thinking to kind of start a family, so we thought since we like cardiff we thought we'd just get settled here and find a bigger house and then we can work on our plans. cardiff is growing. when i was here, all i knew about cardiff was it was a city, but a small town, but now it's growing across, with pontprennau coming up. and even work wise there are quite a lot of companies in cardiff now, compared to ten years back. it's these growth pressures and housing shortages that have meant cardiff councils had to give planning permission to thousands of new homes on green fields north, west and east of the city. there has been a slowing down of housebuilding and it's important that we now inject some pace into that, support welsh government in delivering more housing. the latest figures suggest there are 16,000 houses to be built in the next ten years in cardiff. cardiff is not alone. big, successful cities everywhere are getting bigger. most economists say our future is urban. because when you get enough people and ideas rubbing up against each other, more growth happens. andrew carter heads up one of the uk's most influential think tanks on cities. because of the investment that many of our cities have made in terms of making their places nicer places to live and thus spend time, workers want to live in those areas as well, so there's a double whammy, really. firms want to be there because they gain a lot and workers want to be there because their firms are there, but our cities are increasingly nice places to live. cardiff's done well attracting business and people. we've seen tens of thousands of newjobs, but some rival cities have done better, creating more highly paid employment and there are other challenges. 0n education, too many of its schools are simply underperforming and, when it comes to deprivation, nearly a third of households in this city, that's over 41,000 homes, are deemed to be living in poverty. so the place has work to do, but it's now caught on to something long pursued by some of its rivals, creating the latest urban design around major transport hubs. large sections of the city centre here in red will be transformed in the coming years by several major office developments, like this one, central square. in charge of it is paul mccarthy, one of a new generation of modernising property developers. he's taking me around the new bbc world's headquarters. he says it's key to cardiff's regeneration. i think the key to this location is of course having the train station here, which links cardiff with the world. yeah. so for you, for instance, you can have a meeting here in the morning, be on the 11 o'clock train to manchester and be in studio by the afternoon. this whole development has been a team effort from the office. a combination of the council going out at risk, putting their neck on the line, to generator projects like this, funders bringing hundreds of millions of pounds to the area and people like us using our skills to enable the delivery of sometimes public—private sector partnerships and today this worked well. some would say property developers in cardiff haven't always prioritised design quality, but when paul mccarthy saw these images he decided foster and partners were the only ones for his bbc hq. architecture, don't get me wrong, is very subjective. some people love a certain building and some people hate it. that's the nature of architecture. but this building, i think, just presents a new face of the city to the people who arrive here for the first time, or for the people who come here every day to work or shop and just want to be proud of the city. right into this corner where the trees are... cities have become more like businesses and, like many in his world, paul mccarthy sees them as competing in a beauty contest for international investment. what we need now is people like deutsche bank, who are for instance relocating out of london to birmingham, to take cardiff seriously. but to take cardiff seriously, they need cardiff to be on an architectural map, like those cities, and i think this development will begin to do that. so cardiff needs to look good in order to attract the big names and businesses? like me and you, to attract anything we need to look good at the start! paul is a cardiff boy, like me, and is passionate about the place. but i've still got worries. if all the new work is in the centre and all the new homes are on the outskirts, how are people going to get between the two? how are 80,000 extra people going to get around this city, and without making pollution worse? with buses and trains packed already, the council admits all this extra growth will only pile more pressure on the roads. this route from the city centre heading north—west is already the most congested in wales. the council says traffic will increase by a third. that means, on average, journeys will be extended by around seven minutes and on routes like this, already congested, you can see how busy it is on cathedral road, the delays could be even worse. mahmoud, do you think traffic is getting worse? yeah, no doubt. especially during rush—hour, you always expect to be taking your time on this road. always bumper—to—bumper. there's concerned there'll be more congestion still after new developments, like this one. lead developers redrow are building a small town here. over 20 years we'll see up to 7,000 homes, schools and leisure facilities. we're going to create 350 acres of open space. we're going to create opportunities for people to live, work and play in their environment. this is a 21st—century garden city that's going to offer a great lifestyle for lots of people. redrow are contributing £28 million for transport here, under an agreement with the council called section 106. their images of plasdwr don't show many cars. instead people are walking, cycling, on buses and even trams. the council wants developers to emphasise public transport as part of its so—called 50—50 vision. do find out what that means exactly, we went to the council's hq, where a new leader has just taken up the reins. so we had to get the master planning right, make sure the investment is there and we are delivering that. for example, in plasdwr there's a contribution of £28 million to put the transport infrastructure into place. then we have to look at behaviour change. we have to look at delivering a modal shift in the way people travel around the city. we are targeting a 50—50 split, which means 50% transport by car and 50% by sustainable means, be that walking, cycling and public transport. what's critical is we need to invest wisely to put those options before people and encourage them and give them the options to do that. so the council wants to reduce car journeys to half the total. i'm meeting a former planner who thinks that is unrealistic. cardiff's got to grow, but it should be growing in a more sustainable place than this, at least initially. because this is way out in the countryside, as you can see. public tra nsport‘s very poor in this area. he studied the plans for plasdwr and thinks the new housing estates are going to make things worse before they get better. people don't like travelling by bus if they don't have to. people will only use public transport if it is better than the private car, if it is reasonably priced and if it's accessible and none of those things apply in this area. nearby areas, between 75% and 85% of people commute by car and i expect the same to happen here, because it's a similar sort of area. that's how people behave and developers have got to provide car parking spaces in their developments, ‘cause everyone‘s going to have a car. i reckon about 5,000 extra vehicle journeys are going to pull up this road from just this site alone. what you've got in cardiff is this rather pathetic number of sporadic bus lanes, which just increase the congestion. because, you know, they aren't continuous bus lanes and they can't be because of physical obstacles, or whatever. there is already serious congestion in the area at times. most of these cars have just one passenger. there aren't many cyclists and even fewer pedestrians. some bus lanes have been built, but they disappear at bottlenecks. you can see how much bus lanes are needed whenever you get on a bus. i get up around 7am, get ready, have a quick breakfast and i leave at about 7:50am. i work in town, so i catch a bus from a bus stop near my house to reach office every day. kanwal is one of 35,000 people in east cardiff not served by a railway station. so many take to the road with predictable results. sometimes i get a seat, sometimes i don't. it depends how busy it is. so from here till about newport road, it will be quite busy at this time of the day. kanwal‘s bus glides past all the traffic in bus lanes, but they often peter out when the road narrows. well, it's ten to 9am. i think i'm going be late to work today. hopefully not. let's see. she arrives five minutes late. today the number 45 has taken more than one hour to coverfour miles. and that's the express. my dad used to work in this bus depot. this lady wants the council to invest in more bus lanes. when there are bus lanes the journeys are quicker, so i think it is useful and it helps to keep the traffic moving. we have to have bus lanes and change our habits. cynthia says that she needs 40% more buses to cope, so will the council give her the money? i would like more buses and bus lanes. i think they are effective. in terms of money, i am not going to commit in any particular scheme but that is desired a recognition that we need to invest in public transport means or you will be faced with gridlock. how do you get a bus lane through a place like that? i'm not going to comment on any specific examples. rest assured those rapid transit corridors have been identified with a means to achieving them. the council says that they will encourage rather than force a switch to public transport, but others think the opposite. do you think this will to get people out of their cars and onto trains and buses, will that work? it will not work under the current plans, which seem to be that they want to make the city council driving around such a horrible experience that people will be forced out of their cars and onto the buses. there is another way the council thinks that people in cardiff could help meet its ambitious transport targets. it wants one in five double journeys to be made by bicycle by 2026. really? i am proud to say that i am a cyclist in cardiff. i cycle regularly from home to work. i have had my fair share of scrapes along the way. the one thing i have learned is that cycling around cardiff is not safe or easy. where in the hell are you going?! regular cyclists say there are too many incidents like this, and the city needs more safe cycle routes to separate them from motorists. i'm with a cycling campaigner. cyclists are taking their lives into their own hands, being forced to share space with two tonne metal boxes in an environment that has been designed around motor traffic, rather than human traffic. you tend to limit the diversity of people riding bikes. the council has been working with danish experts on a plan for a network of cycle lanes and other improvements. this is similar to what has happened in london. cycling groups welcomed the plans in principle but there is also scepticism. putting it into practice and implementing those changes will be a monumental challenge and far above anything that has ever happened in cardiff before. i don't think the council have been brave enough to claim priority from motor traffic. evidence shows it is with segregated lanes like this, or when you eliminate traffic altogether, that you really boost cycling. london spent £17 a head on cycling facilities, cardiff spends £3. this is our only segregated bike lane — all 80 metres of it. the council says there will be more safe routes and denies its cycling targets are unrealistic. as the administration develops we will be looking at what infrastructure interventions we need to make across the city to enable the transit of people on bikes into the city centre and across. so more walking, more cycling, more buses — we hope. anything else? ah, yes — the cardiff underground. it opened two months ago. we are proud to announce the cardiff underground is officially...an april fool! the man behind the prank and this map agrees that cardiff needs a better transport network. it is a fantasy, but if it existed it would be amazing. cardiff is growing so we need a massive improvement in infrastructure. i'm worried about suburban development because they are expanding quickly and we might have to suck up. there we are losing a little bit of green land, but i feel sorry for those people who will be living in these neighbourhoods without the infrastructure and public transport to get around cardiff. traffic is so bad on the roads already, what will it be like coming in in ten years? rail commuters are well aware of the pressure already on the trains. it is predicted that will be an extra 7 million journeys a year into cardiff by 2026, an increase of 50%. how will the network cope? this could be the answer — the much—talked—about metro. trains or trams every 15 minutes, all linked up to buses. supporters say it could be a game changer, creating more jobs in the valleys and relieving housing pressure on cardiff. new stations could help people get across the city, east to west. it is happening. over £700 million of investment within the city deal are committed to delivering the metro. it will change how people get around cardiff and in south wales. it is making growth equitable and making sure that the economic development of cardiff drives equality into the valleys as well. but — will it make a difference in time for all the growth? the first phase should be completed in six years, which should help with congestion coming into cardiff from the valleys to the north. but that is no use to commuters in the west and east, any metro for them looks years off and they could be in for a difficult time. there is a long development process here going back years and years. i am impatient to get that into process as soon as possible and do what i can to make it happen. funding public schemes in cities today is largely about councils doing deals and making the most of it. billions of pounds are changing hands on cardiff between landowners and developers. the council is cash—strapped, but as the planning authority, it has power. has it used it well? we are not using the money on infrastructure first and then building the development after. we could have asked the assembly government to put the money up for that first and then built. we could have demanded more from the developers, but the developers need to extract a certain amount of return from their investment, and there comes a point where they say that say, we could build another 400 houses here or put money into the highway and the 400 houses get built not the highway. did we need more sharks and deal breakers on the council? it would've been useful if there was someone in there battling a little bit harder on the side the people who live here, but that is painting an extreme picture. the council has been accused of not being up to the job of negotiating with the private sector to get the best deals. i think it has been a strong partnership that will deliver for cardiff. others say it is time to give cities more power to finance the growth. when you look its cities on the continent of europe or in north america, they are more empowered, they have more responsibilities, powers and financial levers to be able to respond to the pressures that they have. we need to move towards a system where cardiff and other uk cities are more empowered to make the decisions that will benefit their place and people. cardiff's spectacular growth is a mark of that success, but the next few years could be a bumpy ride for its citizens. the city needs to keep building to provide homes that growing families can afford. if the place grows too fast without enough public transport, commuters will suffer even more. the challenge is to spread the benefits of growth to everyone, people living in the ballets and in cardiff's deprived communities, and to make sure its citizens do not suffer at the cost of more congestion and a reduced quality of life. if cardiff does not get that right, people will be thinking who is all this growth actually for? hi, there. the rain came pretty much non—stop across northern england and southern scotland yesterday. the wettest place in cumbria getting over 40 millimetres of rain. you can see how the rain band has been tracking away into the north sea. the rain was all courtesy of this weather front, that will still be with us today in northern england, where it will stay cloudy. to the south, low pressure in the bay of biscay. the winds will increasingly fall light, but will begin to back up and bring warm air from the near continent. notjust warm air, it will become hot and humid in southern england, where temperatures could hit 30. across the north of scotland a decent start to the day. most of the day will be dry, with plenty of sunshine. it's across southern scotland, northern ireland and northern england it will be a cloudy start and to the east of the pennines, that cloud will be thick enough for occasional spots of patchy, light rain and drizzle. it could be misty over the hills. further southwards, that's where we have lighter winds and increasingly broken cloud. so we should have some sunshine from the word go for many areas across southern wales and southern counties of england, most of the midlands and east anglia. temperatures come up quickly. for the rest of the day, the winds feel light in southern counties of england, allowing temperatures to surge. the cloud across northern england is with us for much of the day, breaking in northern ireland. it will try to brighten up in north—east england. the rain petering out. probably not a lot of sunshine. where cloudy, the temperatures staying into the teens, but look at these temperatures further south. 28 in london. there could be some areas in southern england that hit the 30 degree mark. as we go on through thursday, the only real change is this little low drifting up from biscay, and with that comes instability. we start to get thunderstorms breaking out across england and wales, and some of those could be torrential. they will be hit and miss in nature. many areas will dodge the downpours and stay dry. it will stay hot and humid and that hot and humid air will push further northwards. so 25 in the greater manchester area. again, we could see highs of 30 degrees further south. on friday, probably the weather becoming drier. again the warm air continues to waft further northwards. so temperatures in newcastle picking up to 21. into the teens for scotland and northern ireland. there'll be a rain band across the north—west, with the wind picking up as we head through the afternoon. the rain is tied in with the low pressure. through the weekend it will push a band of rain further southward and eastwards across much of the country, introducing cooler and fresher air. so by the time we get the sunday, the heat wave is over and temperatures back down to average in london. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: a threat to american security. the us secretary of state confirms the weapon fired by north korea is an intercontinental ballistic missile. the bbc speaks to a man in afghanistan who claims british special forces unlawfully killed members of his family. and at least 50 people have been killed as heavy rains pound central and southern china. here in the uk, there's growing pressure on the man heading the inquiry into the grenfell tower fire to step down.