2028 Will Be a Landmark Year for Cardiff

2028 is lining up to be a spectacular year for Cardiff, and you can already feel the sense of momentum building. The city is preparing for a period that will bring together major milestones, global attention and the delivery of projects that have been years in the making. Taken together, they offer an opportunity for the city to show what it is capable of, and to set out a confident direction for the decade ahead.

The most significant moment will come in June, when the Principality Stadium hosts the opening match of UEFA EURO 2028. It is a tremendous honour for Cardiff and reflects the city’s reputation for staging major events that draw people from across the world. The tournament will be the biggest international sporting event hosted across the UK and Ireland in a generation, with Cardiff staging six matches including a last-16 tie and a quarter final.

The scale of the occasion will be immense. An updated independent assessment suggests the tournament could deliver £3.2 billion in socio-economic benefits across the UK, supported by a UK Government investment package and a joint social impact fund designed to ensure communities feel the benefits.

Hosting the opening match gives Cardiff a unique platform. There are now fewer than a thousand days to go, and that countdown is focusing minds across the city. We are working closely with our partners to plan how Cardiff will welcome visitors, manage transport, and create an atmosphere worthy of the tournament’s first game. Cardiff has built a strong track record with events ranging from major concerts to international rugby, but EURO 2028 will bring a different scale of visibility. It is a chance not only to stage world-class football but also to showcase the best of our culture, hospitality and creativity.

What makes 2028 particularly important is that it coincides with the delivery of projects that will shape Cardiff for many years to come. The opening of the new indoor arena in Cardiff Bay will be one of the most significant additions to the city’s cultural and economic landscape in a generation. After more than a decade of planning, the project has reached financial close, allowing construction to move forward with certainty. The arena will sit at the heart of the Atlantic Wharf regeneration and will support thousands of jobs, both during construction and once operational. It will also form part of a broader transformation of the Bay, with new public spaces, a new hotel, and the redevelopment of County Hall.

This alignment of a global sporting event and major regeneration presents a rare opportunity. The arena, the wider Atlantic Wharf plans and the new transport connections being put in place around them all point towards a city preparing for long-term growth. The first phase of Cardiff Crossrail is being developed with the aim of improving how people travel between the city centre and the Bay. By 2028, the city will be in a position to demonstrate how its transport network, cultural infrastructure and visitor economy can work together.

Alongside these projects, work is also progressing on a new, more sustainable core office for the Council. This decision reflects our commitment to carbon neutrality and the need to modernise our estate. The current County Hall building played an important role in the early stages of Cardiff Bay’s regeneration in the 1980s. As that phase comes to a close, the opportunity now is to reshape the site so it can contribute to the next. The new building will sit beside the arena and will include space for the Wales Millennium Centre to develop and rehearse productions. Once it is complete, the existing County Hall site will be redeveloped in a way that supports jobs, housing and amenities for residents.

All of this forms part of a broader vision for the city’s future. Cardiff has shown time and again that it can attract investors, performers, businesses and major events. Our challenge now is to ensure that the benefits are felt across communities and that regeneration supports long-term opportunities for training, employment and skills. That is why social value has been built into the arena procurement process and why we are taking a phased approach to the wider redevelopment. The lessons from past regeneration efforts in the Bay are well understood, and this next chapter must deliver more inclusive outcomes.

By the time 2028 arrives, Cardiff will be ready to welcome the world, but it will also be ready to take a significant step forward in its own development. The opening match of EURO 2028, the launch of the new arena and the delivery of key infrastructure projects will show a city that is growing with purpose and confidence. It will be a year that brings people together and one that signals what the next decade could hold for Wales’ capital.

Councillor Huw Thomas talks about this and more in the Cardiff Business podcast episode Building the Future: How the New Cardiff Bay Arena Will Transform the City. Listen to the podcast here.