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Parks and public realm
Southampton features a number of outstanding and award-winning parks across the city.
Southampton Central Parks, established between 1854 and 1866, have not only received a Green Flag Award but have also been awarded the prestigious Grade II listed status on the Historic England register of Parks and Gardens for special historic interest. This upgraded listing recognises the parks’ national importance as examples of early municipal parks whose layout and design remains substantially intact, enhanced by notable monuments of social and historic interest associated with significant historical events.
As new city centre regeneration schemes continue to come forward, new areas of public realm will also be delivered. New development will transform entry to the city from the railway station with a new walkway leading towards the waterfront, named The International Maritime Promenade.
Over 86,000 sq ft of pedestrian-led public realm is incorporated throughout the scheme with The Maritime Gardens and The Central Park improving biodiversity through a carefully designed landscape-led approach. The Bargate Quarter project and Leisure World regeneration will also see new areas for residents and visitors to enjoy in the heart of the city.
Our vision is to create a world-class waterfront city and a key part of this is making improvements to Mayflower Park. This park is uniquely situated on the water’s edge, overlooking the UK’s busiest cruise port and just a stone’s throw away from one of the UK’s longest stretches of medieval town walls.
Mayflower Park will be home to a magnificent new National Spitfire Monumentand our proposed design and development aspirations will also significantly improve the park’s appeal and accessibility whilst introducing a fantastic waterfront promenade. The wider vision for this area of Southampton also includes a new business centre and new transport systems to improve connectivity to the heart of the city.
These improvements will create a long-term home for the International Boat Show plus more opportunities for future maritime events and activities. This ambitious future vision will also contribute to the Levelling Up of Southampton by delivering new opportunities to boost productivity whilst creating a sense of place and local pride, bringing the depth of our rich heritage back into the light.
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Entertainment
Southampton has a vibrant nightlife with West End shows available at the Mayflower Theatre, a number of clubs, bars and pubs throughout the city, plus casinos. There are plenty of places to dine with a selection of traditional and international cuisines available across the city at places such as Ocean Village, Oxford Street and Westquay South.
Southampton also benefits from some of the best intimate music venues in the UK such as The Joiners, The Brook and The 1865 and hosts a number of festivals celebrating its diverse culture and storied history.
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Sport
Southampton FC, The Saints, is the city’s Premiership football club which was founded in 1885. The club’s home is the purpose-built St Mary’s Stadium which played host to Northern Ireland in the 2022 UEFA Women’s European Championship.
Hampshire County Cricket Club has a long and storied association with Southampton, having been based in the city at its founding in 1865. In 2000 it moved to the purpose-built Ageas Bowl in West End continuing the tradition of first class and international cricket in Southampton.
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Heritage
The city has a vast history and heritage that is benefitting from over £6m of investment to repair and conserve many of the monuments in Southampton, including the Bargate and the medieval Town Walls.
The city’s heritage can also be explored in the award-winning museum SeaCity Museum, known for its Titanic history, Tudor House and Garden, Solent Sky Museum, celebrating the Spitfire plane and its strong links to the city, Southampton City Art Gallery and the RIBA Award Winning God’s House Tower.
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UNICEF Child Friendly City
Southampton City Council has joined eight other councils in the UK taking part in the UNICEF UK Child Friendly Cities & Communities programmewhich works with councils to put children’s rights into practice.
The ambitious three-to-five-year partnership will see councillors, council staff, stakeholders and local organisations turning to children’s rights – as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – to guide decisions that affect children and young people in Southampton.
The right of the child to have their views heard and taken seriously, for example, will mean that children will experience meaningful engagement in the design, delivery and place shaping of Southampton.
Children will also actively inform and engage with all strategy and policy, with new strategic commitments expressed in child friendly terms to support children’s inclusion and participation in civic policy creation.
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International partnerships
Southampton has always been an international gateway. Our strategic location, diverse communities and highly talented workforce have defined Southampton for decades. Southampton is home to many logistics and specialised supply chain operations with an expertise in international freight distribution.
The access and global connections of the Port of Southampton and the well-developed transport connections makes us an attractive location to investors wanting to move their client’s goods to and from the UK.
For over a decade we have built partnerships with cities and organisations across the world. Southampton has been twinned with Le Havre (France), Rems-Murr-Kreis (Germany), Trieste (Italy) Hampton (Virginia, USA), Qingdao (China), Busan (South Korea) and Miami (Florida, USA).
The new University of Southampton India Centre for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development serves as a distinctive platform to engage better and closely with India, raising Southampton’s visibility and reputation in India, as well as reaffirming the University’s continued global focus and outlook.
We are also developing strong links to the City of Mumbai. This partnership will enable the City of Southampton to position itself as an indispensable strategic partner for any organisation based in the city or the wider region, wishing to deepen relationships with India.
This would include establishing Southampton’s importance in international trade post Brexit, with 80% of non-EU trade going through the Port of Southampton, becoming a destination city for Indian students, positioning the city as a centre of excellence for innovation and research, and creating a cultural offer which aligns to these ambitions and speaks to the significant part of Southampton’s population that relates to India through family or birth.