Big changes ahead as shopping centres and trolleybuses arrive

“I’ve been in Leeds since 1998, and it has changed out of all recognition in that time,” said Mark Goldstone, of Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

“The sheer diversity of the economy here means it is doing relatively well, and I think we will see an increasing trend for the biggest cities to thrive.

“Places like Leeds will become major leisure and cultural and retail destinations for people living for miles around, and so the emphasis will continue to be on creating quality spaces to pull them in.”

By 2035 the Leeds Trinity shopping centre will have been a well-established part of city life for more than 20 years. The huge Eastgate redevelopment will also be in place, and the new Leeds arena will have played host to thousands of concerts.

But according to Martin Farrington, Leeds Council’s director of city development, the city centre will undergo an even more seismic shift over the next two decades.

“The most interesting long-term development will be what happens on the south of the river,” he said. “With the new southern entrance to the railway station opening up better links to Holbeck urban village, the bringing back into use of the Tetley and Yorkshire Chemicals sites; the revamp of Clarence Dock and the proposals for a city centre park, you will see a rebalancing of the entire city from one which is basically to the north of the river to which centres around it.”

The first results from the 2011 census showed that Leeds is some 36,000 people smaller than had previously been thought, however, the city is still expected to expand by a fifth over the next 25 years.

Modern transport systems will be key for getting the extra people around – beginning with the electric trolleybus lines given the green light this summer.

“My personal view is that these first two lines will be just the start,” said John Henkel, director of passenger services at West Yorkshire transport body Metro. “I can envisage a network that will link up to the Aire Valley and across through Pudsey to Bradford. And a city centre loop service will have to happen around Leeds as well.”