NOBODY said it would be easy! Regenerating a city bashed around by global economics and politics can be a long haul. Exactly how far have we got in Newport?

Recent dispatches have borne snippets of good news such as the new Southern Distributor Road bridge, the Riverfront Arts Centre, and the new Cogent and International Rectifier buildings near Junction 28 of the M4. But in general - and to paraphrase Billy Bragg - we still seem to be "waiting for the great leap forward".

Inevitably, people's perceptions of Newport (residents and visitors) will only rise significantly when the city centre is sorted out.

That's why developer Dawney Day's decision to sell the Kingsway Centre, despite having lined up all its ducks for a major redevelopment, was such a disappointment.

Urban regeneration company Newport Unlimited has shifted to plan B, which envisages a major redevelopment based on the bus station which the council owns.

This would include an "iconic" store of around 100,000 square feet for Debenhams and a host of other shopper-friendly attractions. The trick now is finding a developer brave enough to throw £100 million at the project.

Newport Unlimited chief Graham Moore is "very confident" that a suitable developer will be found. He said: "Because public assets are involved we have to advertise the scheme to the European market.

"That will be done next week and by the autumn we will be in a position to sign up a developer."

Bob Croydon, head of commercial agent King Sturge in Wales, said: "Newport Unlimited is fighting against a trend in commercial property development to focus on the major centres like London, Paris, New York and so on.

"The strong are getting stronger, if you like. "And after those centres there's a second tier of competitors such as Birmingham and Barcelona which are still giants when compared to a city of around 130,000 people like Newport.

"But I'm pretty confident that a developer will be found for the retail site because there is such intense competition in the primary centres it is bringing smaller locations into play."

Money is also the question mark in ambitious plans by the University of Wales, Newport to move to the city's waterfront.

The sale of the institution's Allt-Yr-Yn site could yield around £6 to £7 million, but this is only a spit in the bucket compared to the £60 million required to construct a waterfront campus.

That kind of money is beyond the university and possibly beyond the Assembly.

Newport council's resources are being stretched in all directions so at the moment it's hard to see how this bird will fly.

Graham Moore said the case was being made at the Assembly that this was not just about education but about changing the culture and make-up of Newport. "This move is fundamental to economic regeneration and will trigger the vibrant city centre which everyone is looking for."

But if the Assembly is unmoved, the impasse will ground this project and a related one called the Technium Centre.

Techniums are a £29 million WDA initiative to build a network of high-tech business incubators across Wales.

Most will be linked to university-based research specialisms. At Newport the proposal was to have a Technium on the waterfront focusing on the art, design and digital media skills for which the university is famous.

Directly across the river from the waterfront site, Bellway Homes (Wales) is sitting on a parcel of land and a development plan for 400 apartments. I haven't seen the plan but I've been told the flats would be of high specification and reminiscent of some of the developments in Cardiff Bay. However, this project seems to be moving incredibly slowly. A spokesperson for Bellway said the firm had submitted its ideas to Newport council and the WDA because it saw them as "partners" in the venture.

But a spokeswoman for the council said it hadn't received anything. She did affirm that the council wanted to see the area developed for residential use.

Further downstream at Old Town Dock (near the BMW dealership) supermarket operator Morrisons wants to build a large store on the former Black Clawson site.

A spokesperson said: "We continue to promote our interest in the Black Clawson site within the Old Town Dock, as we consider this site to be the best to serve the town and to stimulate regeneration of a rundown area of Newport."

Morrisons withdrew its planning application in February 2003 because it was about to be turned down by Newport council. Graham Moore said: "At the time the council did not have a strategy for out-of-town food shopping.

"We're now in the final stages of a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the Old Town Dock area and should be able to look at marketing opportunities in about four weeks."

Another slow-moving project is the redevelopment of the former Newport Art School on Clarence Place.

This beautiful building looks so rundown you would think it had been empty for eighty years rather than eight.

A previous application, by Wansted-based developer First Investment Finance, to convert the building into 63 flats was rejected on the basis of lack of provision for parking.

A second application has now been received which contains an agreement with the multi-storey car park across the road to provide 33 car parking spaces.

Newport council is hoping to include the application in its next planning meeting.

Alongside the NCLA this will be the second resurrection in the Clarence Place area and it may reverse the retail decline suffered there. The area around Junction 28 has enjoyed mixed fortunes. On the positive side Acorn continues to flourish, as does Cogent and International Rectifier.

But the 1,750 Lloyds TSB staff are labouring under the shadow of a "strategic review" and the CS 1000 building which could have brought 600 jobs to the city remains unlet.

Also on the market is the LG semiconductor plant. Although the temptation must be to flatten it and start again, the WDA remains determined to find a user.

"We've had representatives from a number of organisations over to see it," a spokesman said. Hope springs eternal. Unquestionably, one of the best pieces of news this year concerned the eastern side of Newport near Llanwern.

For about £18m, Corus sold 600 acres of brownfield land to St Modwen Properties.

This is private sector regeneration on a grand scale with St Modwen investing £200m in infrastructure, houses and business parks. The firm claims the overall project could be worth around £750 million and believes it's the biggest regeneration in Wales since Cardiff Bay. What a pity St Modwen specialises in industrial sites and not city centre retail redevelopments.