 | |
| Formation | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Cardiff |
Official language | English and Welsh |
Chair | Sir Geoffrey Inkin |
Key people | Barry Lane Michael Boyce |
The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was set up by the United Kingdom Government on 3 April 1987 [1] to redevelop one sixth of the area of Cardiff to create Cardiff Bay.
The Secretary of State for Wales, Nicholas Edwards set out the CBDC's mission statement as:
To put Cardiff on the international map as a superlative maritime city which will stand comparison with any such city in the world, thereby enhancing the image and economic well-being of Cardiff and Wales as a whole. [2]
The five main aims and objectives were: [3]
The CBDC was chiefly responsible for building the Cardiff Bay Barrage, the new shopping and housing developments across the old docks in the 1990s and the Roald Dahl Plass development.
During the CBDC's lifetime 14,000,000 square feet (1,300,000 m2) of non-housing development and 5,780 housing units were built. Around 31,000 new jobs were created and some £1.8 billion of private finance was invested. About 200 acres (81 ha) of derelict land was reclaimed. [4]
The Chairman was Sir Geoffrey Inkin. [5] The first Chief Executive was Barry Lane, [6] who was later succeeded by Michael Boyce. [5]
The CBDC was dissolved on 31 March 2000. The Cardiff Harbour Authority took over the CBDC's management of the barrage, the Inland Bay and the Rivers Taff and Ely on 1 April 2000.
An evaluation of the regeneration of Cardiff Bay published in 2004 concluded that the project had "reinforced the competitive position of Cardiff" and "contributed to a massive improvement in the quality of the built environment". However, the regeneration project had been less successful in generating employment. The evaluation concluded that "the overall outcome, while representing a major achievement and massive step forward, falls short of the original vision." [7]
Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 362,310 in 2021, and forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff. The city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the south-east of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.
Hywel Rhodri Morgan was a Welsh Labour politician who was the First Minister of Wales and the Leader of Welsh Labour from 2000 to 2009. He was also the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011 and the Member of Parliament for Cardiff West from 1987 to 2001. He remains the longest-serving First Minister of Wales, having served in the position for 9 years and 304 days. He was Chancellor of Swansea University from 2011 until his death in 2017.
Tiger Bay was the local name for an area of Cardiff which covered Butetown and Cardiff Docks. Following the building of the Cardiff Barrage, which dams the tidal rivers, Ely and Taff, to create a body of water, it is referred to as Cardiff Bay. Tiger Bay is Wales’ oldest multi-ethnic community, with sailors and workers from over 50 countries settling there from the mid-19th century onwards.
Cardiff Bay Barrage lies across the mouth of Cardiff Bay, Wales between Queen Alexandra Dock and Penarth Head. It was one of the largest civil engineering projects in Europe during construction in the 1990s.
Cardiff Bay is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of water was converted into a 500-acre (2.0 km2) lake as part of a UK Government redevelopment project, involving the damming of the rivers by the Cardiff Bay Barrage in 1999. The barrage impounds the rivers from the Severn Estuary, providing flood defence and the creation of a permanent non-tidal high water lake with limited access to the sea, serving as a core feature of the redevelopment of the area in the 1990s.
The South Wales Valleys are a group of industrialised peri-urban valleys in South Wales. Most of the valleys run north–south, roughly parallel to each other. Commonly referred to as "The Valleys", they stretch from Carmarthenshire in the west to Monmouthshire in the east; to the edge of the pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain near the cities of Swansea, Cardiff, and Newport.
The River Tawe is a 30 miles (48 km) long river in South Wales. Its headwaters flow initially east from its source below Llyn y Fan Fawr south of Moel Feity in the Black Mountains, the westernmost range of the Brecon Beacons National Park, before the river turns south and then southwest to its estuary at Swansea. Its main tributaries are the right bank Upper and Lower Clydach Rivers and the Afon Twrch. The total area of the catchment is some 246 km2 (95 sq mi). The Tawe passes through a number of towns and villages including Ystradgynlais, Ystalyfera, Pontardawe, and Clydach and meets the sea at Swansea Bay below Swansea. The Tawe Valley is more commonly known as the Swansea Valley.
The Severn Barrage is any of a range of ideas for building a barrage from the English coast to the Welsh coast over the Severn tidal estuary. Ideas for damming or barraging the Severn estuary have existed since the 19th century. The building of such a barrage would constitute an engineering project comparable with some of the world's biggest. The purposes of such a project have typically been one or several of: transport links, flood protection, harbour creation, or tidal power generation. In recent decades it is the latter that has grown to be the primary focus for barrage ideas, and the others are now seen as useful side-effects. Following the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study (2008–10), the British government concluded that there was no strategic case for building a barrage but to continue to investigate emerging technologies. In June 2013 the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee published its findings after an eight-month study of the arguments for and against the Barrage. MPs said the case for the barrage was unproven. They were not convinced the economic case was strong enough and said the developer, Hafren Power, had failed to answer serious environmental and economic concerns.
Roald Dahl Plass is a public space in Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales. It is named after Cardiff-born author Roald Dahl, and is located on the coast along the south of the city centre. The square is home to the Senedd building housing the Senedd, the Welsh parliament, and the Wales Millennium Centre, a performing arts centre. The bowl-like shape of the space has made it a popular amphitheatre for hosting open-air concerts.
The City and County of Swansea is an urban centre with a largely rural hinterland in Gower; the city has been described as the regional centre for South West Wales. Swansea's travel to work area, not coterminous with the local authority, also contained the Swansea Valley in 1991; the new 2001-based version merges the Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot, and Llanelli areas into a new Swansea Bay travel to work area. Formerly an industrial centre, most employment in the city is now in the service sector.
Mermaid Quay is a waterfront shopping and leisure district in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The 14,000 m2 (150,000 sq ft) development was opened in 1999, and includes restaurants, bars, cafes and shops.
Cardiff Harbour Authority (CHA) is the managing authority for Cardiff Bay under the Cardiff Bay Barrage Act 1993, and was established on 1 April 2000. It took over responsibility from Cardiff Bay Development Corporation and is responsible for the inland bay, Cardiff Bay Barrage, the outer harbour and the rivers Taff and Ely. The harbour authority is part of the City of Cardiff Council and is the statutory navigation authority for Cardiff Bay.
Lloyd George Avenue, originally known as Bute Avenue, is an avenue in Cardiff, Wales. Roughly one mile long, the road links the Inner Harbour of Cardiff Bay to Cardiff city centre and forms part of the A470 road. It runs parallel to Bute Street and the Butetown Branch Line. Landscaping on the route was completed in 2000, and it was renamed after the Liberal prime minister David Lloyd George. The site of the avenue had been known as Collingdon Road, which was described as a "grimy industrial area of small factories and workshops, employing hundreds of people".
SA1 Swansea Waterfront is the marketing name given to the brownfield development area located in the northern part of Swansea Docks, Wales. The area is located directly to the southeast of Swansea city centre. It is bordered by the Fabian Way to the north and covers the Prince of Wales Dock area.
Cardiff Docks is a port in southern Cardiff, Wales. At its peak, the port was one of the largest dock systems in the world with a total quayage of almost 7 mi (11 km). Once the main port for the export of South Wales coal, the Port of Cardiff remains active in the import and export of containers, steel, forest products and dry and liquid bulks.
Porth Teigr is an area under development in the docks area of Cardiff Bay, in the south of Cardiff, Wales. Its development began in 2008.
The Swansea Bay City Region, is a city region in Wales. It is a partnership between the local authorities of Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea, local businesses in southwest Wales and other organisations with the support of the Welsh Government. The Swansea Bay City Region is coterminous with the area defined as South West Wales.
The Cardiff Capital Region is a city region in Wales, centred on the capital city of Wales, Cardiff, in the southeast of the country. It is a partnership between the ten local authorities of Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend County Borough, Caerphilly County Borough, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, and Vale of Glamorgan, local businesses in southeast Wales and other organisations. The regional city deal is funded by the UK Government and Welsh Government. The Cardiff Capital Region includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport, and most of the South Wales Valleys, with the region being coterminous with the area defined as South East Wales.
| Company and organisation headquarters |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Company and organisation major locations | ||
| Major public sector employers | ||
| Retail | ||
| Hospitality | ||
| Regeneration & development | ||
| Tourism | ||
| Major events | ||
| 19th and 20th centuries | ||
