Cardiff Bay
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Cardiff Bay (Welsh: Bae Caerdydd) is the regeneration area created by the Cardiff Barrage which impounded two rivers (Taff and Ely) to form a new freshwater lake around the former dockland area south of the city centre of Cardiff in south Wales.
History
The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was created in 1987 to stimulate the redevelopment of the run down area. Since the early 20th century, when the city was the world's largest coal port, Cardiff's docklands had been in decline. By the 1980s they were a mass of empty land and abandoned buildings and had become an embarrassment to the city as it tried to become an international capital. The Development Corporation aimed to attract private capital by spending public money to improve the area. Despite opposition by environmentalists and wildlife organisations, the mud flats at the mouths of the River Taff and River Ely were inundated, with loss of habitat for wading birds. The barrage has created several new habitats for freshwater species with a growing wetlands habitat at the mouth of the Taff to the south of the Hamadryad Park.
Successes and failures
When the Development Corporation was wound up in March 2000, it had achieved many of its objectives. The whole area was unrecognisable from just ten years before. Much private land was now open to the public. Private capital had come from many sources: insurance company Atradius, hotelier Rocco Forte, many housebuilders and retailers. New homes and jobs had been created, the National Assembly for Wales was based in the Bay, the barrage had created a world-class environment. In addition the development had promoted growth in the main city centre. New apartments were built, the Wales Millennium Centre and retail centres.
The waterfront, its restaurants and twinkling waters are an undoubted draw for visitors with figures from the turn of the century indicating roughly 2 million visitors per year; this since has likely risen considerably following the completion of new attractions. The housing is of generally high density, rivalling the much maligned housing schemes of the 1960s; this is in keeping with the government's plans for brownfield development. Some have misgivings about this arguing that it is preventing the development of a true community, including young families in the bay area. With high prices, many of the properties are snapped up by 'buy to let' speculators, keep first time buyers away from the area. Some have pointed out that some of the housing developments, particularly in the early Atlantic Wharf projects are of low quality, and there is some indication that these early redevelopments are entering a period of slow decline. A proposed sports village with swimming, snow dome, stadium, casinos, has high levels of support from the general population of Cardiff, although some residents fear that the associated extra traffic may cause access problems in an already congested part of the city. The original ambitious plans have been scaled down as the density of the housing has been scaled up; in spite of much talk however, there is still no visible sign of any of the sports facilities - only two more supermarkets.
With the exception of a few historic buildings (the Pierhead building, the Norwegian Church and a warehouse or two), most of the historic quayside areas have been, or will be, lined with new developments including housing, shops, offices, restaurants, a cinema and other leisure facilities, and a new £67 million home for the National Assembly for Wales, designed by Richard Rogers. The bay is also home to the Wales Millennium Centre.
| Grangetown | Butetown | Splott |
| Llandough | Cardiff Bay | Bristol Channel |
| Penarth (Vale of Glamorgan) | Bristol Channel |
See also
External links
| Cardiff |
Topics:
| | | |Cultural Venues |
| Districts: Adamsdown | Birchgrove | Butetown | Canton | Caerau | Cardiff Bay (Tiger Bay) | Cardiff city centre | Cathays | Cathays Park | Cefn Mably | Coryton | Culverhouse Cross | Cyncoed | Ely | Fairwater | Gabalfa | Grangetown | Heath | Llandaff | Llandaff North | Llanedeyrn | Llanishen | Llanrumney | Maindy | Mynachdy | Pentrebane | Penylan | Plasnewydd | Pontcanna | Pontprennau | Radyr | Rhiwbina | Rhydlafar | Riverside | Roath | Rumney | Splott | St Mellons | Thornhill | Tremorfa | Trowbridge | Whitchurch |
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