page_title: Cardiff Bay
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Cardiff Bay / Development
caption_attribution_description: Cardiff Bay Aerial View
context_page_description: Cardiff Bay is the area of water created by the Cardiff Barrage in south Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It is also the name commonly given to the surrounding areas of the city. Cardiff Bay is also used as a metonym for Welsh politics, because it is the location of the Senedd. According to Cardiff Council, the creation of Cardiff Bay is regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom.
  Cardiff Bay is supplied by two rivers to form a 500-acre freshwater lake around the former dockland area south of the city centre. The 'bay' was formerly tidal, with access to the sea limited to a couple of hours each side of high water but now provides 24-hour access through three locks.
context_section_description: The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation (CBDC) was created in 1987 to stimulate the redevelopment of 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) of derelict land. The Development Corporation aimed to attract private capital by spending public money to improve the area. Despite opposition by environmentalists and wildlife organisations, the mudflats 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 the wetlands to the south of the Hamadryad Park.
  When the Development Corporation was wound up in on 31 March 2000, it had achieved many of its objectives. The whole area was unrecognisable from ten years before. Much private land was now open to the public, particularly around the inner harbour and the north side of Roath basin. Work is progressing to complete a 13 kilometre walkway around the bay.  In addition, the development has enabled land in the city centre to be redeveloped for higher-value uses.
  The development of "something like 1,250 apartments a year" however might cause future problems. As at 2008 up to one third were not occupied. Critics such as Lorraine Barrett (AM Labour, Cardiff South and Penarth) say, the flat complexes will not help to build up a community and too little attention has been paid to develop affordable housing. With the recent falls in property values, sales in the area have become problematic. Therefore, landlords might be more willing to rent their places out to "people who may not be suited to that type of living."
  Connecting the bay area to the centre of Cardiff was a primary goal when plans to develop the docklands were first mooted. Original plans included a grand boulevard (similar to where Lloyd George Avenue is located now) with high-density commercial and residential units straddling both sides. This would have created significant demand for quality public transport provisions facilitating connections to the new Bay area but public transport was often of poor quality and, but there are now much-improved connections through the Cardiff Bus BayCar service and rail service from Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Bay railway station.
  On 30 January 2013 the planning consultant, Adrian Jones, stated that Cardiff Bay was a contender for the "worst example of waterside regeneration in Britain".
caption: Cardiff Bay in 2008
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