Cardiff Bay Development Corporation

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Cardiff Bay Development Corporation

Formation	1987
Extinction	2000
Headquarters	Cardiff
Official languages	English and Welsh
Chair	Sir Geoffrey Inkin
Key people	Michael Boyce

The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was set up by the government of the United Kingdom on 3 April 1987 ^[1] to undertake redevelopment of one sixth of the area of Cardiff to create Cardiff Bay.

The mission statement for the Corporation, which set by the Secretary of State for Wales, Nicholas Edwards was: -

“

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.

”

The five main aims and objectives were: -

To promote development and provide a superb environment in which people will want to live, work and play.

To re-unite the City of Cardiff with its waterfront.

To bring forward a mix of development which would create a wide range of job opportunities and would reflect the hopes and aspirations of the communities of the area.

To achieve the highest standard of design and quality in all types of development and investment.

To establish the area as a recognised centre of excellence and innovation in the field of urban regeneration.^[2]

It was chiefly responsible for the construction of the Cardiff Bay Barrage and the complex of shopping and new housing developments that sprang up across the old docks in the 1990s. It was also responsible for the Roald Dahl Plass development.

During its lifetime 14.7 m sq.ft. of non-housing development and 5,780 housing units were built. Around 31,000 new jobs were created and some £1.8bn of private finance was leveraged in. Circa 200 acres (0.81 km²) of derelict land was reclaimed.^[3].

The Chairman was Sir Geoffrey Inkin and the Chief Executive was Michael Boyce.^[4] It was dissolved on 31 March 2000. The Cardiff Harbour Authority took over responsibility from Cardiff Bay Development Corporation for the management of the Barrage, the Inland Bay and the River 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."^[5]