Cardiff Bay (Welsh:Bae Caerdydd; colloquially "The Bay") is an area andfreshwater lake^[1][2] inCardiff,Wales. The site of a former tidalbay andestuary, it is theriver mouth of theRiver Taff andEly. The body of water was converted into a 500-acre (2.0 km²) lake as part of a pre-devolutionUK Government regeneration project, involving the damming of the rivers by theCardiff Bay Barrage in 1999. The barrage impounds the rivers from theSevern Estuary, providing flood defence and the creation of a permanent non-tidalhigh water lake with limited access to the sea, serving as a core feature of the redevelopment of the area in the 1990s.

Cardiff Bay Welsh:Bae Caerdydd The Bay
Area andLake
Cardiff Bay in 2020, Pierhead Building (left), Senedd building (right), and Millennium Centre (behind).
Cardiff Bay Location withinCardiff
Principal area	Cardiff
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CARDIFF
Postcode district	CF10
Dialling code	029
UK Parliament	Cardiff South and Penarth
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament	Cardiff South and Penarth
Website	http://www.cardiffharbour.com/ Cardiff Harbour Authorityhttp://www.visitcardiffbay.info/ Visit Cardiff Bay
List of places UK Wales Cardiff 51°27′47″N3°09′50″W / 51.463°N 3.164°W /51.463; -3.164

Surrounding the lake is a 4.25 sq mi (11.0 square kilometres) area of redeveloped former derelictdocklands^[3] which shares its name. The area is situated betweenCardiff city centre andPenarth, in the communities ofButetown andGrangetown. Its waterfront is home to notable attractions, in particular regardingWelsh politics anddevolved institutions, such as theSenedd building (housing theSenedd, the Welsh Parliament),Pierhead Building andTŷ Hywel; and cultural attractions including theWales Millennium Centre andNorwegian Church. The presence of devolved institutions in Cardiff Bay has led to its name's use as ametonym for devolved Welsh politics. According toCardiff Council, the creation of Cardiff Bay is regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom.^[4] 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.^[5]

TheCardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve is situated along the northern edge of the lake, on the site of a formersalt marsh.^[6][7]

On 15 June 1910 theTerra Nova Expedition left the Roath Basin in Cardiff's docklands and headed south to Antarctica. On board were CaptainRobert Falcon Scott and members of his British Antarctic Expedition, who aimed to be the first to reach the South Pole. Scott's entire party of five died on the return journey from the pole.

Cardiff Bay played a major part inCardiff’s development by being the means of exportingcoal from theSouth Wales Valleys to the rest of the world, helping to power the industrial age. Thecoal mining industry helped fund the building ofCardiff into thecapital city of Wales and helped theThird Marquis of Bute, who owned the docks, become the richest man in the world at the time.

As Cardiff exports grew, so did its population; dockworkers and sailors from across the world settled in neighbourhoods close to the docks, known as Tiger Bay, and communities from up to 50 different nationalities, includingNorwegian,Somali,Yemeni,Greek,Spanish,Italian,Caribbean andIrish helped create the uniquemulticultural character of the area.^[2]

After theSecond World War most of the industry closed down and the area became a neglected part of Cardiff, a wasteland of derelict docks and mudflats. Social exclusion of the area's inhabitants rose and Cardiff Bay had above average levels of unemployment.^[2] But, in 1999, new life was injected into the area by the building of theCardiff Bay Barrage, one of the most controversial building projects of the day but also one of the most successful.^[8]

TheCardiff Bay Development Corporation (CBDC) was created in 1987 to stimulate the redevelopment of 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) of derelict land.^[9] The Development Corporation aimed to attract private capital by spending public money to improve the area. Despite opposition byenvironmentalists and wildlife organisations, themudflats at the mouths of the River Taff and River Ely were inundated, with loss of habitat forwading birds. The Barrage has created several new habitats for freshwater species with thewetlands 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 thecity centre to be redeveloped for higher-value uses.^[10]

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 whereLloyd 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 theCardiff BusBayCar service and rail service fromCardiff Queen Street toCardiff 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".^[11]

TheSt David's Hotel & Spa is a5-star luxuryhotel with commanding views of the bay and Penarth.^[12] Built by Rocco Forte in 2000, the hotel was sold in 2007, to Principal-Haley hotels.

ThePierhead was built in 1897 and designed byWilliam Frame, who studied underWilliam Burges^[13] It was formerly the headquarters of theBute Dock Company, later the Cardiff Railway Company, and then the head office for theGreat Western Railway. Today it is part of theSenedd estate and is used as an event and conference venue, it is also aGrade I listed building.

TheSenedd building is the building that hosts theSenedd's debating chamber and committee rooms.

TheWales Millennium Centre is home to theWelsh National Opera.

TheNorwegian Church Arts Centre, is a rescued historic wooden church that was rebuilt in 1992 and operates as a registered self funded non-profit charity. It is managed byCardiff Harbour Authority and is as a venue for small concerts, art exhibitions, conferences, meetings and celebrations.^[14]

When living in Cardiff as a child, famous children's authorRoald Dahl attended this church.

A refurbished Victorian dockside building housesCraft in the Bay, the home of the Makers Guild in Wales.

Techniquest is an educational science & discovery centre, which also includes a science theatre and planetarium.

Roald Dahl Plass is a large open amphitheatre style plaza frequently used as a venue for carnivals and festivals all year round.

Mermaid Quay comprises a mix of restaurants, bars, cafés, shops and services located on the waterfront.

Dismantled in 2010, this unique building "single-handedly put Cardiff on the architectural map",^[15]housing exhibitions and visitor information.

• Cardiff Bay Barrage – accessible via the Water Bus and by road, and free to explore and also has guided tours.
• Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve – 8-hectare (0.080 km²) reserve home to rare birds and a boardwalk leading to a viewing platform.
• Cardiff Bay Yacht Club – located at theCardiff International Sports Village, RYA Training centre and one of the largest yacht clubs in the UK
• Cardiff International Pool.
• Cardiff International White Water.
• Cardiff Rowing Centre – located inChannel View Centre.
• Cardiff Sailing Centre – A council run watersports & RYA Training Centre based onCardiff Bay Barrage.
• Cardiff Waterbus – which offers a public transport service and tourist cruises.
• Ice Arena Wales – ice rink in theCardiff International Sports Village.
• Queen Alexandra Dock.

• Style-conscious shops, bars and restaurants atMermaid Quay.
• Cardiff Bay Retail Park
• Mischief's Cafe Bar, a cafe bar and live music venue.
• The Coal Exchange, formally a music venue, now a hotel, bar and restaurant.^[16]
• The Mount Stuart, aWetherspoons Pub situated in an 1880s, former dock building.^[17]
• Cardiff International Sports Village, which includesIce Arena Wales andCardiff International Pool.
• TheRed Dragon Centre (formerlyAtlantic Wharf Leisure Village), a leisure and entertainment complex.

Cardiff Bay was used as the high-tech urban setting for theDoctor Who episode "Boom Town" and the show's spinoff,Torchwood, whose makers deliberately avoided stereotypical portrayals of Wales in order to portray Cardiff as the modern urban centre it is today. InTorchwood series, there is a giant secret base underneath the bay, named "The Hub", from where the Torchwood team works. There is also a lift from the hub into the plaza with a perception filter making anyone who stands on the spot "not noticed". In the third series of Torchwood entitled "Children Of Earth", Cardiff Bay was the centre of a bomb explosion, destroying the Torchwood Hub and Cardiff Bay.^[18]Roald Dahl Plass features prominently. In the episode "Utopia", the Plass is home to a rift that the Doctor uses to refuel his TARDIS. TheDoctor Who episode "The Runaway Bride" made use of office buildings in Cardiff Bay.^[19]

Cardiff Bay railway station is northeast of Mermaid Quay and is served by services toCardiff Queen Street which run at a frequency of every 10 minutes, although the station is currently being upgraded with 2 extra platforms to allow newMetro services toAberdare,Treherbert &Merthyr Tydfil to operate. These metro services are expected to begin in 2025, with a core frequency of every 5 minutes. Alongside this, three new metro stations are expected to open in the area by 2027, serving the areas aroundPorth Teigr,Roath Lock, and theSenedd building.

Cardiff Bus operates the following services to the bay:

• 1 –Bay Circle clockwise: Grangetown-Leckwith-Canton-Fairwater-Llandaff-Gabalfa-Heath-Penylan-Roath-Tremorfa-Central Station
• 2 –Bay Circle anticlockwise: as above but reversed
• 6 –Baycar: Queen Street station via Central Station
• 8 – City Centre via Grangetown
• 11 – Pengam Green via Central Station and Tremorfa
• 35/36 – Gabalfa via Central Station, Cathays and Heath

The bay lies off theA4232 before the Butetown tunnels and is linked to the city centre byLloyd George Avenue,Bute Street and theCentral Link Road.

ThePont y Werin pedestrian and cycle bridge opened in July 2010, completing a six and a half-mile circular route around Cardiff Bay and Penarth.

A cycle hire system, similar to those in other large cities, launched in September 2009, and includes 70 bikes and 35 hire points (initially seven) around the centre and the south of the city. The current stations are: Central Station; Cardiff Bay Station; County Hall; Cardiff Bay Visitors’ Centre; Churchill Way; City Hall and eastern Queen Street. It is necessary to register before using bike. The first half an hour is free after which a small hourly fee is payable.^[20][21]

• Butetown
• List of places in Cardiff
• Penarth Marina
• Tiger Bay
• Barry Waterfront

• Cardiff Harbour Authority
• EduWiki Conference 2013