Cardiff Bay (Welsh: Bae Caerdydd) is the area created by the Cardiff Barrage in South Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is now widely regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The Bay is supplied by two rivers (Taff and Ely) to form a 500-acre (2.0 km2) freshwater lake round 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.
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.
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.
There is a long list of notable buildings in the Bay including the Wales Millennium Centre is home to the Welsh National Opera, and the Senedd is the National Assembly for Wales building which includes the debating chamber and committee rooms.
Source & More Information: Wikipedia, Cardiff Bay, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Bay