Cardiff Bay settled in neighbourhoods close to the docks, known as Tiger Bay, and communities from up to 45 different nationalities, including Norwegian, Somali, Yemeni, Spanish, Italian, Caribbean and Irish helped create the unique multicultural character of the area. After the Second World War most of the industry closed down and became derelict. But, in 1999, new life was injected into the area by the building of the Cardiff Bay Barrage, one of the most controversial building projects of the day but also one of the most successful. The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation (CBDC) was created in 1987 to stimulate the redevelopment
Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre (The Tube) panel of experts as one of the Top 50 Buildings of the 1990s, saying the building had "single-handedly put Cardiff on the architectural map". In 2006 the building's operators, Cardiff Initiative, ceased trading and The Tube closed for several weeks, reopening under the management of Cardiff Council. The Tube was finally dismantled (and put into storage) in Autumn 2010 to make way for a new link road. "I'm surprised it's lasted this long," said original project architect John Lyall. Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre (The Tube) Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre (known informally as 'the Tube') was a piece of modern architecture