The MBDA was conceptualised by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and is a wholly-owned entity of the NMBM. It was created in 2003 following an acknowledgement by the city’s leadership of the urgent need to reverse a trend towards urban decay in the inner city and to drive urban regeneration in the Nelson Mandela Bay CBD and other designated areas. Since then, the mandate area has been expanded to include a number of key township projects, with the aim of transforming urban spaces to activate economic activity, create job opportunities and reshape urban development.