Why did people build the Tower of Babel?

From the Bible, we can learn that before the events of the Flood, people were one people who spoke the same language. On the land of Shinar, people who came from the east put forward a proposal to build a city which was later named Babylon and a tower to the very heavens.
The construction of the tower was interrupted by God, then he created new languages for people.
After God created new languages, understanding in communication between people disappeared and people were scattered all over the world.