Regeneration & Urban Change.

  Contents.

  1. Introduction.
  2. Docklands pre-1981.
  3. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC).
  4. Areas of Regeneration.
  5. Employment & Properties.
  6. Transport Changes.
  7. Future Planning.  
  8. Remaining Problems.
  9. Other Links.

   1. Introduction.
 
    London today is the best example in Great Britain of urbanisation and urban change. One of the prime examples of urban change within London in the last twenty years has been the gentrification of the London Docklands area.
    The London Docklands is claimed to be "the destination for the nineties." It covers 55 miles of waterfront along the Thames, from where the City of London ends.
 

-Canary Wharf, in the Isle of Dogs-
 
    According to the Local Government Planning and Land Act of 1970, the objective of an urban development corporation was "to secure the regeneration of the area, by bringing land and buildings into effective use."
    But how has the area changed so much in only a decade - from a poverty-stricken inner city area, to an area of £11 billion pounds of investment?

  2. Docklands pre-1981.

    The London Docklands was once a huge area of business - a thriving port of thousands of merchant ships, that linked the parts of the British Empire. The area held huge employment opportunities for the people that lived in the area. However, employment was not guaranteed - it depended on which ships were in the docks at the time.
 

-A Delivery of Ivory in 1851-

    The Docklands area suffered extensive damage during the Second World War, and much of this damage was never repaired. The Port of London Authority (PLA) invested large amounts of money in the area, but many areas of the Docklands e.g. St. Katherine's  were too small to be re-equipped.
    During the 1960's and 1970's, the PLA moved a lot of the river industry downstream to Tilbury, where there was deeper water and better access. Most of the Docklands area fell into decline. At it's closure, St. Katherine's Docks still had over 1¼ million square feet of active storage. The Dockland area day's were numbered. The upper docks were then closed by the PLA, and the docks were sold to the Greater London Council (GLC) in 1969 for only £1½ million.
    The Docklands lost much of it's employment and economic strength. The area became one of disrepute, with a lot of crime, vandalism and ethnic problems amongst the people.
 

-The Royal Victoria Docks (Pre-Gentrification)-
 
    Finally, in the late Seventies it was decided that action was necessary, to improve the Docklands area and to try and make them prosperous once more.

  3. The London Docklands Development Corporation.

   In 1981 the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was established, to try and generate employment, new housing and an improved economy. The LDDC established an Enterprise Zone in the Isle of Dogs, to attract industry to the area. Due to the tax-free guarantees and relatively cheap land, many light industries were attracted to the area.
    The only notable heavy industry that has moved into the area has been the newspaper industries from Fleet Street e.g. the Mirror and the Sun.
    On both sides of the Thames in the Docklands area, old dock warehouses were converted into modern, expensive penthouse apartments, or for offices for the new light industries. The area had been re-developed in little over ten years, with 22 km of derelict docks being converted into a thriving city port, with £11 billion pounds of investment in the area. There were 1 million visitors to the Docklands last year. It shows to everyone a stylish way of living and working, in a city area.
 

-St. Katherine's Dock (Post-Gentrification)-

    The LDDC was shut down in 1997, after seventeen years of overseeing the Docklands area. It claimed it's work as a success, with physical, economic, social and environmental regeneration. Two-thirds of local residents (68%) say the LDDC has done "a good
 job", and nearly three-quarters (73%) think the prospects for the area are good.

  4. Areas Of Regeneration.
 

-A simple map of the London Docklands-

    The Tower Docks have been known as "Mayfair on Water." It is a very cosmopolitan area, and very exclusive. Apartments have been created from the old high warehouses and brewery buildings. There are spectacular views across the River Thames, to Butler's Wharf - another expensive area of riverside apartments.
    The Tower area is linked to the City of London, and an upmarket shopping mall. The new connection to the Jubilee Extension on the London Underground has increased property prices dramatically.

    Wapping has been likened to a small village within the Docklands area - 180 hectares of successful regeneration. It has a very close community, although there are few services available to the people. St. Katherine's Docks are in the area of Wapping - the very first docks to be regenerated by the LDDC. Nearly 2000 new homes have been created in the area of Wapping.
 
-Wapping High Street-

    The Isle of Dogs (named after an 18th century legend) is the area of the Docklands that has probably seen the most change. It is London's third major business district, with Canary Wharf as it's business flagship. there are now 27, 000 residents and 22, 000 workers in this area.
    80% of office space in Canary Wharf has already been taken up, by businesses such as Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, and Texaco. There are more than 50 shops and restaurants, serving a working population.
 

-All 50 floors of Canary Wharf -

    Since the beginning of the regeneration of the London Docklands, created 100 km of new roads, the Docklands Light Railway, new bus routes, and the London City Airport.
    Over £9500 million pounds were invested in the public and private sectors of the Docklands. There has been over 4 square miles of commercial and industrial redevelopment. More importantly, the number of businesses in the area has doubled from 1100 to 2300, and there are now 50, 000 more jobs in the Docklands.
    100, 000 new trees have been planted, with 130 hectares of open space. There is now 90 km of waterfront, and 17 conservation areas.

  5. Employment & Properties.

    Employment in the Docklands was once solely based around the manual labour involved in the export and import of goods at the docks. However, when the opportunities for dock-involved labour lessened, there was a lot of employment in the area, which ultimately was one of the major problems in the Docklands area pre-gentrification.
    Now, there is far more stable industry in the area, especially in the Enterprise Zone at the Isle of Dogs. The newspaper industry in the area produces a lot of employment, and there is a lot of light industry in the area, with offices along the banks of the Thames.
 

-Riverside housing in the Docklands-

    Over 16, 000 new houses have been completed, with another 5300 improved. £72 million pounds were spent by the LDDC on improving local housing, with such projects as the "Housing for Heroes" housing estate. Another example of improving old housing is the Britannia New Homes Village, which is a self-contained village with new homes and some low-order services. The resident population in the Docklands area has now doubled from 34, 429 to 61, 500 people.
    One of the best industries at the moment is the property business - people are often very anxious to live in the area, now that it has become fashionable again, and therefore the price for an apartment in the area can be very expensive. Apartments in the Docklands e.g. riverside penthouse apartments at Butler's Wharf can cost from £200, 000 to more than £500, 000. These high prices reveal one of the more serious problems that has been created in the area - many developers are knocking down some of the older-style housing in areas and replacing it with very expensive penthouse apartments, that the local people cannot afford to buy for themselves. This means that a lot of open space is being taken up as developers buy open derelict land to redevelop into apartments. There is a huge need for residential housing close to the CBD.
    Some of the local people feel very strongly about this, that the success of the Docklands has gone to the heads of the developers. There are campaigns such as the above Hermitage Riverside Campaign, and the "We Want Flowers Not Towers" campaign, to try and raise awareness to the development problem now in Docklands. The people of the area feel that these developers are not considering their needs, and are just building as many expensive homes as possible, for maximum profit.

  6. Transport Changes.

    Part of the problem in the Docklands area pre-gentrification was that there were very poor transport links. Most people used to have to walk to work when the docks were still active, but that would not be acceptable today. So with the gentrification of the Docklands, there had to be sweeping transport changes.
    London is famed for it's Underground rail system, taxis and buses, but the Docklands area also has regular bus routes, the London City Airport, and the Docklands Light Railway.
    London's newest and quietest airport, London City Airport was developed during the re-gentrification of the Docklands. It has many advantages. It has only a ten minute check-in and check-out time, flights to over 20 countries in Europe (including, France, Belgium and Switzerland), and it is only 6 miles from the City of London.
 

 
-London City Airport, in the Royal Albert Dock-
 
    In 1981 a feasibility study for a city airport was commissioned, and trial flights began. In 1987, the first commercial service lifted off form the newly-opened London City Airport. Built to cater for the business traveller, in it's early years it suffered from a lot of competition, but improvements in the runway (increased length) and access to the airport have helped considerably. There are some low-order services within the airport.
    The airport was showered with awards last year, and was voted London's Bets Regional Airport in 1997. Also in that year passenger numbers exceeded one million people for the first time.
    The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) was created when it was realised that if Docklands was to become a new area of commerce and industry it would need an infrastructure to match. A new transport system was needed which would be relatively cheap, no more than £77m, and would access the areas where development would take place. Construction started in 1984, took 3 years to complete, and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 31 July 1987.
    Light Rail involves the latest technology. DLR utilises a fully automatic train control (ATC) system which is monitored by the permanently staffed Control Centre located at Poplar.  Trains are monitored by a central computer, and Automatic Train Protection (ATP) ensures that DLR is the safest passenger transport system in Britain.
 
-The Docklands Light Railway-

      Compared with conventional trains, there can be more frequent stops, seldom more than 600 metres apart. With segregated tracks, there are no traffic jams, and the service is safe and reliable. It is one of the most environmentally-friendly forms of transport. No fumes damage the environment and vehicles are quiet. Acceleration is smooth and fast, the braking quick and safe and tight turns and steep climbs can be handled with ease.  Light Rail is also used in countries such as the USA and Hong Kong.
     In the future, there are several line extensions planned for Docklands, due for completion before the new Millennium, with the Lewisham and Jubilee Line extensions planned, to improve access to the Millennium Dome. On completion of the new routes, there will be 36 stations on the Light Railway. The 30-train service carries in excess of 87, 000 people a day - an improvement of 11, 000 compared with 1997. There are only 320 staff for the entire Light Rail network.

  7. Future Planning.  

    There are still many plans for the London Docklands area. The most important future planning is for the start of the new Millennium - with the Millennium Dome, across the Thames from the Royal Victoria Docks in the London Docklands area.
 

-The Millenium Dome-

    The date is the 31st of December, 1999. The eyes of the world will be on the Millennium Dome, as it has been  constructed at Greenwich, which determines whether or not we have moved into the year 2000. The £758 million pounds needed to construct the Millennium Dome came mostly from a government grant, and sponsorship deals.
    The Millennium Experience will take place on a 181-acre site on the North Greenwich peninsula bounded on three sides by the River Thames. Part of a 300-acre former gasworks, it had been derelict for more than two decades and was the largest undeveloped site on the River Thames. The Prime Meridian cuts across the north of the site which is about two and a half kilometres from historic Greenwich.
    This is a reason for many of the changes that planned for the Docklands. As mentioned in the Tarnsport section, there are plans for a number of new rail routes, on the London Underground and Docklands Light Railway. There are also plans to improve pedestrian routes around the Royal Docks to the Greenwich site, e.g. carne walkways across the Royal Victoria Dock.
    Another important transport plan was announced on the 18th of June, 1998. The government gave the go-ahead for a £35m project to link London's Docklands Light Railway to London City Airport, with funding from both the public and private sectors. This will link all areas of the Docklands to the City Airport, and should dramatically increase customers for both the rail routes and airlines.
    Property development still continues in the Docklands today, with many areas of old, derelict land being re-developed into apartments. However, with the popularity of the area these apartments are being boughts for hundreds of thousands of pounds before they are even built !!

  8. Remaining Problems.

    There are several problems with the re-development of the London Docklands. The scheme did not start until 1981, and it has been said that it started too late to stop many local residents from being forced to leave their homes, to seek employment elsewhere. Many of the new homes and apartments are very expensive, designed and priced for 'yuppies.' This is destroying many of the local EastEnder-type communities.
    In some places there has been too much economic redevelopment, with not enough emphasis placed upon the local people. An example of this is the Hermitage Riverside Campign, for a memorial to war heroes to be built on some derelict land instead of properties. It is also evident from our limited field work that there are very few services in the Docklands area - only some low-order services and one ASDA supermarket.
    Although the London Docklands is the best example of urban change in Great Britain in this century, it can also be said that not all of the changes have been for the best. Many people argue that it is because of the re-development of the Docklands that these problems have been created.

  9. Other Links.

    Some other sites that contain other Docklands-related information :-
 
    www.docklands.co.uk - the offical Docklands site, with a lot of useful information. This includes facts and figures, historical information and a guided tour of the area.
    www.eastindiadock.co.uk - Property information and prices, for the East India Dock in the Docklands area.
    www.stkaths.co.uk  - Information on leisure and boating facilities, history and property information in St. Katharine's Dock, the first dock to be re-generated in the area.
    www.dlr.co.uk - The official site for the Docklands Light Railway, with many images, and statistics.
    www.londontransport.co.uk - The offical site for all London Transport, from the famous red buses to the London Underground
    www.greenwich2000.com - The official site for Greenwich 2000 - the commitee organising Millenium celebrations. There is a lot of information on the Millenium Dome.


This website was created by Gary Martin, Steve Smith and Trystan George, after some limited field work in London. This is an unofficial site. Last Update 3rd July, 1998.