the london docklands inner city renewal

© Boardworks Ltd 2001

The London DocklandsInner city renewal

Wall Street on the Water?


Why did the Docklands decline?

1. The River Thames became increasingly silted and as the boats became progressively larger they found it difficult to come this far downstream (look at your atlas to check the position of the Docklands on the Thames). Therefore the docks moved downstream to places such as Tilbury.

2. Containerisation meant that fewer dockers were needed.3. A general decline in manufacturing meant that portside

industries, such as food refining, closed down.4. Sub-standard and low quality housing such as tower

blocks were built in the 1950s and 1960s. These were built to replace the bomb damaged housing from the Second World War.

What impact would these factors have on the migration to and from the London Docklands?


Decline of the Docklands

High unemployment

People have less money to spend on goods and services.

How are the statements below connected?Draw a diagram to show these connections.

People have more time and less money and opportunities.

Less taxes and business rates are paid to the local council.

The local council invests less in housing, roads and education.

Young people leave school with fewer qualifications.

Petty crime often increases.

Vicious Circle of Poverty

High unemployment


Vicious Circle of Poverty

High unemployment

People have less money to spend on goods and services

People have more time and less money and opportunities.

Less taxes and business rates are paid to the local council

The local council invests less in housing, roads and education

Young people leave school with fewer qualifications

Petty crime often increases


1. To economically regenerate the area by primarily attracting private investment.

2. To physically regenerate the environment of the Docklands to aid the above.

3. To improve the living conditions and prospects of the community of the Docklands.

Aims of the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC)

London Docklands Development Corporation (1981-1998)


LDDC Timeline

LDDC set upEnd of the LDDC

DLRCity Airport

Enterprise Zone in Isle of Dogs

boom recession

IRA bomb

Jubilee Extension approved (completed 2000)

boom


Docklands before the LDDC

1970-1980 30,000 jobs lost

1981 50% of Docklands derelict (over 1000 hectares)

unemployment 21%, male unemployment was 24%, twice the national

average

one third housing unsatisfactory for human habitation inadequate infrastructure of roads, rail, telephone and cable lines

(the Docklands was kept deliberately inaccessible to protect the goods that were being stored)


Success or Failure?

You are in charge of urban planning in Carsmouth and are considering regenerating the inner city dock area. You have decided to evaluate the LDDC urban renewal to see if you can learn from the successes and failures of this scheme. Using the evidence on the following slides, decide on the advantages and disadvantages of the LDDC project.

BusinessLocal community

TransportEnvironment

Divide your answer into the following categories :-


Environmental Change The creation of an attractive environment was an essential part of the LDDC brief.

1) Derelict land and docks were regenerated.By 1988, 600 hectares were reclaimed.

2) Parks and river/dock side paths were developed.

3) Old houses were improved and new houses were built.

4) £300 million was spent on improving utilities.

Achievements

Before the 1980s McDougall’s flour was processed here!

Millwall Docks..


Housing

Docklands Housing -The Facts*Over 50,000 new homes have been built since 1981. *8,000 local authority homes have been improved since 1981.

Silvertown Urban VillageHousing (built by Wimpey) comprises of 917 homes ( mostly two and three bed houses and some combined workplace homes). The development also includes 140 social housing units for rent for the Peabody Trust.


Local Authority Housing near Cross Harbour on the Isle of Dogs


0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

1981 1998

homesowneroccupied

Housing

What does this graph tell you about the type of housing that was built in the Docklands after 1981?


Cabot Place Shopping in Canary Wharf

Although shops in Cabot Place were originally exclusively geared towards the business person, the shops now include a wider range of high street stores such as ‘Gap’ and ‘Dixons’. The complex also includes various fast food outlets such as ‘Burger King’ and the supermarket ‘Tesco Metro’. The only other supermarket on the Isle of Dogs is ‘Asda’ near Cross Harbour DLR.


0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

Manufacturing OtherServices

no of jobs 1981

no of jobs 1990

Look at the graph showing some of the changes in the structure of employment in the Docklands.

Describe the change in employment structure.

What could ‘other services’ include?

The London Docklands – Local Community



Only a small proportion of the original Docklands community are employed in the financial sector. Why?

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

Manufacturing OtherServices

no of jobs 1981

no of jobs 1990



80 Groups share more than £1million in LDDC grantsActivities backed by the grants include education and training, childcare, youth work, sport, the arts and support for the homeless and work with ethnic minorities. ‘We are delighted the Corporation is able to carry on supporting the local community’. Bob Pringle, LDDC Executive Director of Community Infrastructure.

Autumn 1995

The LDDC did partly respond to the criticism that there was a mis-match of skills between the established docklands population and the jobs created. In the late 1980s the LDDC sponsored various training projects to improve the qualifications of the population. The LDDC spent £30 million on community and environmental projects.


The London Docklands – Transport Improvements

The DLR opened 1987. It cost £73 million. This railway now operates a full service. However, in the late 1980s, the DLR service stopped in the evenings and had a limited service at weekends.

Why was it important for the LDDC to improve the transport in order to attract new businesses to the Docklands?

Why did many local residents complain that the DLR wasn’t built for them?

Docklands Light Railway (DLR)



(STOLPORT…short take-off and landing) opened in 1987. It is situated in the Royal Docks.

London City Airport



Roads - The Limehouse Link

Bridges

West India Dock

The LDDC constructed bridges across the docks to improve accessibility.

The Limehouse Link, which cost £450 million, was built to connect the Docklands to Central London. However, some communities were disrupted during its construction. For example, in 1990, some of the housing in Ropemakers’ Fields, Limehouse was knocked down by the construction of the Limehouse Link Tunnel.



Green Park

Westminster

Waterloo

Southwark

London Bridge

Bermondsey

Canada Water

CanaryWharf

GreenwichPoint

CanningTown

West Ham

Stratford

Jubilee Line

The Jubilee line extension was proposed. However, the line was subject to delays and was finished in 2000.


The London Docklands - Business

Canary Wharf, only three miles from The City, was conceived in the 1980s as a solution to rising rents in central London. The LDDC job was to attract private investment by improving the environment and infrastructure of the area. In the 1980s, the LDDC attracted £10 of private investment for every £1 they spent.

Cabot Square in Canary Wharf


Enterprise Zone (1982-1992)

West India Docks

Millwall Docks

Enterprise Zoneapproximate area

The Enterprise Zone was set up on the Isle of Dogs to attract new business investment. Companies that moved to the Enterprise Zone were entitled to 10 years’ rate free and a fast track planning procedure.

Many of the newspaper companies, moved from Central London to the Isle of Dogs in the 1980s.

What impact did this migration of companies have on parts of Central London?


View from One Canada Square towards The City

The London Docklands - Business

In Canary Wharf, the 5.9 million square feet of office and retail space are now leased. 28,000 people work in the whole of London Docklands (11/2000) and it is estimated that by 2005 Canary Wharf alone will have 100,000 workers.

However, much of the office space in Canary Wharf remained empty until the late 1990s. The completion of the Jubilee Line in 2000 has certainly encouraged new investment in the area.


Credit Suisse First Boston

Cabot Square

Canary Wharf DLR

West India Quay DLR

Ogilvy & Mather

Barclays Capital

Jubilee Line

Morgan Stanley

Heron Quays DLR

One Canada Square

London Underground Ltd

Financial Services AuthorityBarclays Capital

Businesses in Canary Wharf2/2000

RiverThames

One Canada Square-The IndependentTelegraph GroupTrinity MirrorKPMG

Why would many of these jobs not suit the established

population?


New Developments

•Two new towers, either side of One Canada Square, one for HSBC and the other for Citigroup, have been built.•A 30 storey building next to the Jubilee line station has been built. This is to be filled by Clifford Chance who is to move their 2,500 employees from The City to the Docklands in 2001.• A five storey shopping centre facing Canada Square Park is planned for 2001.• Headquarters for The Northern Trust Company, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter are to be located near Heron Quays DLR. •The Royal Docks will receive £2billion of investment in the form of new homes, retail and leisure facilities.


Activity 1

As there are limited places for people to work, jobs are being lost, people are moving away and areas are becoming less desirable...

How could this city be turned around?


Changes

Changes can benefit some people but cause problems for others...

Elderly People, Young Married Couple, Local Council, Financial Company,

School Leaver, Social Worker, Factory Worker, Local Shopkeeper.

Who are the Winners/Losers?


In The City...

Factories closed due to goods arriving in containers loaded and unloaded by cranes.

This meant that people were not needed.

Workers moved away to find jobs.


Plenary

“City development is a very complex process”.

Why do you think this is?

What things need to be considered and why?


Activity 2

Using Essential AS Geography P305-307, answer the following…

1.What were the aims and objectives of Urban Development Corporations?

2.Summarise the activities and achievements of the LDDC.

3.Evaluate the activities of the LDDC.

4.Look at Fig. 8.58 and explain whether or not you think the cartoon reflects the work of the LDDC.

the london docklands inner city renewal

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