Docklands

Canary Wharf has for many centuries been a major London dock. Having fallen into neglect, it was regenerated in the 1980s and 1990s and is now one of the most expensive and exclusive business and residential sites in London.

Urban development area east of St Katherine's Dock, London, occupying the site of the former Wapping and Limehouse docks, the Isle of Dogs, and Royal Docks. It comprises 2,226 hectares/5,550 acres of former wharves, warehouses, and wasteland. Plans for its redevelopment were set in motion in 1981 and by 1993 over 13,000 private housing units had been built, including terraced houses at Maconochies Wharf, Isle of Dogs. Distinguished buildings include the Tidal Basin Pumping Station in Royal Docks, designed by Richard Rogers, and the printing plant for the Financial Times, designed by Nicholas Grimshaw. The Limehouse Link motorway and tunnel, linking Tower Hill and Canary Wharf, opened in 1993. The tallest building is the Canary Wharf tower. Docklands is served by the London City airport (Stolport) and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). The London Underground Jubilee Line was extended to Canary Wharf in 1999.

During World War II, one-third of the warehouses and half of the storage areas belonging to the Port of London Authority were destroyed, together with large residential areas, and by 1981 all the docks had closed. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was formed in 1981, at a time of economic boom, to develop the Docklands area as an international business centre. It received £1.6 billion government subsidy 1981-93, of which only 10% was spent on social housing.