London Docklands - Today

Today

Over the past 30 years, the population of the Docklands has more than doubled and the area has become both a major business centre and an increasingly desirable area to live. Transport links have improved significantly, with the Isle of Dogs gaining a tube connection via the Jubilee Line Extension (opened 1999) and the DLR being extended to Beckton, Lewisham, London City Airport, North Woolwich and Stratford. Canary Wharf has become one of Europe's biggest clusters of skyscrapers and a direct challenge to the financial dominance of the City.

Although most of the old Dockland wharfs and warehouses have been demolished, some have been restored and converted into flats. Most of the docks themselves have survived and are now used as marinas or watersports centres (the major exception being the Surrey Commercial Docks, now largely filled in). Although large ships can - and occasionally still do - visit the old docks, all of the commercial traffic has moved down-river.

The revival of the Docklands has had major effects in run-down surrounding areas. Greenwich and Deptford are undergoing large-scale redevelopment, chiefly as a result of the improved transport links making them more attractive to commuters.

The Docklands' redevelopment has, however, had some less beneficial aspects. The massive property boom and consequent rise in house prices has led to friction between the new arrivals and the old Docklands communities, who have complained of being squeezed out. It has also made for some of the most striking disparities to be seen anywhere in Britain: luxury executive flats constructed alongside run-down public housing estates.

The Docklands' status as a symbol of Thatcher's Britain has also made it a target for terrorists. After a failed attempt to bomb Canary Wharf, a large IRA bomb exploded at South Quay on 9 February 1996. Two people died in the explosion, forty people were injured and an estimated £150m of damage was caused. This bombing ended an IRA ceasefire. In a 1998 trial James McArdle was imprisoned for 25 years after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court that ended on June 24. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, McArdle was released on June 28, 2000.

London Docklands also now boasts its own free newspaper, The Docklands, launched in 2006 by Archant London, following the purchase of Docklands News, the ex LDDC newspaper which was then owned by Ivy Communications. The title is a mixture of news, sport and lifestyle, and comes out every Tuesday. It is delivered to properties in the area and available to pick up from various locations in Canary Wharf, Greenwich and the Royal Docks. It is the newspaper with the highest circulation in the area. A sister title, The Peninsula, was launched in 2007, covering the Greenwich Peninsula.

In a further sign of regeneration in the area, the Docklands now has its own symphony orchestra - Docklands Sinfonia - which was formed in January 2009 and is based at St Anne's Limehouse.