Connection to the World The London Docklands as a Model of Transport and an International City Barrett Stephen Lane CRP 3810 Professor Jeremy Foster Fall 2009 Table of Contents Introduction 3 The Docklands: An Overview and History 4 Transportation and Infrastructure 6 Imaging and Branding 12 Conclusion 19 Appendix 22 Bibliography 27 2 Introduction The London Docklands remains as one of the most ambitious urban regeneration projects of the last half-century. The area of East London once known for cargo ships and manufacturing is now one of the world’s premier nexuses of finance and global trade. It is a dizzying complex of glass-and-steel skyscrapers, upscale condominiums, world- class hotels and shops, and gourmet restaurants. Its physical layout is radically different than the rest of London; in contrast to the dense network of streets that define the urban fabric of Central London and Westminster, the Docklands uses an intricate network of canals, wharves, and docks that create large expanses and open spaces between the towering commercial edifices. Perhaps the most striking feature of the Docklands is its modernity. Almost everything within Docklands proper, notably Canary Wharf and similar business districts, was built within the last 30 years, almost entirely from scratch. Overall, it is more reminiscent of major financial cities such as New York, Chicago, or Toronto than of London itself. But the success of the Docklands, and what has enabled it to transform into the epitome of today’s fast-paced, business-oriented, globalized city, relies on its infrastructural networks along with its visioning and branding as a locus of global trade. Improvements in local transportation networks, which include linking the Docklands to the City and points north and east, have made the area easier to reach, encouraging commercial, and later, residential settlement. Furthermore, the Docklands modern approach to planning, through deregulation, business development zones, and innovative design and architecture, allowed the new community to thrive as the new standard for international business districts; models soon followed by cities like Shanghai (Pudong) 3 and Mexico City (Santa Fe). The combination of a reliable transit infrastructure with a business-oriented approach to planning has created a second life for the Docklands; breathing new life into the once derelict docks through reprogramming its use and moving forward in response to modern business and trade. The Docklands: An Overview and History Lying just east of the central city, the London Docklands stretches roughly 13 kilometers along the River Thames from Tower Bridge to the Thames Flood Barrier, just east of Greenwich (Bentley, 1997, p. 15). It consists of five major dock areas, going from west to east along the Thames: The Surrey Docks in Rotherhithe, the Millwall Docks and West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs, the East India Docks near present-day Canning Town, and the Royal Victoria, Albert, and King George Docks near Beckton (known collectively as the Royal Docks) (see figure 1). Historically, its purpose was to serve as the port of London. In the late 18th and early 19th century, Parliament succeeded in passing several acts allowing for the construction of canals and docks to be built in and around the Isle of Dogs, alleviating commercial ship traffic that congested the River Thames in Central London (Edwards, 1992). The relocation of the shipyards and related industries to the Docklands area proved to be a big success for Greater London. Major shipping companies such as the West India Company and East India Company built and excavated large wet and dry docks in the area, attracting business from all over the world, and laying the foundation for a 150 year period of prosperity in the region (Bentley, 1997). Central London and the Docklands became interdependent in the 19th century, with the Docklands serving as the commercial and trade workhorse to sustain Central 4 London residents and their local economies (Edwards, 1992). By 1939, ship traffic in the Docklands was at an all time high: not only were there 60 million tons of cargo that passed in and out of the docks, but the Port of London Authority (PLA) had even gone so far to dredge the River Thames to allow large, modern ocean liners to pass into the Docklands (Bentley, 1997). By World War II, the Docklands began to show signs of decline. Initially, however, the Docklands was a boon to the Allies, helping them defeat the Germans in the European Theater. With its many shipping docks and capacity to launch and hold many vessels, the Docklands was vital in the launch, storage, and maintenance of many Allied warships, as well as storing and shipping off munitions and supplies (Bentley, 1997). However, the bombing of London in 1940 wiped out a third of the warehouses and half of the storage units in the Docklands, forcing the PLA to rebuild lost facilities, which needed to meet the increase in shipping demand (Bentley, 1997, p. 46). While the Docklands eventually recouped its losses and reached all-time high levels of trade in the mid 1960s (a 50% increase in traffic compared to 1939), the failure to concurrently modernize the docks themselves to handle the newer, larger incoming ships meant that shippers began seeking other ports in the area to unload their goods (Bentley, 1997, p. 46). Moreover, the rise of containerization (using high-capacity flat steel containers to store many goods on ships) also spelled disaster for the Docklands. Containerization was both safer and cheaper than traditional methods that had defined the Docklands for over a century and a half; more cargo could be loaded onto ships using less land and workers, with the PLA estimating that “21 container berths could accomplish and process the same amount of cargo as 160 enclosed docks and 300 riverside wharves,” (Bentley, 1997, p. 5 46). With new containerization facilities being built further down the River Thames, closer to the North Sea, the Docklands were becoming increasingly obsolete (Bentley, 1997). By 1980, nearly all of the major docks had shut down. It was obvious to Greater London and the PLA that the Docklands needed to be reprogrammed in order to avoid becoming a victim of urban decay. Prior efforts in the 1960s and early 1970s to infill unused docks were unsuccessful; scrap merchants and low-grade industrial tenants quickly bought up the land, undermining the goals of revitalizing the former docks and to bring back previous levels of economic wealth and success (Edwards, 1992, p. 7). Seeking a means to attract private investors and their funds, the government set up the London Docklands Development Commission (LDDC) in 1981, the main product of The Local Government, Planning and Land Act of 1980. The LDDC’s goal was to improve the physical layout, design, and program of the London Docklands (Edwards, 1992). Their proposed plans were vast, but ultimately relied on creating a reason to return to the once-bustling area. Two key goals needed to be met in order for this to happen: creating a modern, efficient transportation system that would better connect the Docklands with Central London, and marketing the Docklands as an international hub of global business and development. Transportation and Infrastructure One of the biggest challenges in redeveloping the London Docklands was bringing in an effective system of modern transportation to region plagued by ineffective transit. Steamboats and paddleboats once served as the primary method of travel, carrying passengers along the River Thames from Greenwich and Woolwich to either 6 Central London or points east (Bentley, 1997, p. 172). By the end of the nineteenth and early 20th century, ship travel declined as rail and road-based transportation networks gained popularity, effectively shutting the steamships out of business (Bentley, 1997, p. 172). Concurrently, a series of tunnels were constructed at different points along the River Thames to connect communities on either side of the River Thames, along with a series of canals that cut through different segments of the North Bank to make commercial ship travel easier. Not only did this help to alleviate traffic from the growing road network in East London, but it also allowed for the development of important railway connections to and from the docks (Bentley, 1997). However, the success of the railways was short lived: as traffic and commercial activity declined in the docks, so did the railways and similar transport networks, with little incentive invest in new networks or expand existing ones. Therefore, the Docklands was in desperate need of a sustainable method of transportation that didn’t rely on fluctuating economies or industries. The Docklands needed transportation to attract business, not the other way around (see figure 2) (Bentley, 1997). When the LDDC formed in the early 1980s, the Docklands transportation network was extremely limited. Railway lines encircled the former commercial zones instead of intersecting them; the closest connections being at Limehouse and Canning Town, far from the docks. Bus service was almost non-existent: only one bus line (which began in 1980) provided connections between the Docklands and Central London. In terms of the London Underground, the closest stations were all along Whitechapel Road or to the west in Wapping (relatively far from the Isle of Dogs and extremely far from the Royal Docks). Road connections were no better: there were still no good roads that connected the 7 Docklands to Central London, thanks to the canals and docks that stymied any chance of building good high-capacity road networks. According to historian James Bentley, “the lack of any good road or rail connections reinforced the perception that Docklands was far removed from the heart of the capital. If investors, home buyers, tenants, and employees were to be attracted to the area, it had to be made accessible by road and rail.”(1997, p.