Canary Wharf

DISTRICT
Canary Wharf
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PostCode District	E14
Borough	London Borough of Tower Hamlets
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Canary Wharf is an area in East London located on the Isle of Dogs and in between the River Thames, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, centered on the former West India Docks.

Rivaling London's traditional financial center, the City of London, Canary Wharf contains the UK's three tallest buildings with the exception of the Shard: One Canada Square (sometimes known as the Canary Wharf Tower) at 235.1 m (774 ft); followed by 8 Canada Square and the Citigroup Centre, both at 199.5 m (654 ft). However, according to the official Canary Wharf website, One Canada Square is 800 ft (244 m).

History

HSBC World Headquarters and One Canada Square, from the western end of West India Quay

Climate activists from the Extinction Rebellion group sprayed "fake oil" onto the Barclays headquarters in Canary Wharf on Thursday May 7th 2020, calling on the bank to divest from fossil fuels.[1]

Transport

Canary Wharf Station (Jubilee Line)

Canary Wharf DLR Station

Canary Wharf is a major transport hub for connections to central London and elsewhere.

• Docklands Light Railway runs services from Canary Wharf DLR station, opened in 1991, and Heron Quays DLR station.
• Canary Wharf tube station opened on the newly extended Jubilee Line in 2000, providing London Underground services to central London and Stratford.
• River boat connections from Canary Wharf Pier are managed by London River Services and operated by Thames Clipper. Services include a regular commuter catamaran which goes to Greenwich and the O2 in the east, and to the City of London and Embankment, as well as a frequent ferry service to Rotherhithe.
• London City Airport is a few miles further to the east and can be accessed by bus, taxi and, since December 2005, DLR.

The sustainable transport charity Sustrans has proposed the construction of a bicycle and pedestrian swing bridge from Canary Wharf to Rotherhithe, and a feasibility study is underway.

Canary Wharf is one of the most important stations on the proposed Crossrail project, which would link the estate with Heathrow in the West and the Thames Gateway in the East. The Crossrail station, if built, will be situated in the North Dock and linked to the underground malls.

Significance

The three tallest skyscrapers in Canary Wharf as viewed from Cabot Square: 8 Canada Square (centre-left), One Canada Square (centre), Citigroup Centre (centre-right)

The most immediate impact of Canary Wharf has been to substantially increase land values in the surrounding area. This means that the Isle of Dogs, which had previously been seen as suited only for low density light industrial development, has been up-rated. Projects like South Quay Plaza and West India Quay are a direct consequence of this. More recently, Canary Wharf has opened the path for other developments in East London such as Stratford City and Greenwich Peninsula. It has given fresh impetus to already well established residential construction, especially of owner occupier apartments and townhouses.

At the metropolitan level, Canary Wharf was, and remains, a direct challenge to the primacy of the City of London as the UK's principal centre for the finance industry. Relations between Canary Wharf and the City of London Corporation have frequently been strained, with the City accusing Canary Wharf of poaching tenants, and Canary Wharf accusing the City of not catering to occupier needs.

Canary Wharf's national significance comes from what it replaces: the former docks were, as recently as 1961, the busiest in the world. They served huge industrial areas of east London and beyond. Both the docks and much of that industrial capacity are gone, with employment shifting to the kind of service industry accommodated in office buildings. In this respect, Canary Wharf could be cited as the strongest single symbol of the changed economic geography of the United Kingdom.

Its symbolic importance was demonstrated on 9 February 1996 when the IRA detonated a bomb near South Quay DLR station, killing two people, destroying part of the South Quay Plaza development and damaging several nearby buildings. The bomb ended a 17-month ceasefire.

In 2007, the project made headlines again when the tower at 8 Canada Place sold for £1.1 billion, setting a new record for commercial real estate in London.

Recently, Canary Wharf has gained unwelcome notoriety by banning a demonstration highlighting poor pay for office cleaners. Director Ken Loach, whose film Bread and Roses inspired the march, denounced the ban as "despicable".

External links

The website for Canary Wharf is [2] and the history page is [3]