In the Isle Of Dogs in 1981, the population had declined and so had the employment rate. Moreover, access to the rest of London was poor. Shopping facilities were limited and there was a lack of open space. Lastly, houses were mainly rented (high rise blocks).
LDDC, the national government, property developers, local housing associations, conservation groups as well as Newham council helped towards the planning and redevelopment of the Docklands areas.
There have been different changes to the area. For the environment, they created pedestrian bridges, created more open spaces, planted around 200,000, increased the network of pedestrian and cycle routes in the area and set up a water based ecology park.
There has also been economic regeneration. The unemployment rate has fallen significantly and they have introduced a new Docklands Light Railway. 2700 businesses are trading, £7.7 billion are in private sector investment and they built major new roads such as the M11. They build a city airport too and big media firms have offices in the Canary Wharf district business complex.
In addition, there have been social changes. Council and housing association homes have been improved, over 22,000 new homes have been built and old warehouses have been gentrified to new homes. The main factor however is that there has been a large increase in amenities and services (e.g. shopping outlets etc).
The London Docklands Redevelopment was successful because shopkeepers had more trade, there was easy access in and out of the docklands and derelict/unused land had been addressed. Also, there were cheaper rents on houses and social, economic and environmental benefits that came from the regeneration scheme.
On the other hand, many locals could not afford the prices of the new houses and despite an increase in jobs, many required skills that old workers did not have. Finally, there was a reduction in community spirit, a clash between the old workers and the new people coming in.
