Riverside Living – Royal Docks

Never before has London riverside living been so alluring. Since the closure of the old docks in the early Seventies, the once-polluted Thames and the industrial land hugging it have undergone a remarkable transformation, with regeneration bringing fabulous new waterfront apartments and amenities. A raft of pre-2012 Olympics initiatives aims to make the riverfront an even more enjoyable place to live, work and play — and to exploit the Thames’s potential as a transport artery.

New piers, promenades, parks, pontoons and moorings are being created. Perhaps the most spectacular project is a cable car (called Emirates Air Line) across the Thames between Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Docks, forecast to carry up to 2,500 people an hour — or two million passengers a year.
The five-minute crossing will provide a direct link between the O2, Europe’s biggest entertainment venue, and ExCeL, the UK’s largest exhibition space, and will be plugged into the transport network, with two new stations featuring on London’s iconic Tube map. The £36 million project is on track to open next summer. Set around the river bend from Canary Wharf for decades, Royal Docks has been one of London’s great regeneration opportunities — a giant tract of land with 12 miles of waterfront waiting to be transformed into a brand-new district, only four miles from the City.

Recently, the area was designated an enterprise zone, aimed at boosting business through tax breaks. By 2017 Royal Docks will also have a Crossrail station, providing a direct link to Heathrow.

Posted on the 11th February, 2012

Posted in Royal Docks

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