Making the Modern Financial Centre: The Rebirth of Docks

Looking towards the East from the City of London, one can see a complex of skyscrapers shining in the sunshine. It is the Canary Wharf, the second financial centre for the nation located on the Isle of Dogs. Its establishment records London’s evolution since the 19thcentury, Indicating the changes in economic and social structures of London.

The Isle of Dogs belonged to the West India Docks. Judged by its name, it is obvious that the main purpose of these docks was for exporting and importing goods from British West Indies. Just like many other London’s docks, the West India Docks was originally associated with slavery including slave-trade and using slaves in West Indies plantation centres. This was how chairmen, a group of wealthy businessmen, generated their wealth and pushed for the establishment of the docks. As most of London’s docks, the West India Docks was owned by private companies for their benefits from their establishments until the early 20thcentury.

Private-owned docks always come with competitions. Working conditions were not ideal for laborers and they could also be accused of stealing precious imports. By the end of the 19thcentury, the enclosed dock system faced enormous internal competition as well as strikes from the worker’s side. Thus, the Port of London Authority was established between 1908-1909 and took over control of the majority of docks including the West India Docks.

Since WWI, the use of the docklands has begun to change. There was no doubt that London’s port continued for the next 50 years as one of the city’s largest employers. Yet, there were other industries that began to flourish. For instance, tourism increased since the 1920s where palatial hotels were built at Park Lane and Marble Arch. By the 1960s, 1.6 million foreigners came to London to visit. Along with that, transportation has also developed. Docks were no longer the only way to import cargo as airports were constructed in multiple places in the city including Heathrow in 1946, Gatwick in 1958, Stansted in 1964 and London City Airport in 1987.

As a consequence, the decline of port industry led to close-down of several docks from the 1960s and by 1980s they were all closed. The British government came up with redevelopment plans including the establishment of the London Docklands Development Corporation. The idea to transform Canary Wharf into the next financial centre was initiated by Michael von Clemm, former chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston, who was using the Canary Wharf as a backup office.

The project was sold to a Canadian company and the construction started in 1988. The first building, 1 Canada Square was completed in 1991 and was the tallest building in the UK at the time, symbolising the rebirth of the docklands. Although in the early 1990s there was a hit in the commercial property market and its constructor went bankrupt, and a new investment was put in a few years later. With the extension of the Jubilee line, the West India Docks eventually achieved its ‘renaissance’ in the Millennium.