WALL STREET ON WATER
– The Architecture & Planning of
Canary Wharf

2.9km/1.8miles - 2 hours

In the 1980s London’s great new opportunity was the East End. In Thatcher’s free market city, Docklands was there for the taking. Over 30 years later what was once the centre of London’s mighty 19th century port is one of the most important financial hubs in the world – a quayside fragment of Wall Street with all the North American brashness and architectural chutzpah to match. From marine relics and wharves to beaux arts arcades, post-modern icons and high-tech underworlds, this walk charts the making of this icon of urban planning, exploring the politics, business deals and various waves of boom and bust that have marked its spectacular creation.