High rise encroachment of City of London on East London

In my last post I presented a few photographs taken around the Bishopsgate/Spitalfields area of East London. They showed how high rise development linked to the City of London is moving North and East. The development is both private housing (expensive apartments) and office space. There is a evidence that this trend is continuing. Toynbee Hall for example is selling off properties at the Southern end of Commercial Street (to fund its own redevelopment) and London Metropolitan University is apparently selling off several of its buildings in Whitechapel area including Central House aka ‘the Aldgate Bauhaus’.

I have given some more thought to the geographic thrust of this redevelopment activity. This map shows my first thoughts on where the ‘battle front’ may be and its direction of travel. I produced this map get a visual handle on what is happening to help develop the conceptual basis of my work. It is funny how the term ‘battle front’ came so easily to mind.

The map suggests that I should take a look at the several other areas on future visits. Specific areas to look at are the area North of Liverpool Street Station towards Shoreditch, the area East of Aldgate along Whitechapel Road and up Commercial Street and the area to the East of Old Street.