• Open–City

What's happening in Barking and Dagenham

Open House London showcases great design in every London borough. Click here to find out what you can see in Barking and Dagenham this year.

Below, we tell you all about the local context of this borough's architecture, areas undergoing change and projects under construction.

In terms of regeneration Barking and Dagenham is one of the most exciting boroughs in London at the moment. For the next 20 years the area will undergo huge changes as the heart of the Thames Gateway, including a new sustainable community at Barking Riverside which is the largest current regeneration area in Europe. The updated regeneration strategy aims to maximise the benefit from this investment in the Gateway and the area will further benefit as one of host boroughs for the 2012 Olympics.

In line with the government’s plans to develop sustainable communities Barking and Dagenham contains the UK’s biggest brownfield regeneration site, Barking Riverside that hopes to be a model for 21st century sustainable living. At least 30% of the housing will be family accommodation and 41% of the total habitable rooms will be allocated as affordable housing. In order to provide a higher quality of life for the community 40% of the site will be designated as open space, and will give access to the River Thames for the first time. Recent available land in South Dagenham will also be made into a sustainable community.

Barking and Dagenham is also home to the London Sustainable Industries Park at Dagenham Dock, which aims to create the UK’s largest concentration of environmental industries and technologies in a development that showcases cutting edge technologies such as recycling, renewable energy generation, and manufacture of sustainable construction materials. Importantly, in the current economic climate, the site is tackling the view that the environmental business sector can hinder regeneration.

As part of its 2020 Vision the borough is working on the regeneration of Barking Town Centre by providing excellent retail, leisure, cultural and social facilities. The overall aim is to encourage the development of a well-educated and skilled community by which existing business will grow. The urban landscape will change as the council helps build an environment to enable this growth and attract new investment to the area. Public transport has been improved through the East London Transit scheme, with a second phase planned, to providing better links with Barking Riverside. An extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Dagenham Dock is planned, as is a new station at Renwick Road.
The borough is gaining a reputation for high quality design and public realm and has won numerous awards in the last few years including Best European Public Square for Barking Town Square; Barking Central received the 2010 CABE Building for Life Standard and received two New London Awards including Joint Overall Winner.

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