EMERGING LONDON 2018

KEY STATISTICS C&W Evolutionary Status: UP & COMING C&W Location Ranking: 73 TfL travel zone: 4 Local authority: Barking & Dagenham Distance from central London: 9 miles east Population: 213,000 (©GLA borough population projections 2018) BARKING IG11 One of London’s newest boroughs, Barking & Dagenham was designated part of the capital in 1965. While Dagenham’s industrial heritage (notably the Ford factory, which still produces up to 1 million vehicle engines each year) is well-known, Barking’s identity has been less clearly defined. Until now. In a bold statement at MIPIM 2018, Be First, the private development company set up by the local authority in 2017, described the regeneration plans for Barking town centre as a “mini Manhattan”. Already widely respected within the property industry, Be First, chaired by veteran urban champion Lord Kerslake, plans to generate up to 20,000 jobs and create 50,000 homes on just short of 1,000 acres of development land within the next two decades. The proposals showcased at MIPIM include development above Barking’s central main line rail and Tube station, which would deliver more than 2,000 new homes. One of the first new generation schemes to come forward will be the redevelopment of Vicarage Field Shopping Centre. Owner Benson Elliot and partner Londonewcastle will provide over 800 homes while creating a new retail hub (see Interview pages 22-25). Outside the town centre, funding was agreed in early 2018 for a £263 million extension of Transport for London’s Overground line to a new railway station at Barking Riverside, due to open in 2021. One of the UK’s largest regeneration projects and led jointly by the Greater London Authority and developer L&Q, the redevelopment of Barking’s power station at Riverside will deliver nearly 11,000 new homes, housing 29,000 people, as well as circa 700,000 sq ft of commercial, including retail/leisure space. Spotlight on CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD  | EMERGING LONDON 21 20 SPOTLIGHT ON BARKING