Housing experiment in the dock

摘要

After the final legal hurdles were cleared at the end of last month, site preparations are starting on a purpose-built, mixed-use urban village in London Docklands. However, planners and prospective residents are divided over just how far an urban village can be expected to go in terms of building community identity. The families on the 22nd floors of Barnwood Court, two isolated tower blocks next to London's Royal Victoria Docks, have a unique perspective on modern-day Docklands. To the west lie the gleaming towers of Canary Wharf; closer to home are the council estates of Poplar and Canning Town; a riverside industrial belt borders the site on the south; and on the waterfront, in the shadow of Barnwood Court, the latest Docklands contradiction is about to take shape - a purpose-built "urban village".