This is my student exemplar of 70/70 Geography NEA, showcasing the structure and writing skills students need to get an A* in A-Level Geography. There are many creative and original techniques used which can be replicated in order to achieve top grades
How has Canary Wharf paved
the way for local economic
development?
- How has the financial prosperity of canary wharf funded regeneration?
- What are the causes of economic development in the Canary Wharf district?
- Are the benefits of Canary Wharf experienced throughout London?
1
, Contents
Introduction Pages 03-07
Methodology Pages 08-17
Data Presentation and Analysis Pages 17-38
Conclusion and Evaluation Pages 38-44
Bibliography Page 47
2
,Introduction
What drew me to this topic is my fascination as to how the backbone of the UK’s success
and superpower status stems from the amalgamation of geography and classic economics.
The subject of development, in my opinion, is merely a by-product of GDP growth and how
globalisation has paved the way for this to occur. With the global integration of currency
and investment markets, Canary Wharf became the obvious choice for my area of research,
how its prosperity has the ability to exacerbate the development of its local area but an
improvement in the quality of life for the nation as a whole. The purpose of my research is
to configure the interdependency between the UK government and Canary Wharf in order
to fund regeneration and development schemes and understand to what extent
hypothecation of tax revenues earned by the district benefits locals as well as residents of
the London. I also wish to define the difference in perspective between locals and
commuters, so I have connected to a former mayor (commuter) as well as local residents in
order to gain a range of perspectives of the success of Canary Wharf.
Canary Wharf is my chosen area of interest due to a plethora of factors, one being the
successful reimaging of the area alongside its multi-billion-dollar transformation when
regenerating Canary Wharf into the UK’s most GDP lucrative area and thriving quaternary
industry. Another being that Canary Wharf accommodates many of the world’s leading TNCs
in finance and insurance and how the volatility of international markets and global trade
creates uncertainty of their future presence as well as questions the possibility of stable,
continued economic development which has been seen since its introduction in 1987 as the
financial hub of London and United Kingdom.
Before conducting a great length of research, my hypothesis was tied to the idea how
Canary Wharf is a global hub for the finance sector and is the main provider for a large
proportion of the UK’s GDP. Despite finding that these assumptions are true to an extent,
there are also many downsides of Canary Wharf and Londoner’s lack of both confidence and
3
, continuity of the district’s ability to underpin the UK’s economic development. Moreover,
the use of a variety of information sources has given me the opportunity of understanding
how opinions vary, especially concerning social mobility on the topic of Canary Wharf, which
itself is an area of high controversy, which I wouldn’t have expected before exploring into
the field. My other suggestions for a working title were: ‘How has the regeneration of
Canary Wharf caused prosperity in the district’ which I found too niche seeing as the main
function of the district was to create a thriving financial sector which will benefit the UK and
London as a whole, which is why I shall be evaluating projects used by taxpayer money,
fuelled by the corporation tax paid by the TNCs located in Canary Wharf. I also chose to
incorporate both London and the district in the category ‘local’ in order to create a structure
to my investigation, giving me multiple depths of focus, which is relevant especially when
considering development and the inequality which can arise from economic growth, as seen
in the BRIC nations where the domestic development gap between social classes is widening
significantly attributed to single-sector growth.
An important consideration is Canary Wharf’s global status, comparing to USA’s Silicon
Valley and Mumbai’s centre of finance, it is of paramount importance that Canary Wharf is
able to compete with these areas in terms of technology and facilities available in order to
attract and maintain large TNC headquarters in the capital. A loss of such industry could lead
to potential recessions and the economic decline of the UK, which helps to understand its
national and global significance, and in what ways it paves the way for the development of
the UK. In my research, I am intending to gain an understanding as to Canary Wharf’s global
relevance and how its integration into international markets creates a global
interdependence, economically developing the United Kingdom as well as attracting Foreign
Direct Investment which citizens of London would benefit from. Canary Wharf stood out to
me as an area which, despite having strong domestic financial links for the UK and London,
made London considered to be a ‘global hub’ of business and enterprise activity. This
particularly intrigued me seeing as a domestic and international perspective is able to be
reached, rather than a local area to me, which many people would argue has a smaller
international significance. In order to understand Canary Wharf’s international relevance, I
have had to conduct research using social media sites and transboundary communication
with pre-established international connections.
Canary Wharf in the forthcoming years is going to play a huge role in the stability and
survival of the UK economy. With recessionary pressure looming due to the pandemic and
recent war-centric market crashes, the success of Canary Wharf is vital as it provides such a
proportion of the UK Government’s total tax revenue. However, if the global financial
markets are to collapse, then London and the UK could enter turmoil seeing as Canary
Wharf is so heavily reliant on the finance and investment banking sector, so the possibility
of further government schemes to support the uphold of Canary Wharf and its possible
development may occur soon in order to prepare for a financial crash, similarly to 2008. This
may suggest high investment into the technological development as well as quaternary
research, an effective regeneration scheme. On the contrary, a forecasted recession could
be disastrous for Canary Wharf if the government doesn’t intervene, demonstrating the
importance of effective governance, a key player which we shall explore in detail.
4
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