Igor Clark

The Idea of Canary Wharf came from a basic need. The Big Bang deregulation of financial services in London had radically changed the way merchant banks operated.

Instead of the small, corridor and office based buildings occupied in the traditional square mile, the demand was now for large floor-plate, open plan space which could be used as a trading floor.

The Corporation of the City of London had been resisting such development, preferring instead to conserve its historical architecture and views. So banks like Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) had spent years trying without success to locate suitable space close to the financial heart of London.

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Canary Wharf was, and remains, a direct challenge to the primacy of the City of London as the UK's principal centre for the finance industry. Relations between Canary Wharf and the Corporation of London have frequently been strained, with the City accusing Canary Wharf of poaching tenants, and Canary Wharf accusing the City of not catering to occupier needs.

Canary Wharf's national significance comes from what it replaces: The former docks were, as recently as 1961, the busiest in the world. They served huge industrial areas of east London and beyond. Both the docks and much of that industrial capacity are gone, with employment shifting to the kind of service industry accommodated in office buildings. In this respect, Canary Wharf could be cited as the strongest single symbol of the changed economic geography of the United Kingdom.

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From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Wharf