The New City Canary Wharf is probably the best symbol of London’s recent development as a financial centre. Today, the complex is a bustling hub for the world’s financial services industry. Its skyscrapers, which house more than 60,000 workers, include the global headquarters of two the world’s largest financial institutions and the European head offices of several US investment banks. Law firms and ratings agencies have moved there, as has the Financial Services Authority, the City’s main regulator. Bankers rave about the quality of its buildings, and the benefits of bringing all their employees together under a single roof.
To the casual observer, Canary Wharf may look like a model of far-sighted planning. In fact it is the opposite. Opened at the beginning of a recession, Canary Wharf spent its first five years struggling with poor transport links and an absence of tenants. The Corporation of London, which is responsible for the City’s traditional power base in the Square Mile, lobbied furiously to prevent banks from moving there. Its developer, the Canadian group Olympia & York, filed for bankruptcy in 1992.
