Waterfront London was part of the NLA/Building Centre exhibition programme made up of six major exhibitions a year, which take on key themes to explore London and its built environment.

In this exhibition we look at current proposals for development around London's rivers, canals and docks — how well are today's designers facing up to the challenge of building on water, the context of so many of the world's greatest architectural vistas form St Petersburg to Sydney, from Rotterdam to San Francisco?

It is hard to believe that just twenty years ago developers filled in 90 per cent of Surrey Commercial Docks — a Venice-like complex of pond sand locks of great beauty; that it was only just over a decade ago that the Government published a report that changed planning policies so that we might "restore the Thames to its former all-important role in the life and looks of London".

As recently as 2000 the Thames was designated as "public open space". For years London turned its back on its canals and waterways, burying its rivers and turning them into sewers. Now we are beginning to properly regard water as one of our major amenities. Today residential developers can expect a 10 per cent uplift on housing that overlooks water, multimillion-pound penthouses line the Thames and anglers fly-fish for brown trout in its tributaries

The Thames Strategy Report of 1995, commissioned from Arup by the then Secretary of State for the Environment John Gummer, discussed the need for improvements to river borne public transport and Bankside footpaths, architectural quality, and protection of views and heritage along a 30-mile stretch from Hampton Court to Greenwich. Stretches of riverbank and sites with development potential were identified. Gummer was keen to ensure that the Thames remained a working river carrying freight, thus reducing lorry movements in the capital, that commercial wharves should be retained and provision of two new pedestrian footbridges at Charing Cross and from Bankside Power Station towards St Paul's Cathedral.

Introduction
An overview of London's waterway strategy and The Blue Ribbon Network.

Water for transporting people and goods
An analysis of water network as a transport and leisure option.

Water and planning
How will the fluctuations in climate effect The Blue Ribbon Network?

Biodiversity
The effect of water networks, built environment and pollution on the biodiversity of rivers, such as the river Thames, Lea and Wandle.

Projects
Selection of projects recently completed or taking place across London's waterways from west to east

Must Try Harder
The requirement of an urban design framework that puts constraints on how buildings address the river and their hinterland, rather than focusing on the benefits of individual sites.

Water Bodies
A list of associations and partnerships involved in the water network.

Published January 2008
32 Pages