New Port, New City: 1945 – present

This gallery takes you through the immense change that swept through Docklands

Although some of Docklands was rebuilt after the war, a lot of the area became derelict by 1975. Wharf, factory and business in the area were shutting up shop. The once-mighty Royal Docks even closed to commercial traffic, since they weren't suited to large container ships.

In the 1980s, the London Docklands Development Corporation began the physical, economic and social regeneration of the area. But it was met with a lot of opposition from local residents, who believed developers were putting profits over people.

Nothing could have prepared those local communities for the scale and pace of the change that followed. The area is now home to Canary Wharf, the Docklands Light Railway, an airport, shopping centres and international companies – all standing where the world's busiest docks once did.