Greenwich Park and Canary Wharf

Greenwich Park is the oldest enclosed royal park (1433) and one of the largest green spaces in south east London. It was formerly a hunting place. The Park covers the area of 74 hectares and it is situated on the top of a hill. The park is roughly rectangular in plan and it has two levels. It offers its visitors a beautiful view of the Thames River and London. The park is a part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site. There is a Prime Meridian Line there. It is also home to the old Royal Observatory, Queen’s House, Royal Naval College and National Maritime Museum. There still lives a small herd of fallow-deer and red-deer.

Canary Wharf is the large business and banking district in London located on the Isle of Dogs centered on the old West India Docks in the London Docklands. It contains the UK’s three tallest buildings: One Canada Square (235 metres), HSBC Tower and Citigroup Center (both 199.5 metres).

During the late 16th century the Port of London and the Docklands became quite important. It grew particularly in the 19th century. During the first half of the 20th century all the London’s ports were very important. Until the mid 1960's, Canary Wharf was a cargo warehouse. However, new technology and containerization cause that London’s Docklands could not keep up and by 1980 all the Docks were closed. During the 1980s the place was planned to be changed and the Isle of Dogs becomes an Enterprise Zone which offered tax allowances to both investors and developers. The constructions on Canary Wharf began in 1988.

Today the Canary Wharf is home to some important banks (e.g. BP, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Citigroup, Bank of America etc), law firms (Clifford Chance) and major news media and service firms (Reuters, the Daily Mirror). It is becoming an important shopping destination with more than 200 shops. At the end of 2006 the number of people working here was 90,302.