PEEL EAST LONDON
A story of regeneration, gentrification & communities
Dr Lois Liao, Cardiff University
Tap or click to peel
Walk preview
This self-guided walk takes you through East London: from the Olympic Park to Hackney, Victoria Park, Broadway Market, and the Museum of the Home. Each stop explores regeneration, community and place.
- Stop 1 — Olympic Bell & London Stadium (Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford)
- Stop 2 — Copper Box Arena & Here East (Olympic Park)
- Stop 3 — Hackney Play Bus & Eastway Baths (Hackney)
- Stop 4 — Victoria Park (Tower Hamlets)
- Stop 5 — Netil Market & Broadway Market (Hackney)
- Stop 6 — Centre 151 (Whiston Road)
- Stop 7 — Museum of the Home (Kingsland Road)
Plus short sections on life along the canal, listening on the bus, and the Gasholder development. Tap or click Next to continue to the full walk.
Layer 1
Context
Fridge mountain in Stratford before regeneration — Photo credit: Londonist
East London Walking Tour — a story of regeneration, gentrification & communities. The London 2012 Olympics transformed Stratford and the surrounding boroughs, bringing major investment, new infrastructure and lasting change to the area. Ten years on, the Olympic Park and its legacy continue to shape how East London looks, works and who lives there. The graphs below set the scene.
Population change / Change of types of residents
Source: The Economist (top) and ONS (bottom)
Job growth
"However, job growth has not translated into job quality. The proportion of Growth Borough jobs paying less than the London Living Wage has almost doubled since 2005, and the number of jobs in low-paying sectors has increased by 8% since 2015." — The Bartlett Review, UCL
Source: Centre for Cities
Housing cost change
Source: Lloyds Banking Group
Layer 2
Stop 1
Address / area
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Layer 3
Stop 2
Address / area
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Between Layer 4
Life in the Canal
Old picture of boat community along the canal.
Photo credit: Whiltonmarina.co.uk
Layer 5
Stop 3
Address / area
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Layer 6
Listen on the way
During the bus ride, put on your headphones to listen to Ben Selig's 'sound crash' project (Frieze London 2024): soundtracks drawing from Jamaican sonic practices, urban sound, testimony and oral history — "consider our relationship to land amidst ongoing gentrification, dislocation and submerged local stories in East London".
Track one: Hackney + Timber — tributaries connecting timber trades in Jamaica, London Docklands and Hackney Wick, with oral testimonies shifting between East London and Jamaica.
Track two: Stratford + Electrostatic — oral testimonies from Stratford and Jamaica raised to electromagnetic field signals; references early UK–Jamaica submarine cabling (1870s) and the India Rubber Gutta Percha Company in London Docklands.
Listen at: benswabyselig.com/sound-clash-2024
Watch / listen: Instagram Reel — open in Instagram
Activity: Can you take a photo that in your view represents urban change?
Layer 7
Stop 4
Address / area
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Layer 8
Stop 5
Address / area
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Layer 9
Apartment conversion
Kings Cross Gasholder development — repurposed industrial architecture.
Photo credit: Wilkinson Eyre Architects / The Spaces
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Stop 6
Address / area
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Layer 11
Stop 7
Address / area
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More to explore
Other places nearby
Brick Lane — historically Jewish, now strong Bangladeshi community and street art; Beigel Bake 24/7.
Columbia Road Flower Market — Sunday flower market; observe who visits.
Dalston — regenerated later than Shoreditch.
E Pellicci — Italian café, East London working-class style since 1900s; Kray twins frequented it (film Legend).
Hackney City Farm — urban farm in Haggerston Park; free to visit.
Hoxton Street — traditionally White working-class; resistance to regeneration (see The Street by Zed Nelson).
Kingsland Road — Vietnamese restaurants and supermarkets.
Shoreditch — one of the earliest gentrified areas in East London (mid-1970s).
V&A Storehouse — the V&A’s new collection and exhibition space in Stratford; open storage, displays and research centre in East London.
References
Sources
Benswabyselig.com (2024). Frieze London 2024. benswabyselig.com/frieze-london-2024
Broadwaymarket.co.uk (2025). History. broadwaymarket.co.uk
Centre 151 (2025). centre151.com
Centre for Cities (2013). Economic legacy of the Olympic games for London.
Hackney Planning Portal (2025). Planning 2022/0988.
Hackney Playbus (2025). hackneyplaybus.org
Lloyds Banking Group (2022). 2012 Olympic Boroughs House Price Podium.
Londonist (2011). Tonight film on fridges launch. londonist.com/2011/07/tonight-film-on-fridges-launch
ONS (2024). Employment by occupation and gender, borough.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (2022). 10 years on.
Roman Road London (2021). Rock Against Racism.
The Museum of the Home (2025). museumofthehome.org.uk
UCL (2022). The Bartlett Review: long-term impact of the Olympics on East London.
Whilton Marina (2016). Families living & working on the canal. whiltonmarina.co.uk
Lois Liao. loisliao.com
The core
You’ve reached the center
Every layer was a place. The walk is the zine. Thanks for peeling.
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