Barking and Dagenham
The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is a London borough in East London, England. It lies around 9 miles (14.4 km) east of Central London. The borough was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963 as the London Borough of Barking. The constituent areas were nearly all of the Municipal Borough of Barking as well as the greater part of the Municipal Borough of Dagenham, the former location of which was transferred to Greater London from Essex. It is an Outer London borough and the south is inside the London Riverside part of the Thames Gateway, which is an area designated as a national priority for urban regeneration. It covers a total area of 13.93 square miles.
As outlined by the 2011 census, the area includes a population of around 198294, the majority of which reside within the Becontree estate. Major settlement of the area, mainly escaping slum conditions in the East End of London, occurred during the time when the new motor and chemical industries, including the Ford Motor Company plant at Dagenham were established. Since the decline of these industries in the 1980s, employment has shifted much more towards service sector jobs.
A lot of the borough is inside the London Riverside section of the Thames Gateway zone and it's the site of considerable house developing along with other development. Barking and Dagenham was one of six London boroughs to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.
