Barking
Barking is a town and district within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It's 14.2 km east of Charing Cross and is among the 35 important centres named in the London Plan. Historically, it was a fishing settlement in Essex and an ancient parish. After that it moved to market gardening and industrial development to the south, close to the River Thames.
Barking soon developed into a larger town and its rail station opened in 1854. It has been served by the London Underground since 1908. During the 20th century, when there was substantial suburban growth of London, Barking expanded and increased in population. This was primarily resulting from the construction of the London County Council estate at Becontree inside the 1920s. Barking became a municipal borough in 1931 and part of Greater London in 1965.
The town centre is a significant retail and commercial district which is at the moment in plans for regeneration. There are former industrial lands towards the south which are being redeveloped as Barking Riverside, which aims to regenerate the Thames riverside region of East London through new residences, jobs and services. It contains 350 acres of brownfield land, and development started in 2008. It's expected to be completed by about 2025. 10,000 residences are going to be built, which are expected to house 25,000 individuals. The developers will also offer new transport links, such as East London Transit along with an extension of the Docklands Light Railway at Barking Riverside DLR station.