Barking
Barking is a town and district within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is 8.8 miles east of Charing Cross and is among the 35 significant centres named in the London Plan. Historically, it was a fishing settlement in Essex and an ancient parish. Then it moved to market gardening and industrial development towards the south, beside the River Thames.
Barking quickly developed into a larger town and its rail station opened in 1854. It has been served by the London Underground since 1908. In the course of the twentieth century, when there was significant suburban growth of London, Barking expanded and increased in population. This was mainly as a result of the development of the London County Council estate at Becontree within 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 present in plans for regeneration. You will find former industrial lands to the south which are being redeveloped as Barking Riverside, which aims to regenerate the Thames riverside region of East London by way of new houses, jobs and services. It consists of 350 acres of brownfield land, and development started in 2008. It's expected to be finished by about 2025. 10,000 houses are going to be built, which are anticipated to house 25,000 people. The developers will also offer new transport links, which includes East London Transit and an extension of the Docklands Light Railway at Barking Riverside DLR station.