
A pedestrian walks past The Crystal building on Royal Victoria Dock
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Set against a backdrop of derelict Thames riverfronts, classic Eighties gangster flick The Long Good Friday saw Bob Hoskins play crook-trying-to-go-straight Harold Shand and his grand plan to regenerate London’s docks.
Fast forward 40 years, and a lot of what Shand envisaged has come to fruition. A Thames from Tower Bridge to Canary Wharf lined with flats and apartments. The Isle of Dogs like a mini-Manhattan and further afield, the Olympics transformed a moonscape north of Stratford.