Stratford endogenous

• Location

  • Stratford is a district located in the East End of London, in the London Borough of Newham.
  • Stratford is part of the Lower Lea Valley River, which empties around 5 miles south into the River Thames near the London Docklands area. This proximity resulted in many workers not involved in local light industry to work in the London Docks until gradual deindustrialisation in the latter part of the 20th Century
• topography

  • Stratford was built on the banks of the River Lea, a tributary of the River Thames. The town is flat and dissected by the Lea
• physical geography

  • Like much of the East End, Stratford was originally a farming area (due to proximity to River Lea) and remained fairly rural for many centuries.
  • Until the middle of the 19th century (1850s), Stratford provided London with a lot of agricultural goods, becoming best known for potato production.
  • It started to move from farming to industrial manufacturing in the mid-1700s during the industrial revolution and has principally hosted light manufacturing and industry
• land use and history

  • Industrial history – many factories located in Stratford due to its position between London and East Anglia. The Thames nearby was an important trading connection to the outside world.
  • Metropolitan Building Act of 1844 restricted dangerous and noxious industries away from the city. At the time, Stratford was originally ‘outside’ Central London and made it a perfect location for industries to locate.
  • By the 19th century, Stratford was heavily industrialised with its own railway, dock and wharves for transportation of goods.
• built environment

  • Settlement was originally a small linear village close to a crossing over the River Lea forming part of the Roman road that links London to Colchester.
  • Since then much terraced housing, apartment blocks and council housing originally built for Industrial workers and low-income families is present, as well as many newer ‘luxury’ high-rise buildings and developments.
• infrastructure

  • The railway works closed down in the 1990s and, like much of the East End, Stratford suffered from high unemployment rates of over 10%.
  • The area got an immediate boost when it was announced that the 2012 London Olympics would be held at Stratford. The specially built Olympic Park, new housing and the Westfield
  • Stratford City (over 300 shops) did much to regenerate the area.
  • Infrastructure: The borough has excellent transport links such as a vast bus network and underground as well as links between London and East Anglia / the South Eas
• demographic

  • Population *2018 est. = 35,000
  • Average age is 31 (significantly under the national average.)
  • 40.5% of population born in the UK.
  • Minority White British (40.8% compared to UK average of 85%
• economic situation

  • 5% of people are on benefits. The average salary is £26,000-28,000 – slightly below the national average.
  • Unemployment Rate of 4.9% (down from over 10% at turn of century (UK = 3.8%))