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 practically all of the Municipal Borough of Barking and also the greater part of the Municipal Borough of Dagenham, the former area of which was transferred to Greater London from Essex. It is an Outer London borough and the south is within the London Riverside part of the Thames Gateway, which is an region designated as a national priority for urban regeneration. It covers a total area of 13.93 square miles.
In line with the 2011 census, the area features a population of around 198294, the majority of which reside within the Becontree estate. A lot of the housing of the borough was constructed by the London County Council through the interwar period of 1921-1939. Since the decline of these industries during the 1980s, employment has shifted more towards service sector jobs.
Much of the borough is inside the London Riverside area of the Thames Gateway zone and it is the site of considerable property building and other improvement. Barking and Dagenham was one of six London boroughs to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.