Video recommendation: Why are there no bridges in East London?

This entertaining and informative video explores why there are no bridges in East London - great for looking at inequality between the poorer boroughs of East London and the more affluent boroughs in the west.

In this video Jay looks at the reasons there are no bridges in East London....

1) Geography - the river is much narrower in the west, whereas in the east it becomes a huge tidal estuary with mudflats - so simply it is much harder to build a bridge there.

2) Shipping - in the 18th/19th century London was the busiest port in the world - therefore building bridges was impossible as they would have interrupted trade.

3) Lack of demand - traditionally East London has been much poorer and sparsely populated than West London - so there was no need for river crossings here.

However at the end of the 19th century road tunnels were built instead - this was supposed to trigger a revolution in tunnel crossings, but the world wars interrupted this.

So what are the solutions to make East London better connected, whilst at the same time ensuring that pollution and congestion is not increased in the area?

*Disclaimer - very occasionally Jay's language can be 'colourful' - so watch before you show students.

Don't forget to check out Jay's other Unfinished London videos to enhance your case study teaching...

Unfinished London - https://www.youtube.com/playli...

And his Map Men series is great for getting students interested in maps - just watch beforehand as there are the occasional bouts of colourful language, so you may want to choose small sections.

Map Men - https://www.youtube.com/playli...