London Photo Gallery - Aerials (Budapest - Heathrow)

The flight path into Heathrow from the east offers spectacular views from the City. I always try to get a right window seat and hope the prevailing winds work in my favour. Today, I'm flying into Heathrow from Budapest in the early evening under sunny summer skies. We entered London from the northwest, turned almost 180 degrees to head back east. From my window I had Central London and the river Thames in full view. The City's skyscrapers and the Shard were easily visible. We continued east past Stratford before turning 180 degrees for final approach, passing south of Canary Wharf and Southwark as we headed west for landing. The waterways around Stratford and West Ham are seeing various levels of regeneration. With good Tube links, it's a short commute into the main office districts. London has plenty of old docks that can be regenerated to provide more housing. Royal Victoria Dock to the east of Canary Wharf is a good example with a massive exhibition centre, hotels, and new residential buildings. Construction continues ... Greenwich Peninsula is another regeneration project and this one is quite a massive site. This area along Old Kent Road is seeing a lot of regeneration with talk of extending the Bakerloo Line this way, although funding hasn't been secured so there is no realistic completion timeline. p> Now, I can see the City's skyline from the other direction. Nine Elms is a fairly well-developed new highrise residential community with the US Embassy calling home. Yet, the security presence isn't too visible beyond its immediate vicinity. Residents can still carry out their daily activities as usual. Unlike nearby Battersea Power Station that has been rejuvenated into a big tourist destination, Chelsea Creek's old power station that used to power the Tube has a more low-profile new use. It has a small shopping mall mixed with residential units.