Tower Hamlets covers the heart of London’s traditional East End. Despite bordering the City, this is an area once largely associated with poverty, violence and dodgy local politics. The redevelopment of the Docklands and Canary Wharf in the late 1990s began to change things until now, 30 years on, areas such as Whitechapel and Brick Lane have become synonymous with artworld cool and rocketing real estate prices.