ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on foreign direct investment (FDI) into East London and examines the trajectory of the subregion's economic development in the wake of London 2012. East London was presented with a unique opportunity to raise its global profile as a destination for FDI. The Olympic village and Westfield's shopping mall development illustrates the ways in which the Olympic project played a significant part in securing FDI, particularly in Stratford, in the pre-event phase. The potential for its expansion arises in part from the scope provided by the geographical concentration of micro- and larger scale firms in East London and the potential for its geographical reach to expand to include the area from Shoreditch to the Olympic park. The Demos report in its discussion of government policies on FDI suggests interviews with a sample of microfirms, that proximity to the Olympic park and the potential for the Shoreditch cluster to connect to it was very limited.
