In the 1990s a number of the area's more rundown housing estates were refurbished and some disused public buildings were privately converted into gated communities.

In 1086, Haggerston was first recorded in Domesday Book as Hergotestane,[1] a name that may derive from a Saxon farmer called Hærgod, who either had a ‘ton’ (farmstead) here or a stone that marked the boundary of his land.

On Rocque's 1745 map of Hackney, it is shown as Agostone[3] but by the 19th century it had become Haggerstone,[4] Edmond Halley was born in the village on 8 November 1656.

[7] At the end of the 18th century, Haggerston was still rural, with local farmers supplying nearby London with milk and dairy products and feed for horses.

[1] The Cat & Mutton Bridge which crosses the Regents Canal still carries the name of a former alehouse that stood on the site at the extreme right, and has been closed since at least 1919.

[8] Nichols Square was a development built in 1841, and featured two rows of Tudor gothic villas at its centre; it was later enhanced in 1867-9 by the addition of St Chad's church.

The architect George Finch worked on the Suffolk Estate, which was an early low-rise, high-density scheme built in the 1950s, with a mix of flats and houses.

[13] In August 1990, PC Laurence Brown was murdered while responding to a 999 call along Pownall Road in Orwell Court on the Suffolk Estate.

In recent years, escalating property prices have driven commercial art galleries further into east London, which has exacerbated this effect.

For the same reason, Haggerston has been attracting tech start-ups around Silicon Roundabout in Old Street, with some people calling the area "Hackerston".

In June 2009, after a long community campaign, a £5m grant was announced from the Department for Children, Schools and Families to refurbish and reopen the pool.

Filmed over seven years, it reveals and celebrates the resilience of residents who are profoundly overlooked by media representations and wider social responses.