The Wiki article on embanking the Thames in London seems to be about the history of public embanking projects. Embanking (also public) probably began in Roman times and private embanking probably continued from the early medieval period until public works got underway in the nineteenth century. None of these works had any concern for the ecology of banks – and the first ecological project I can think of took place on the Greenwich Peninsula in preparation for the millennium celebrations.
Removing mangroves to make way for coffee bars seems a bad idea to me – I wonder if the planners know that coffee prices are heading for boiling point?

It would be interesting to have an understanding of the process of embankment of the Thames and its consequences for the city and its ecological and social life. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Embankment ]