Discover: East Anglia, U.K.; developers are doing to East Anglia what they have done to London's docklands.

DISCOVER: EAST ANGLIA, U.K.

London's docklands look like movie studio backlots. Cranes swing back and forth as construction workers stake out land for modern buildings; new-age office complexes go up alongside rustic-looking town houses; homes built for investment cluster along the waterfront--some reaching out over the water on pylons. Even through a gray English drizzle, the view is one of prosperity.

Little more than three years ago, a visitor to these docks would have seen decaying warehouses and vacant lots overgrown with weeds. Attracting "upmarket" business to the docklands in the midst of England's five-year economic boom was a renovation risk that paid off handsomely for investors.

But England's building boom is not restricted to London's docks. East Anglia, a region of 2 million people just to the north of London, now bustles with the dockland prosperity of the south. That's new for a region known for joblessness and stagnation.

East Anglia's population gained nearly 97,000 people between 1981 and 1986. Fully 90 percent of that growth came from migration--a sign that new jobs are plentiful and commercial activity is growing.

Norwich, the region's largest district, had 449,000 people in 1981. It gained 20,200 through migration by 1986. Peterborough, a district with 183,000 in 1981, gained 13,800 people by 1986. And more than 12,000 people moved to Huntingdon in 1986, bringing that district's total population to 129,800.

In only three regions throughout England is the population growing faster than 0.5 percent annually. ...