Tower Hamlets - a city?

It's not just Croydon. Apparently Tower Hamlets is also seeking city status. I can see the logic for Croydon - the attention might help it draw the investment it wants to turn the area around. And its geography, far from the centre of London, makes it plausible (it was a seperate town until 1965). But Tower Hamlets? Surely not as The Economist mulls just an attempt by the elected mayor to raise his profile cheaply?