Posted Nov 23, 2006, 4:12 PM
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fried white rice
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Greater London, UK
Posts: 1,307
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Might be interesting, a yesterday's arctcle in the FT about the future of Canary Wharf...
Quote:
London’s Canary Wharf plan boasts 200,000 jobs
By Ben Hall, Political Correspondent
Published: November 21 2006 22:07 | Last updated: November 21 2006 22:07
The number of people working at Canary Wharf would more than double to 200,000 under revised government plans to redevelop the Thames Gateway.
Ruth Kelly, the communities secretary, will on Wednesday give further details of what is billed as the largest regeneration project in western Europe, predicting it could contribute £12bn a year to the UK economy if completed.
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Ms Kelly will also respond to criticism that the project in east London lacks co-ordination and has produced soulless communities of poorly designed housing.
The government envisages a big expansion of Canary Wharf to extract greater economic benefits from the regeneration area, which extends for 40 miles east from London’s docklands along the Thames estuary to Southend in Essex and Sheerness in Kent.
The capital’s new financial district already houses 82,000 employees and the London headquarters of several international banks. Under the revised regeneration plan, that will swell to 200,000 by 2026.
Canary Wharf has been earmarked as one of four hubs of economic transformation, alongside the channel tunnel rail link interchanges at Ebbsfleet and Stratford, a cluster of ports including Tilbury and a new container terminal at Shellhaven, and the Olympics site in Stratford and the Lower Lea Valley.
The Thames Gateway aims to deliver 180,000 new jobs and 160,000 new homes within 20 years. However, with responsibility divided between more than 40 public authorities, it has been criticised for lacking strategic direction and oversight.
The government has responded by appointing a chief executive to oversee the project. Judith Armitt, a former chief executive of Medway council in Kent, one of the local authorities most affected, starts this week.
In her speech on Wednesday Ms Kelly will also acknowledge criticism of the poor quality of up to a quarter of the 30,000 new homes already built, admitting that “some of the previous development has not been up to scratch”.
She will urge developers and councils to “raise their game” to improve the design of homes, build more family homes rather than flats and provide better community amenities.
The updated plan envisages 16,500 new jobs at the container port at Shellhaven, although planning permission has not yet been granted, and 16,000 jobs created at a new commercial centre at Ebbsfleet Valley.
Meanwhile, redevelopment of the Olympics site could create up to 50,000 jobs in permanent sports facilities and a large retail centre.
“The long-term challenge of regenerating the Thames Gateway requires long-term commitment and focus from us and our partners,” Ms Kelly will say. “We are already seeing progress on the ground in the Gateway with new transport links, university campuses, jobs and homes; but for real success we must go further and faster.”
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source: FT.com
so does that mean more and taller towers in CW? I hope so!
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