|
|
|
Mayor unveils plans to build 1,000 green homes in London |
SHANGHAI: Ken Livingstone has unveiled plans for London's first mini 'eco city'. It is likely to be built in Newham and have 1,000 homes.
The project will aim to demonstrate that homes can be built in Britain without adding to global warming.
The London Development Agency, the Mayor's regeneration body, already owns land in the borough.
Livingstone said: "There is no earthly reason why we couldn't get under way (with building) within a year."
The Mayor announced the project during his week-long visit to China, where he received a briefing about the eco city of Dongtan, being built by British engineering firm Arup.
Dongtan's first phase is due to be completed by 2020, providing homes for 80,000 people, powered by renewable energy, self-sufficient in water and with all foods sourced from surrounding farm land.
The scheme will be built on China's third largest island, Chongming, and when finished will be home to half a million people.
Petrol and diesel cars will be banned and household waste will be removed via underground tunnels.
Speaking on Wednesday in Shanghai, Livingstone said: "Global warming was created in the West but it is increasingly to the East to which we look for a solution. Shanghai's Dongtan sustainable city project is breathtaking in scale and ambition and if it works it will be a beacon on how to achieve a low-carbon future.
"London's zero-emissions development will demonstrate that we can also realise this kind of vision in Europe and that it is affordable and achievable to make all major new developments low-carbon."
The London project stems from a proposal by Greenpeace and will be taken forward by the LDA, which will work with Arup. Stephen Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace, said: "Once again London is leading the way in the UK and Ken Livingstone is showing what can be done when a politician has the drive to turn aspirations into action. It's time central government took note of what is happening across the Thames."
Arup director Peter Head said the Shanghai project was showing how urban development could tackle environmental pollution.
Head said: "We believe that clean, safe streets and good air quality will lead to better health and lower health costs. Hopefully the sound of bird song will fill the city air."
Arup has now worked on more than 300 projects in China, including some of the highest profile schemes for the 2008 Beijing Games - the Olympic stadium, National Swimming Centre and new Terminal Three at the city's International Airport.
In London, the Thames Gateway development should see an extra 120,000 homes built from Tower Bridge to the Kent and Essex coastlines over the next 15 years.
Livingstone said the capital's eco city should set standards for the rest of London and Britain when building houses in the future.
He said: "I think it will be mandatory. This is the model we want." - London Evening Standard |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
