Farrell, known as London’s master planner, revealed his new vision in the Estates Gazette London Investor Guide, launched at MIPIM this week.
The proposals, which address how London could accommodate radical growth over the next decade, include strategies to “intensify” London’s core beyond the Circle Line and to use the capital’s outer ring road as a new boundary line. This would draw new areas previously considered fringe into what could become a new central London zone.
“Once connected, Croydon [pictured] could be as core as Elephant & Castle, Woolwich could be as core as Liverpool Street, and Tottenham could be as core as King’s Cross,” said Farrell.
He added that the key hurdle would be funding the infrastructure required to enable sufficient connectivity to support such a dramatic extension of the capital’s centre.
Intensifying London’s core is one of four major propositions in the proposal. The other three comprise: making London into a national park city; creating town centres around transport hubs; and stitching together east London with 12, new low-level bridges – something Farrell argues could be delivered for the cost of the £175m Garden Bridge.
He has also used the proposals to recommend that the minimum number of homes needed across all of the newly established core town centres would be 200,000.
“In the next ten years London will be adding the population equivalent of Birmingham. This will work only if growth is connected and pro-actively planned,” he said. “In the context of this unprecedented expansion, we should reconsider our definitions of London’s core and fringe. We cannot afford to create any missed opportunity areas by falling short of the appropriate density and mix in what must now surely be seen as core rather than fringe areas.”
emily.wright@estatesgazette.com
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