Livingstone plans new Chinatown

Ken Livingstone has announced plans to create a second Chinatown in London.

The Mayor wants to develop a new Oriental quarter in the Thames Gateway to help the capital to cash in on the booming Chinese economy.

He believes this would also help prevent the area from becoming simply a dormitory for thousands of new homes and would ensure it had the vibrancy and diversity of the rest of the city.

Mr Livingstone, who unveiled his plans at the annual state of London debate last night, said they followed meetings he had held with the mayors of Beijing and Shanghai.

He said he envisaged the new Chinatown being built on land just north of Billingsgate fish market "towards the end of this decade".

He said that part of the Lower Lea Valley had the potential to accommodate 20,000 homes, although it is unclear if they would all be part of the settlement.

The Mayor said: "Nobody wants to create some uniform suburban homes in which everybody is the same.

"What I want to see is as vibrant as the best parts of London and to recognise its cultural diversity." The Thames Gateway, which stretches from Tower Bridge to the coast, has been earmarked by the Government to provide 120,000 new homes by 2016 to help ease the housing crisis in the South-East.

The Mayor's development agency believes that 91,000 of these homes can be accommodated within the M25 boundary, making better use of existing transport networks and established utilities. It would also help ease the threat to green belt land in Essex and Kent.

Mr Livingstone said China had the world's second largest economy, but was eventually expected to overtake the US. "We want London to be the Chinese economy's gateway into Europe, bringing absolutely wonderful opportunities," he said.

Speaking to a 300-strong audience at the University of London, he also outlined his wish to use the planning system to help protect London's multicultural mix. "What we are preparing is planning guidance for local authorities in London which will be called ' Preserving Uniqueness'. We don't want uniformity," he said.

Mr Livingstone also said he was determined to ensure that his target of 50 per cent of all new homes being affordable would be met. "One or two councils will be reluctant. We will use the courts if necessary-to force them to comply," he said.

A questioner provoked a huge cheer from the audience when she appealed to the Mayor to help protect the capital's high streets from the influx of coffee shop chains.

Mr Livingstone said that many independent traders had been driven out over the years by rent rises, which he admitted the Mayor had little power to influence.

"It's only when the area is up for development that we can intervene," he said, adding: "But I'm quite happy to pop into Caffè ero and Costa Coffee - and they wouldn't be there if we weren't all buying."