Sadiq Khan vows to bin ‘vanity projects’ to deliver better growth for London in dig at Boris Johnson’s garden bridge and cable car schemes
The Mayor lashed out at the legacy left by his predecessor - now the foreign secretary
SADIQ KHAN has vowed to bin “vanity projects” posing as key infrastructure - hitting out at Boris Johnson’s garden bridge and cable car schemes.
As he launched his new “good growth” agenda at the London School of Economics last night, the Mayor lashed out at the legacy left by his predecessor - now the foreign secretary.
He promised to deliver growth for London’s rapidly expanding population that involved residents, and that was “socially, environmentally and economically inclusive.”
Mr Khan told the audience that too much focus had been put on expensive, upmarket housing, at the expense of genuinely affordable places to live.
And at the same time, he claimed, “we have seen more and more vanity projects posing as infrastructure”.
The former MP for Tooting said that some people “appear more concerned about the potential nickname the building receives than the elegance of its form and whether it fits its surroundings”.
The Mayor pulled the plug on Mr Johnson’s controversial garden bridge scheme back in April, citing the huge costs involved in the project.
And as a candidate for Mayor last year, Mr Khan vowed to fund a four-year fare freeze by ending funding for Mr Johnson’s Emirates cable car.
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Promising to bring in more diversity to the design sector in London, he said that successive governments has shown a “failure to respond to the pressures of growth for decades”.
Last night he unveiled a list of 50 new advocates to lead his “good growth” drive - made up of 50 per cent women, and a quarter from BAME backgrounds.
Mr Khan claimed that previous years of “unbalanced, unfocused, unsustainable growth is leaving many Londoners feeling excluded, and left behind”.
Speaking just weeks after the horrific fire that tore through Grenfell fire in West London, he said that more must be done to ensure those who are designing London represent the wide community of Londoners.
“What this fire has done is illustrate that we are a tale of two cities - the poorest living in the richest borough… proving design and planning matters,” he said.
And he said that Mr Johnson's legacy had left Londoners feeling resentful - especially in boroughs like Kensington where the fire took place.
The Mayor said that councils have been "hollowed out of resources" and no longer had the funds to consider how good design can help deliver better buildings.
"What have we been left with?" he said. "A housing crisis, with many Londoners unable to afford to live or work here.
"A lack of investment in social infrastructure, straining local services.
"And rapid gentrification in parts of London, forcing up communities and cultural assets
"Leaving many Londoners feeling society is becoming more unequal and less integrated."