First off, and perhaps most important, it means the Silvertown Quays area will get a pretty serious makeover. As the centre of London expands, new business districts have emerged in areas such as Stratford & North Greenwich, the current site of the O2 arena. The Mayor claims it will create 9,000 jobs when work begins in 2015.
In terms of innovation, it remains to be seen whether simply calling something innovative makes it the case. As with many ‘cultural quarters’ in cities outside London, town planners have been unable to impose culture or indeed innovation simply by promoting the area as such. Silvertown Quays will be no exception, as it will be yet another retail park stuffed mostly with huge brands, so there appears to be very little in it for small, local – and yes, innovative – businesses.
Silvertown Quays is also being touted as a future ‘enterprise zone’, which is a slightly more accurate description of the redevelopment plans. The biggest attraction will be yet another shopping centre, although this has been spruced up with ‘brand pavilions’ where businesses can showcase their products. Basically a shop window, then. Hardly very innovative. And again, most of the space will be filled with the big-name brands whose ubiquity has made every high street identical.
It would be good for business, and for innovation, if some small businesses could get a look in.
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