A new bid to transform the Royal Docks in east London was launched by Sadiq Khan on Thursday.
This includes the search for a new development partner to regenerate historic Royal Albert Dock after a scheme backed by former mayor Boris Johnson to attract Asian businesses created a “ghost town”, with office blocks standing empty.
Mr Khan believes 36,000 new homes and 55,000 new jobs can be delivered across the docks, which became home to the new City Hall in 2022.
The area fell into decline in the 1960s and 1970s and much of the area remains derelict.
Mr Khan today published a £2bn five-year plan for the area. Highlights include building a new cycling and pedestrian bridge over the Royal Victoria Dock to link with the Elizabeth line station at Custom House and creating a “thriving new high street” along Silvertown Way.
Road connections to the area will be improved when the Silvertown tunnel opens in summer next year. A new commercial shipyard will be completed at Albert Island. Mr Khan will invest a further £64m in the area, on top of £44m already committed.
He said: “Once the beating heart of global trade, today the Royal Docks is re-emerging as one of the country’s leading areas of opportunity, investment, and innovation.
“Our new five-year plan sets out the vision for unlocking the full potential of this area with a multi-billion-pound regeneration programme that will deliver thousands of new homes and jobs and create a new economic powerhouse for the capital.”
Two years ago Mr Khan announced plans to build 1,500 homes at Millennium Mills in Royal Victoria Docks, half of which were to be affordable.
He has been working on regenerating the area for the last five years with Newham council.
Rokhsana Fiaz, the mayor of Newham, said: “Looking ahead to the coming five years we’ll unlock the full potential of the Royal Docks as a thriving part of London.”
In 2022, City Hall terminated the deal Mr Johnson signed with a Chinese firm to redevelop the Royal Albert Dock “after it became clear that the developer failed to meet its contractual obligations and deliver the scheme”.
The seven developments being brought forward on land owned by City Hall includes: Royal Albert Dock, Silvertown, Albert Island, Royal Albert Wharf, Thameside West, Royal Victoria Square and Royal Eden Docks.
