London’s innovative stance on becoming a cleaner city
Lighting up the capital and breathing in cleaner air – London’s innovative stance on becoming a cleaner city.
Tower Bridge is one of London’s most iconic landmarks and in May this year a new lighting system was unveiled on the bridge, designed to collaborate with London’s aims to be a more environmentally friendly city.
Thanks to intuitiveness, hard work and collaboration between the public and private sectors, the Greater London Authority replaced all existing lighting on London Tower Bridge, including public lighting, with energy efficient LED lighting. The old lighting system was in actual fact well past its sell by date having been established in the 1980s.
The new lights enhance the distinct architectural features of the bridge making it appear much more gothic than it previously did. Tower Bridge’s exemplary new lighting system really came to life during this summer’s Olympic and Paralympics Games by lighting up gold whenever a British athlete won a gold medal!
Not only has the new lighting system significantly improved the aesthetical appearance of Tower Bridge, but it will save over 40% in energy, meaning it was save more than 7.5 m kw hours of energy during its 25-year lifespan.
Tower Bridge’s new innovatory lighting system is just one component of a wide-ranging drive to make London an eco-friendlier city.
Heathwickton? London airports look set for a makeover by 2020
In October this year, bosses at Gatwick Airport initiated the process of building a second runway at London’s second largest airport.
In an attempt to resolve Britain’s air capacity crisis, Gatwick officials are studying options to build a second runway by 2020. A second runway cannot be built before 2019 due to a long-standing local agreement. However, Gatwick bosses have announced they are looking at the implications of building a new airport, and are evaluating the environmental and economic impacts of various second runway options.
London’s busiest airport, Heathrow, is currently operating close to full capacity, after the government blocked plans to build a third runway at Heathrow, due to the considerable increase of planes that would fly directly over the capital.
It is being argued that a second runway at Gatwick would have a considerably lower environmental impact than a third runway at Heathrow. As Howard Davies, former Financial Services Authority Head stated in a recent press release:
“There are clear practical advantages of a new runway at Gatwick. When compared with a third runway at Heathrow, we would have a significantly lower environmental impact whilst adding significantly more capacity.”
“Britain open for business” – UK Airports to follow in Heathrow’s footsteps in fast-tracking the mega-rich
London’s transport systems have never been frightened of experimenting with innovative techniques to improve transportation and infrastructure in the capital, although the latest transport announcement is guaranteed to lift a few eyeballs.
Following on from Heathrow Airport’s innovative yet controversial ‘Heathrow by Invitation’ scheme, which enables those who can afford it to have their own immigration officer sort out their documents and luggage while they sip champagne in the VIP lounge, for a mere sum of £1,800, this autumn the House of Commons was told that the super-rich will be able to enjoy the privilege of a fast-track lane for passport control at London airports.
Recognising that the mega-rich were “valuable to the economy”, head of the UK Border Agency, Brian Moore; spoke about plans that would give “high value kind of business people.” During a Home Affairs select committee at the House of Commons, Moore talked about aspirations to give the world’s elite a smoother ride at UK’s passport control borders:
“It is an idea that officials are discussing with port operators. It will then go back to ministers for them to consider whether and how it is going to be progressed. It is an idea that is being pursued,” said Moore.
Battersea Power Station Redevelopment Project – A Great Source of Jobs and Homes
The long-awaited redevelopment of the Battersea Power Station will create a prolific 26,000 jobs in the UK. The Riverside revamp project, which is expected to start before the end of the year, will go a long way in helping Britain boost employment and crawl its way out of recession.
On announcing the positive news that the anticipated redevelopment of the Battersea Power Station will create so many jobs, Rob Tincknell, CEO of the Battersea Power Station Development Company, told reporters:
“As the UK fights its way out of recession, major projects such as Battersea Power Station will be key to drive inward investment and job creation. Our development will, at its completion, be worth around £8 billion to the economy, and create up to 26,000 jobs.”
Naturally, all the jobs won’t be available at once and will be dispersed throughout the estimated 12 years that it will take for the derelict land in Battersea to be transformed into a vibrant, modern riverside development.
‘London – A City Through Time’ – An interactive new London app encyclopedia
With the phenomenal growth and popularity of apps in the last couple of years, it stands to reason that there is an increasing surge of apps dedicated to one of the most exciting, unique and highly visited cities in the world. In fact so ‘on demand’ are apps dedicated to various aspects of life in London that a whole new genre of applications have been created, commonly referred to as ‘London apps’.
The latest new London app to have arrived in this seemingly sought-after genre of apps, is titled ‘London – A City Through Time’, which features the London likes of celebrities and in-depth and interactive information about the 2,000 year history of the capital.
This novel application includes 6,000 entries from the London Encyclopaedia, which will provide users with comprehensive information on London’s history over the past 2,000 years. This interactive app will include video footage as well as audio clips taken from the Museum of London.
A long list of some of the biggest names in show business have been involved with ‘London – A City Through Time’, keen to share their likes and views about one of the most unique cities on the globe, which hides a dark and fascinating history.
The celebrities featured on this “fully connected” new London app encyclopaedia cross a wide spectrum of industries, nationalities and art forms, included the recommendations of British minimalist composer Michael Nyman, the London likes of American actress and producer Renee Zellweger, as well as the views and recommendations of the highs of London, former politician and British author, Jeffery Archer.
