Unveiling the strategy, Ken Livingstone said:"London is a dynamic powerful and living city, one of the leading commercial and financial cities in the world and the engine of the UK economy. As a magnet for jobs and investment, national and international migration, our city has been growing rapidly over the last 15 years and is set to absorb a population of 700,000--the size of the city of Leeds--in the next decade and a half."

The plan calls for more intensive development in the Central Activity Zone and in Opportunity Areas like London Bridge, Waterloo, Vauxhall/Battersea, Elephant & Castle, King's Cross and Paddington where there is good public transport access and the potential for higher densities.

The draft London Plan is based on accommodating 636,000 new jobs in London over the next 15 years. If all this growth is achieved, an average of 5.5 to 7.5 million sf would need to be added to London's office stock each year over the period of the plan. To achieve this, Livingstone envisages removing some of the restrictions on high-rise development, to permit new clusters of office towers along the lines of Canary Wharf at strategic locations.