Six Amazing Plans For The Future Of London

It turns out people have had some pretty awesome ideas to keep London future-proofed. Time to get the drawing board out: I'm thinking giant...cat...buses...

We've all had a go on Thomas Heatherwick's new buses - but what other innovations lie in store?

Here are a few exciting and outrageous plans for the next stage in London's history...

1. Too worried about getting hurt to cycle around London these days? Put off by the traffic and fumes?

Via designboom.com

Well here's the solution - miles of cycle track suspended above railway lines! Wave goodbye to the Superhighways and hello to these super-SKY-ways (sorry...) Designed by Norman Foster and Exterior Architects the SkyCycle has the backing of National Rail and TFL, so who knows? We could be zipping about above the city sooner than we think...!

2. Heatherwick strikes again

Arup / Via heatherwick.com

No this isn't the name for the tamest movie ever made, but Thomas Heatherwick (of Olympic Cauldron fame, as well as the new buses) unveiled another novel idea last year. Called the 'Garden Bridge' and supported by none other than Joanna Lumley, the pedestrianised landscape would span the Thames connecting Temple and the South Bank.

Following the success of New York's High Line this is a plan that could well grace our skyline soon! Who knows, maybe Joanna Lumley can do for the bridge what she did for the Gurkhas...

3. Boris Island (This was the most futuristic artist impression image we could find...)

Image of Gensler airport plan / Via kentnews.co.uk

Not much more to say on this one, expect it's a huge cultural hub airport suggested by our very own Boris 'BoJo' Johnson. The so-called 'Thames Estuary Airport' is one of several options proposed to increase air traffic capacity in the city.

4. Battersea Power Station

Via batterseapowerstation.co.uk

With the money in place, and work begun, the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station is finally happening, after thirty years of lying derelict. The new build will see all four chimneys carefully dismantled and replaced with exact replicas, a whole new development of flats and retail space, and two new tube stations!

Completion is still years away, but it will see this famous landmark restored and revived.

5. Driverless tubes

Via w3.siemens.com

To coincide with the 150th Anniversary of the London Underground (*applause please*) Siemens announced a brand new train design last year. Called the Siemens Inspiro, it promises to be 30% more energy-efficient than the current stock... oh and driverless! With Boris Johnson having announced plans to close ticket offices (as well as 24 hours trains, woop!), automation - and these trains - could well be running in the next few years.

6. Most importantly of all - THIS

Via designboom.com

...ok we may have made that one up. But just IMAGINE!