IKEA is all set to build an IKEA town in the Startford are of East London area in collaboration with IKEA’s real estate sister concerns ‘LandProp Services’. So what exactly is the IKEA Town? This massive neighborhood will be built on the basis of the ‘IKEA philosophy’ to urban planning. mean, exactly? “We don’t want to produce for the rich or the super-rich; we want to produce for the families, for the people,” says an IKEA spokesperson. The neighborhood will be entirely owned by the company, which will serve as both manager and landlord. Its style, of course, will be Scandinavian.
The project consists of a proposal of 1,200 homes, 480,000 square feet of commercial space which would include offices, shopping mall & restaurants and a 131-foot sculpture. The IKEA suburb will be surrounded by two canals on both sides and hopes to have a water-taxi service and a floating cocktail bar. IKEA also plans to build a school, medical facility and vehicles and garbage will be navigated via underground tunnels. Further details have not been confirmed, but demolition has already begun on the site and the construction is expected to be completed as early as 2013.
