Reports of an alleged scuffle at a party have deflected attention away from what Mayor Ken Livingstone would surely view as being the more newsworthy issue - his newly-published £150 billion draft London Plan.

The plan forms the basis of the future spatial development strategy for the capital. In a nutshell, the aim is to encourage London to grow within its existing green belt into a more dense, compact city with massively improved infrastructure to ensure it is an exemplary, sustainable world city.

The Mayor's vision for London prioritises accommodating a growing population and over half a million new jobs, the construction of thousands of new affordable homes, the protection of open spaces and the green belt and prioritising big transport infrastructure projects. These policies will shape the capital over the next 10 to 15 years and enable it to benefit from the huge population and economic expansion forecast.

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.

"Growth on this scale poses unique opportunities and challenges. It could add pressure to existing housing, public health, homelessness, unemployment, poverty and social exclusion problems in the capital or it could be used to benefit Londoners.

"My plan is to use growth to help solve London's problems. This means more intense use of available land, higher densities and re-use of brownfield sites. Economic development has to happen in tandem with infrastructure improvements - especially in transport - that are necessary to support it.

"My draft London Plan promotes a greener, accessible and compact city where all Londoners can share the opportunities. This is not a pipe dream. Already, my policies and actions have made a difference to many Londoners' lives, especially in the areas of transport, housing and safety."

The Mayor has launched the draft London Plan with a consultation period which lasts until 30 September 2002. The full document, a summary and a leaflet may be downloaded from: http://www.london.gov.uk/approot/mayor/strategies/sds/draft_london_plan_download.jsp