CChinese hub to become greatest commercial centre in Europe

The Chinese developers behind Creggan's proposed Chinatown plan for the Euro Chinese Trading Hub "to become the greatest commercial and trade centre, tour centre, cultural centre, amusement centre and international conference centre in Europe", according to the design statement for the project. Having seen a preliminary design statement on the project, the Westmeath Independent can exclusively reveal that the investors behind the project believe that Ireland would be an ideal location for the trade centre due to its location in northwest Europe and the fact that its economic status and trade industry potential have not yet been fully developed. Because of this the investors believe goods could be ordered from a centre in Ireland from Europe, America, Africa, the Middle East and even West Asia. And while the blueprint may change as plans progress, the preliminary plans include a Chinese Palace, two five-star hotels, apartments, a six-hole golf course, a railway station, two bus stations, a medical centre and a fire-fighting centre. The blueprint includes plans for an exhibition region measuring 445,000 square metres, a commercial district measuring 264,000 square metres, a retail service area measuring 90,000 square metres and a residential area measuring 186,000 square metres. The businessmen behind the project also anticipate a peak footfall in the region of 80,000 to 100,000 people. Ireland is being favoured over other European countries because of its status as the second largest software exporter, second only to America and the fact that 40% of computer products are manufactured in the country, according to the design statement. The investors also believe that the transport network between Ireland and other European countries is good, pointing out that it only takes about an hour or an hour and a half to reach many of Europe's principal cities from Dublin. The design statement described Athlone as a thriving centre town located in the heartland of Ireland and pointed out that it is in a good position in terms of transportation, being close to the main transport artery and also having a railroad passing through it. "It holds a strategic location that is preferable for the development of trade and transportation for the medium and longterm," the statement reads. However, the design statement also mentions plans for the establishment of a new airport near Athlone in the near future, something it said would fully equip the Euro Chinese Trading Hub with global infrastructure so as to achieve further prosperity. The design statement stressed the importance of environmentally friendly design and said it would also be people-oriented in design. It also hopes the centre would become a world-class centre for tourism, leisure, recreation, business collaboration and international conferences and exhibitions. The project incorporates four independent and interdependent functional blocks of an exhibition centre, a residential area, a retail service area and a commercial area with the residential area, retail service area and commercial area forming a triangle that encloses the exhibition area. The exhibition centre is to consist of ten large scale independent trade and exhibition halls and ten independent small scale special trade and exhibition halls, a Chinese Palace and a service centre. The large scale exhibition halls each measure in the region of 35,000 to 40,000 square metres while the smaller more exclusive trade and exhibition halls are to measure between 2,000 and 2,500 square metres. The Chinese Palace is to measure in the region of 20,000 square metres and will be composed of an elliptic, radial sphere, which will function as a significant site for large scale commercial, trading and cultural exchanging sites for the Chinese provinces. The exhibition area will also include a small railway station, measuring 1,000 square metres. The commercial district measures some 264,000 square metres, taking in a five-star hotel, which is made up of two buildings and measures 62,000 square metres, while the serviced apartments, also taking up two buildings, measure 15,000 square metres. The commercial district also includes a youth hostel, measuring 20,000 square metres; a cinema, measuring 12,000 square metres; an arts centre, measuring 12,000 square metres; a recreation centre, measuring 20,000 square metres; a massage centre, measuring 40,000 square metres; a multi-function building, measuring 20,000 square metres; a medical centre, measuring 4,000 square metres and a fire-fighting centre, measuring 4,000 square metres. The design statement reads: "The commercial area is well appointed with supporting services to meet the needs of businesses and living from the domestic investors and tourists." The retail service area of the project measures 90,000 square metres, taking in a five-star themed hotel, measuring 33,000 square metres; a multi-functional entertainment hall, measuring 32,000 square metres; a conference facility measuring 3,000 square metres; a catering facility, measuring 1,000 square metres and a storage building, measuring 12,000 square metres. Taking up 186,000 square metres of the development, the residential area includes independent villas with nine buildings, measuring 6,000 square metres; garden houses with 96 buildings, measuring 161,000 square metres; a primary school and kindergarten, measuring 15,000 square metres and a building for other support facilities, measuring 4,000 square metres. The design statement adds that the project will also have other tourism and cultural attractions, such as river boating tours, tower mounting tours, riverside fairs, a cultural plaza, an arts-performing tour, a New Year pride parade, fireworks shows over weekends and a Chinese Tower count down on New Year's Eve. The businessmen behind the project clearly expect large crowds to flock to trading hub as the design statement reads: "Since the building area for the project is huge and the future pedestrian flow is busy, it is estimated that future peak flow may exceed 80,000 to 100,000 people. Therefore, organisation for external traffic to the project site is particularly important." For this reason at the junction of the exhibition region, the retail area and the residential area there will be a railway station and a bus station and there will also be a second bus station at the entrance square of the exhibition region. While this blueprint is a preliminary one and the project is still in its infancy, despite work going on behind the scenes for over two years now, more formal announcements on the plans are expected later this year.