It has achieved infamy as one of Britain's most mocked concentrations of featureless office skyscrapers.

But plans are emerging to regenerate Croydon's dated 1960s skylines to brand the town as a city for the Millennium.

Back in March, Minister for London Nick Raynsford endorsed the approach as "a flagship regeneration project" at a meeting of the borough's business figureheads at the Selsdon Park Hotel. Even conservative estimates suggested the audience accounted for some £13.7 billion worth of offices and shops in the town centre, responsible for 80 per cent of the central area's eight million square feet of office space.

Some saw the project as Croydon trying to shed its concrete image but Croydon Council is quick to point out that the town is already highly successful and is not content with merely remaining competitive.

"Croydon has a buzz and a sense of direction," says council leader Valerie Shawcross. "This isn't just about one or two keystone major projects. We're talking about the entire human environment in Croydon. We want to abolish the tacky, tatty and dirty corners and return our town centre to the pedestrian."

The Vision involves developing a masterplan, which will be formally launched in October after a series of consultation workshops. With the backing of so many of the town's businesses, as well as the council-backed Croydon Marketing and Development Ltd, the big talk and the big ideas appear to have big bucks behind them.

"We're hoping to capture the imagination of the citizens and make the town more people-friendly," says Kevin Murray of EDAW, the international planning consultants masterminding the Vision. "This activity is not just about development. It's about re-thinking the nature, role and functions of Croydon and, through that, to change perceptions.

"Central Croydon has the potential to become a model mixed use, sustainable community. The Vision will endeavour to connect people who live, work and shop in Croydon. With the right package of properly-funded, deliverable projects, the future for Croydon can be exciting and dynamic.

"As it comes of age, the new, mature Croydon is going to be together, confident and even brash. It will be a place where people want to be, day and night, so watch out!"

Mr Murray points out that many of the town's old-generation buildings come down to the ground on stilts, "floating on a sea of car parks." They have no street level activity or residential accommodation. He wants to see the whole area humanised and rejuvenated, with re-cladding and landscaping. "Top floors could become penthouse suites or restaurants. Ground floors could become leisure areas, shopping malls or exhibition areas."

Crucially, the Vision has cross-party support. "Croydon's economic well-being and its reputation as a leading city is a subject very close to the hearts of all elected members," says leader of Croydon's Conservative opposition, Councillor Dudley Mead. "I welcome the opportunity all of us have to work together with property market professionals to ensure Croydon is deservedly recognised as one of the most dynamic and attractive centres in London."

So next time you hear someone groaning at the word "Croydon," just remember that the concrete jungle image could be just a few years away from being bulldozed as the town bids to be a city for the Millennium.

r Information supplied by Croydon Council, which is producing newsletters as the Vision progresses. For more information call Keith Briars, planning liaison officer, on 0181 686 4433, extension 2051 or Patricia Cahalane, business liaison and investment manager on extension 2672. Online: @http://www.croydon.gov.uk/vision

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.