With its wide boulevards, cafe culture and rich artistic history, Paris would appear to be a million miles away from Croydon.

But French president Nicolas Sarkozy has revealed he is planning to take inspiration from such wonders as the Whitgift Centre and the NLA Tower – more affectionately known by locals as the 50p building - for the future of Paris.

He has enlisted a British architect as part of his “Greater Paris” plan, and wants to adopt the high rise hubs that grace London’s unofficial third city.

Professor Richard Burdett, design chief for the London Olympics and one of the experts working on the “Greater Paris” project with the Richard Rogers architecture practice, wants to create high rise hubs in the suburbs of Paris.

These would be linked by an orbital railway, with the attempt to convince Parisians to move from the city centre and into the suburbs.

Sarkozy is said to have been impressed with London when he visited, and one his daughters lives there.

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