The London Olympics will create 'a thriving district of new communities', the mayor and ministers have claimed as they published a detailed masterplan for the legacy to be left by the 2012 games.

Despite the rising costs of building the games venues and a lack of private sector financing, Boris Johnson, London’s mayor, expressed confidence the £1bn legacy plan would boost prosperity in east London and signal the area’s 'new importance in a 21st-century London'.

The plan includes proposals to build a 1,000-pupil secondary school and the National Skills Academy for Sports, housed within the Olympic stadium and with access to sports venues after 2012. The mayor’s determination to create an Olympic university using the facilities built for a media centre are included in the plan, as well as a hub for creative and technology-based businesses.

Financial Times