A new ‘reality theme park’ where children take jobs and earn ‘money’ is to be launched at Westfield London shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush London.
The new entertainment and education centre to be named KidZania – complete with streets and moving vehicles – was given the goahead from Hammersmith and Fulham Council.
Due to open early 2015, the two-storey 80,000sq ft (7,432sq m) attraction will issue its own currency, kidZos, which the four- to 14-year-olds will be able to spend on treats such as sweets or activities such as go-karting.
It will feature a scaled down replica of a real town providing children with an environment to learn by role-playing "work" in a variety of jobs to earn money to be spent in the "city" on goods, services and activities.
KidZania will recreate adult workplaces such as operating theatres, plane cockpits, TV studios and banks — all at two thirds lifesize — where children will play at carrying out jobs.
Ticket prices have not been set but in Lisbon, Portugal, the only other KidZania in Europe, they range from £10 for a four-year-old to £17 for a teenager. They are thought likely to be broadly comparable in London.
Visits are expected to last up to four hours and parents will be able to leave their children or wait in a lounge where they can watch a film or use a computer.
It will be operated by a leisure company called Longshot, founded by entrepreneurs Joel Cadbury and Ollie Vigors, which has previously run Soho members’ club the Groucho, the Soho health club, gym Third Space and pubs including the Admiral Codrington in Chelsea.
Xavier López, founder of KidZania said: “London is a premier city and vacation destination so we are really pleased to bring this amazing, interactive experience to another global market.”
London’s KidZania is expected to attract up to one million visitors a year and will be constructed above the Marks & Spencer store at the shopping centre.
Each workplace will be sponsored by a major employer such as a supermarket group or an airline. Sponsors at foreign KidZanias have included Coca-Cola, Domino’s Pizza, Honda, HSBC, Nestlé and Sony.
KidZania was founded in 1999 and has 13 sites in locations such as Tokyo, Seoul, Dubai, Bangkok and Kuwait. It has further openings planned in Cairo, Mumbai, São Paulo, Istanbul and Jeddah.
