Queensland Premier Anna Bligh today launched the $1.7 billion North Bank project, to take shape on the Brisbane River in central Brisbane over the next 12 years.

North Bank will include both commercial and residential elements, as well as cafes, bikeways, a ferry terminal and an Olympic sized swimming pool, and will begin construction in mid-2008.

Described as a city playground to rival Sydney?s Darling Harbour, the North Bank precinct will be located between Victoria Bridge and Alice Street in central Brisbane - and will extend 80 metres over the waters of the Brisbane River.

?It will be a place where people can live, work and play,? says Bligh, adding that all buildings in the precinct will have to meet a minimum five-star green rating in design and construction.

Stage one is expected to be completed within four years.