MyCity: LONDON

USING THE FUTURE OF CITIES FRAMEWORK AND OUR ON-THE-GROUND KNOWLEDGE OF LONDON, WE SEE THE FOLLOWING CHANGES AND DEVELOPMENTS TAKING PLACE IN THE CITY BY 2040.

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The City will remain the UK’s largest office market. However, by 2040 it will have taken a more heterogenous form, incorporating more mixed-use elements, particularly at its fringes. The quality of the office offer in the core will increase with an increased focus on wellbeing and carbon spend, and produce a tidemark with weaker stock which will struggle to remain relevant. Cheapside, once London’s premier retail street, will revert to being a vibrant attraction, with its side streets catering for informal meeting spaces, coffee shops, cultural and flex office spaces, creating week-round destinations. The City’s multiple historic assets will once again evolve to be one-stop destinations for tourists, consumers and office-workers alike. More generally, the City’s office stock will have a greater weighting to flexible uses, incorporating both contractual, temporal and physically flexible attributes. The ground floor plane of the City will be opened up to include more open reception spaces and areas not restricted to the public. The City’s rooftops will have experienced an explosion of new uses mirroring New York or Sydney; notably a reprovision of the green space which has been squeezed out of London as it has expanded. Canary Wharf will become a city centre in its own right. In 2023, Canary Wharf stands as one of London’s three major office centres. By 2040, it will have experienced an exciting transition to being a city centre in its own right. The scale of Canary Wharf is already larger than most UK city centres. As population growth continues to be absorbed at pace in East London, Canary Wharf will become a focal point for these communities. The transition already taking place from a day-time commuter destination, to a 24-hour live, work, play location will be complete. The existing office core will take on mixed-use characteristics with an increased housing provision, life sciences and educational offering, whereas the significant amenity and cultural offering will continue to evolve to even more closely reflect the needs of the diverse hinterland to Canary Wharf today. The docks themselves will be the centerpiece to the estate, with pontoons, restaurants, music and lightshows reflecting the world’s best international waterfronts, as well as create opportunities for wellbeing and sporting pursuits. 03

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The West End will become a 21st city playground. In the 19th century, London’s residential population was transitioned outwards in favour of commercial uses in the city centre. By 2040 the central zone will shift again; this time in favour of leisure, collaboration and cultural uses. A subset of Zone 1, centered on the West End will take on a more defined form as somewhere to find enjoyment, socialise and interact. Increasingly, cars will be moved out of central London, and space formerly allocated to roads will be reclaimed as public realm. The long vaunted pedestrianisation of Oxford Street will become a reality, and ripple outwards into areas such as Soho and Fitzrovia. This will become an internationally acclaimed playground for both Londoners and tourists, with exciting vibrant uses and entertainment spilling into the public realm, overlayed with digital and augmented reality experiences. The hotel provision will increase, catering for both tourists and an increasing number of mid-week commuters.

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