MyCity: LONDON

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London’s infrastructure will be better utilised and modernised with additional capacity. The transportation of goods into London, particularly in highly congested parts of London, will need to be better managed through the effective use of infrastructure. This will partially include the better use of existing infrastructure which is currently not being utilised to its greatest efficiency or capacity – such as the use of the Thames and even possibly canals more effectively or the use of rail for inter and intracity movement of goods (particularly at speed) or better use of road infrastructure (such as dedicated freight corridors). New infrastructure such as AV routes and marshalling “stations” or drone landing stations will become commonplace, while there will be wider adoption of consolidation centres, either as part of planning conditions for new developments in congested areas or as landlord or major stakeholder-led initiatives. London’s digital infrastructure will also be substantially upgraded, with IoT and AI being used to manage congestion issues, increase local democracy, and improve the efficiency of public service delivery. At the core of this will be an upgraded fibre/next gen cellular network, as well as new energy infrastructure particularly relating to increasing electrical capacity as demand ramps up.

Smaller but more common patches of green and blue space will be unlocked across the city. The ratio of ground floor space per resident has been steadily decreasing in the past century due to high-rise densification. By 2040 green spaces and increased biodiversity will be an increasingly valuable commodity, and in some cases, an income stream. The lungs of central London: Hyde Park and Regents Park, will play an important role in delivering experience in conjunction with the wider central leisure offer. More investment will flow into events, planting and pop-up exhibits. Meanwhile the pocket parks and riverscape around London will become more functional, providing accessible amenity with urban beaches and space catering for work-from-homers with coffee shops, formal seating, covered areas and digital connectivity. Central and Inner London will see a proliferation of urban and vertical farming uses, especially with regard to obsolescent and awkward space. The already-large number of London parks will increase, replacing in some cases, space historically used as roads. Richmond Park and Hampstead Heath will be preserved as wild locations with the continued introduction of new forms of biodiversity. On-demand and micro mobility will be key to the new transport landscape. In 2023, the major rail operators are still adjusting to impacts of the new work model. By 2040, the new normal will be well established. Given lead-in times, other than HS2 we don’t anticipate any major new pieces of infrastructure within London in our horizon; however capacity increases on existing lines will absorb demand increases. Lower demand services, for instance on Fridays, will now have been reduced and augmented by on-demand services using public automated fleet provision. These will be both more efficient, more predictive of need, and less polluting than alternatives. New fine grain modes, particularly a new breed of electric on-demand bikes, will become a much more substantial way of navigating central London, with ULEZ potentially tightened further. Major rail hubs will bear more pressure in the mid-week peak, as London’s ecosystem widens, and we expect a significant intensification of uses around for instance Waterloo and London Bridge. 09

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There will be a more unified approach to governance across the city. London has a pantheon of local authorities. Whilst useful in addressing local needs, this also creates challenges in making and delivering the city-wide plans necessary to react to the changes ahead. Distributed ownership of public assets also creates tensions and inefficiencies in delivering comprehensive solutions. By 2040 we envisage a more unified public sector approach in London, including more formalised partnerships between the boroughs, a strengthened Mayor’s office / GLA, and potentially the emergence of a body to manage the public estate more comprehensively. London’s approach to town planning is today more laissez faire and reactive than some other UK cities, and we envisage a more directive role for the public sector by 2040, which will proactively enable development and speed up the planning process.

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MYCITY / LONDON |