FUTURE CITIES FORUMTM

Image; Cllr Liz Leffman, courtesy of Oxfordshire County Council Future Cities Forum is delighted that Cllr Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, will be contributing to Future Cities Forum's 'Science Cities: Oxfordshire and the Growth Corridor' discussion event at Jesus College, Oxford this coming January. Cllr Leffman has been Leader of Oxfordshire County Council since the County Council elections in May 2021.  Liz has represented Charlbury and the Wychwoods, a

Image: courtesy of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council Future Cities Forum is delighted that Ian Courts, Deputy Leader of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Lead Member for Managed Growth and Board Member of the West Midlands Combined Authority and the West Midlands Investment Zone Board, will be joining our January 'Science cities' forum at Jesus College, Oxford. Solihull like the rest of the West Midlands region is feeling the pressure on planning to provide the go

Image: Lumen, courtesy of Harwell Science and Innovation Campus Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire has officially opened Lumen , a newly refurbished 17,000 SQF CL2 fitted laboratory and office building, setting a new industry standard in neuro-inclusive lab design. Harwell Campus says: 'Lumen is the first fitted lab space in the UK designed with neuro-inclusive principles at its core. It was refurbished following an industry-leading research project between

Image: Northbrook House, Oxford Science Park (courtesy Oxford Science Park) The Oxford Science Park (TOSP), one of the UK’s leading locations for science and technology companies, has announced the acquisition of Northbrook House, a prominent three-storey building, comprising 23,500 sq ft, on the eastern side of the Park. The property was acquired from Brydell Partners Series 2. Oxford Science Park )TOSP) reports: 'Following refurbishment, Northbrook House will deliver flexib

Image: Oxford North from above - courtesy Thomas White Oxford / TWO Future Cities Forum is releasing the names of the nominated projects for assessment this January by a panel of all-female judges, in the science buildings category for its Winter Awards 2026. This year two of them are in Oxford, and one in Darmstadt, Germany. They include Oxford North's 1&2 Fallaize Street, Oxford University's Life and Mind Building and the Merck Life Science Advanced Research Centre . 1&2 Fa

Image: Professor Rokia Raslan of UCL's  Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering (Courtesy UCL) Future Cities Forum is releasing the first tranche of names of its all-female judging panel for the Winter Awards in January 2026. Professor Rokia Raslan Rokia Raslan is a Professor of Built Environment Decarbonisation at the UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering (UCL IEDE). Her expertise lies at the intersection of computational analysis, policymaking, a

Image: Zayed National Museum, Saadiyat Cultural District, Abu Dhabi - courtesy Foster + Partners Future Cities Forum is including an 'International museums' category in its Winter 2026 awards. The nominated projects are: Zayed National Museum, Saadiyat Cultural District, Abu Dhabi, PoMo Museum, Trondheim, Norway and Studio Museum, Harlem, New York. Zayed National Museum, Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi Located at the heart of the Saadiyat Cultural District in Abu Dhabi, the new national

Image: Elizabeth Tower, courtesy of Purcell / copyright House of Commons Future Cities Forum's nominated projects in its Winter Awards 2026 heritage category includes the restoration of the Elizabeth Tower, more commonly known as 'Big Ben' at the Palace of Westminster, St Bartholomew's Hospital North Wing and the masterplan of Lambeth Palace. The assessment and voting on the projects will take place in January, by an all-female panel of judges.. Elizabeth Tower, Palace of Wes

Image: Smithfield Market viewed from West Smithfield, courtesy Future Cities Forum Billingsgate and Smithfield Market Traders, the City of London Corporation and the Greater London Authority (GLA) have identified a preferred new site in the Royal Docks in Newham where both markets can locate together, the Corporation of London reports: 'The relocation of the historic wholesale markets to the proposed new site of Albert Island (located just to the east of London City Airport)

Image: Shipwreck Treasure Museum, Charleston, Cornwall closed in 2024 - courtesy Shipwreck Treasure Museum Almost 530 museums have closed since 2000 and the risk of closure is far higher within the first 10 years of a museum’s life, a ground-breaking report has found, according to the Museums Association. It states: 'Published by the Mapping Museums Lab at Birkbeck, University of London in December 2025, the report is based on a large-scale, two-and-a-half year research proje