FUTURE CITIES FORUM

We are delighted that Greater Anglia's Head of Corporate Affairs, Jonathan Denby, will be contrbuting at our November forum at Newnham College, Cambridge, where upgrading transport infrastructure will be high on the agenda as we debate how to sustain the global success of 'science cities' such as Oxford and Cambridge. Jonathan has undertaken a number of senior roles in the rail industry, notably leading the successful bid that led to the launch of the direct Norwich to Cambri

Future Cities Forum has been speaking to the planning firm Carney Sweeney for a reaction to the government's new plans to open up Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) data for the first time and introduce a national index of all brownfield data. The government has just announced plans to release data held by local bodies, to bring about 'a digital revolution in the property sector'. One of the government's aims in this is to help developers identify sites more quickly that can be

What is the future and character of science investment? Does it centre around a few large names or is it to be found in the art of drawing particular scientists and entrepreneurs together in an appropriate and effective dialogue - and in the right built environment? There has been some discussion around the way science parks and innovation hubs are designed - some out of town and without effective space for those chance conversations that spark those 'light bulb' moments spu

Future Cities Forum has been speaking to Rowland Potter, Head of Transport at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, ahead of our November forum in Cambridge, where we will be talking about future infrastructure and how this will continue to drive economic gains for the region and improve connections to major business hubs across the UK. Rowland spoke of the importance of the global brand of Cambridge, its health and science knowledge economy but also of the

National Express West Midlands 'platinum' bus passing Selfridges in Birmingham's Bull Ring shopping centre How can bus companies help save our struggling high streets through behavioural change and price cutting? National Express thinks it has the answer. It has been reviewing the success of a slash in bus ticket prices around smaller high streets that are struggling against online shopping. Future Cities Forum first started debating the decline of the British high street las

The National Infrastructure Commission has called for utility regulators to have new powers if the UK is to tackle climate change. Behind this is the belief that there needs to be long-term strategic investment to reduce emissions, improve digital connectivity and build resilience to flooding. Future Cities Forum spoke to the United Kingdom Regulators Network (UKRN) - see below - for a response and will be discussing the on-going issues of climate change and green investment

A new report published by C40 Cities, Arup and the University of Leeds called 'Building and Infrastructure Consumption Emissions' urges action in six key areas to reduce the climate impact of construction in cities. The report reveals that changes to the construction industry could cut the emissions generated from buildings and infrastructure in cities 44% by 2050. The six areas are: implementing efficiency in material design, enhancing existing building urbanisation, switchi

Future Cities Forum will be looking at the latest in medical technology innovations currently undergoing hospital trials across the UK and Europe, in our Science Cities forum at Cambridge on 20th November. Recently the Office for Life Sciences issued its ninth annual update of its Strength and Opportunities report which gives a detailed picture of the size and shape of the life sciences industry in the UK. The report confirms that the UK remains a global hub for life sciences

Our planning and 'Building beautiful, building better' panel discussion at our September forum included urban master-planning design partner at David Lock Associates Simon Pugh, who specialises in master-planning for strategic growth studies including Milton Keynes. Also on the panel was Sharon Strutt - the Head of Regeneration at the London Borough of Redbridge, in charge of Redbridge Living, the council's wholly owned development company, and also the economic development t

AstraZeneca's Head of Discovery Sciences, Dr Mike Snowden will be joining our Cambridge forum on 20th November. He will be speaking on creating the best environments for R&D collaboration, alongside Dr Bruno Holthof, Chief Executive of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Dr David Hardman, Chief Executive of Innovation Birmingham. Mike joined Glaxo Group Research in the UK in 1988 after completing a PhD and postdoctoral studies at Liverpool University. Recruit