FUTURE CITIES FORUMTM

Image: courtesy Manchester City Council Manchester City Council’s executive is expected to approve an ambitious vision for the Water Street neighbourhood following overwhelming public support for proposals set out in a public consultation earlier this year. More than 90% of respondents supported the key principles of the draft Water Street Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) update that will create a new city centre district developed around a new urban park. Cllr Gavin Wh

Image: CGI of proposed Julia Rausing Learning Centre at the Tower of London - courtesy of Historic Royal Palaces Historic Royal Palaces has announced a major investment in its historic Tower of London site, which will see the development of new learning centres, a dedicated community space for local residents, a “green classroom” in the moat, and an archive study centre, reports the Museums Association. Tomorrow’s Tower, the long-term strategy for the UNESCO World Heritage Si

Image: Victoria North, courtesy of Manchester City Council / Far East Corporation (FEC) Following the speech by Andy Burnham at the Peoples' History Museum in Manchester, Future Cities Forum held a discussion to look at how the city has set a standard for development in housing and infrastructure, and how this might be used as a blueprint for the rest of the UK. In his speech Andy Burnham spoke of his ambition for 'good growth in every postcode' and 'hope in every heart'. Ce

Image: Department at Carnival Parade, Ryde, Isle of Wight - winner in the Retrofit & Restoration category (Photo courtesy Tim Crocker Photography for Turner Works) Future Cities Forum is releasing its Summer Awards 2026 awards winners and runners-up across six categories with a selection of comments from the judges. The judging took place on 7 July 2026. The judges were: Hazel Edwards, Area Director (Senior Director) South East at Arts Council England, Alice Barrois, Principa

Image: St Peter's Square Manchester - view to Town Hall annexe building where Future Cities Forum was hosted in April 2025. Future Cities Forum is holding a discussion this week looking at the vision for the economic regeneration of the UK announced by Andy Burnham, who is hoping to become the next Prime Minister. He has spoken of his ambition to allow UK regions greater control over infrastructure such as water and energy, and to create the biggest council house building pr

Image: Kanal in Brussels - one of the short-listed cultural entries in the cultural category. Future Cities Forum is releasing the names of its all-female judging panel, who will assess projects across six categories in this summer's awards. The short-list of projects has already been released Future Cities Forum's 2026 Summer Awards entries short list The judging panel is composed of Hazel Edwards - Arts Council England Hazel leads the delivery of the Let’s Create 10-year st

Image: CGI of Melbourn Science Park in South Cambridgeshire with new village green, courtesy of Sheppard Robson Future Cities Forum invited Sheppard Robson and Ridge and Partners to speak at its 'New Model Innovation Districts' discussion event, hosted by the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridgeshire, about best practice for the design of science, technology and engineering campuses in the UK. Eugene Sayers, Partner at Sheppard Robson began by describing how the design of scie

Image: the city of Cambridge - looking beyond to the wider region (courtesy Webb Aviation) Future Cities Forum held a panel discussion on the issues affecting innovation, district and housing development across Cambridge and the region - at its recent event, hosted by the Wellcome Genome Campus.. Those contributing included Bethany Dugdale, Deputy Chief Executive, Cambridge Growth Company, Dr Geoff Darch, Head of Strategic Asset Planning, Anglian Water, Cllr Bridget Smith, L

Image: Oxford City Centre - Cornmarket, looking towards Carfax, Christchuch, and Oxford Town Hall Oxford City Council has expressed its disappointment at Oxfordshire County Council for scrapping a devolution deal that would have brought billions of pounds of investment to the Thames Valley. It states: 'Councils across Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Swindon had been working collaboratively on a proposal for a Strategic Authority, linking together councils across the Thames Valley

Image: exterior of Pall Mall Court Manchester - courtesy Sheppard Robson Future Cities Forum is releasing its Summer Awards 2026 awards categories and entries. The categories are workplace, tall buildings, airport design, retrofit with two separate cultural sector categories. WORKSPACE 1) Pall Mall Court - Manchester (image above, courtesy of Sheppard Robson) Sheppard Robson says: '85,000sqft Grade II-listed development transformed from a stranded asset into a modern workplac