FUTURE CITIES FORUMTM

Image: courtesy of MICA Architects MICA's redevelopment of Wolfson Court for St John's College, Cambridge has received planning approval, paving the way for a new generation of sustainable collegiate accommodation within the West Cambridge Conservation Area. Following an invited design competition in 2024, MICA was appointed by St John's College to reimagine the Wolfson Court site, delivering more than 400 student bedrooms in a sustainable, accessible and contextually sensiti

Image: Oxford's Bonn Square, near to Oxford Castle opposite the Queen Street entrance to the Westgate shopping centre Oxford City Council reports that it has secured £1 million of funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to continue work developing proposals for inclusive and sustainable growth. This work follows recommendations in the Oxford Growth Commission’s interim report. Future Cities Forum has invited David Butler, Director of Pl

Image: Brabazon city green - courtesy YTL Developments Future Cities Forum is delighted that Seb Loyn, Director of Planning and Development at YTL Developments, will be joining our 'Innovation Cities' forum in October at the University of Bristol's innovation hub next to Temple Meads Station. Having trained in both Architecture and Planning, Seb has spent a career at some of the property industry’s most innovative developers, starting out at Urban Splash, Skanska and Studio H

Image: courtesy of MVRDV Construction is underway on the MVRDV-designed Bihailou Art Village, a mixed-use cultural and commercial centre that forms an eye-catching focal point for the community in Shatoujiao, just a stone’s throw from the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border. Dutch architect MVRDV describes the project: 'With its multicoloured stack of irregular shapes, the design is based on the concept of the Vertical Village. Underpinned by this concept, the project gains much more t

Image: View looking west over housing and business parks in east Oxford and Headington fringes - courtesy Advanced Research Clusters Future Cities Forum is delighted that David Butler, Head of Planning at Oxford City Council, will be speaking at our 'Science Cities' forum at the Cohen Quad, Exeter College, Oxford, this September. Oxford City Council has announced that the seven councils in the region will be re-organised into three unitary councils by 2028, with each council

Image: CGI from RKD of data centre campus development in Hertfordshire at South Mimms (courtesy Equinix) Leader of Hertsmere Borough Council, Cllr Jeremy Newmark, is joining Future Cities Forum's 'Data Centres - planning, district integration and sustainability' forum this month, to discuss the Council's approved £4bn project to build one of Europe's largest data centres within the London commuter belt. Hertsmere Borough Council has described its project as one which will lea

Image: 4000 Discovery Drive, Cambridge Biomedical Campus - courtesy Scott Brownrigg / Prologis GSK plc has announced plans to establish a major new global R&D centre in Cambridge, UK, as part of the company’s plan to accelerate its R&D pipeline. The new 300,000 square foot site, on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in the heart of the UK’s life sciences “Golden Triangle,” will be home to GSK’s R&D operations in the UK and more than 1,000 GSK scientists. The Cambridge Biomedical

Image: Stodmarsh Natural Nature Reserve, courtesy of Atkins/Natural England A new grant fund aimed at helping unlock housing development across parts of Kent affected by Nutrient Neutrality restrictions is now open for applications. Kent County Council (KCC) is inviting applications to the Kent Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund, which has been established following a £9.8 million government grant to support projects that reduce nutrient pollution in the Stodmarsh catchment. KCC

Image: courtesy of LDA Design LDA Design has been talking about the recent planning permission given by Colchester City Council for a multi-million pound transformation of St Botolph’s Quarter in the centre of the city.. Colchester is Britain’s first city and the capital of Roman Britain and LDA Design says the plans for St Botolph’s Quarter celebrate this long history and support future growth: 'The plans include turning a car park into a lively new public plaza, St Botolph’

Image: Peterborough - courtesy Webb Aviation : Council leaders across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are calling on the government's new Secretary of State to make an early decision on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) proposals for the area. Cambridge City Council says: 'Recently the government announced decisions on reorganisation proposals in 14 areas across the country. However, while the four options submitted by councils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were con