Future Cities Forum December event - 2019 predictions
We will be hearing from expert speakers at our 12th December on current themes such as planning our cities, infrastructure and clean energy investment, climate risk and transport with predictions for 2019. The forum will be held at Angel Court in the City of London - a building successfully redeveloped for modern work spaces by Mitsui Fudosan and Stanhope.
We will continue to talk about regeneration, having launched our Cities Regeneration Index this month, along with joined-up planning for cities. WYG commented at our Royal Arsenal forum last week that effective land assembly will be crucial to delivering housing over the next decade. In addition KPMG remarked that infrastructure investment will be shifting towards conurbations and housing related projects.
The UK and European governments have put billions into new infrastructure to keep country economies moving, but there is always demand for more connections – and all against a background of a pressing need to achieve clean energy targets and improved housing provision. Will the Brexit deal change those targets and in which direction will they go?
Following on from our October forum involving the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Chancellor’s announcement in the recent Autumn Budget on using empty retail for new homes, we will look at the trends in the house building market and across innovation in mortgage design - which is responding to new approaches to construction, especially offsite and to homes which can register high eco-credentials.
Future Cities Forum will review the opportunities and risks for investors, house-builders and developers – all in the shadow of traditional cyclical behaviour of property markets. The change in complexion of usage on Britain’s high streets and shopping centres will be discussed, as offices and retail are re-purposed into urban residential. Retail trends for 2019 will also be debated.
Transport and power supply for cities are now beginning to benefit from a different approach from investors, who are looking at potential markets created by the switch to electric vehicles and to renewable energy..The Prudential regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are setting a joint Climate Financial Risk Forum, which is designed to help the financial sector manage financial risks associated with climate change. This will support innovation in products and services in Green Finance.
Chief Executive of the FCA, Andrew Bailey, said: “Climate change presents a disruptive and potentially irreversible threat to the planet. The impact on financial markets is uncertain but legal frameworks – at a global, European and UK level – have already begun to adapt to reflect a move to a low carbon economy.”
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) put down a marker this year to all pension fund trustees that they must include measures for addressing climate change in the investment strategies for the pension funds they oversee.
All of of this reinforces awareness of a watershed revolution in transport, which will change our cities from the perspectives of energy infrastructure, reduction in spaces for cars, noise reduction and emissions control, potentially improving public health while driving an overhaul in the business models of petroleum companies, and their support infrastructure.
Opportunities continue for smart transport technology design and intelligent mobility experts, on logistics, mass transit and driver-less vehicles. Equally important are the businesses involved in cycle and scooter production, servicing, infrastructure and technology platforms.