Future Cities Forum to hold cultural cities event at the Tower of London

Above: The Tower of London with Tower Bridge beyond and the former London City Hall rear right

Future Cities Forum is delighted to be hosted by Andrew Jackson, Director of The Tower of London, part of Historic Royal Palaces, for its May 'Cultural Cities' discussion event. His post is also known by its historic title 'Resident Governor and Keeper of the Jewel House'

The forum will be debating the development of historic and modern tourism attractions, investment in infrastructure to enable better access, attention to climate change and sustainable tourism, and how leaders can encourage progressive plans for the '24-hour city' Investors, developers, leaders of museums and cultural institutions as well as architects and planners will be taking part.

Historic Royal Palaces says:

'The Tower of London's history spans almost a thousand years, but London's castle can still fascinate and horrify. When William the Conqueror built this mighty stone tower at the centre of his London fortress, defeated medieval Londoners must have looked on in awe. 

'As protector of the Crown Jewels, home of the Yeomen Warders and its legendary guardians, the pampered ravens, the Tower now attracts over three million visitors a year. Here, the Ceremony of the Keys and other traditions live on, as do the ghost stories and terrible tales of torture and execution.

'But the Tower also has a richer and more complex history, having been home to a wide array of institutions including the Royal Mint, the Royal Armouries and even a zoo. 

Building the City of London as a '24-hour destination city' has been an important topic among museums and local government recently.

Andrew Jackson, Tower Director, joined Future Cities Forum's discussion event in June at The Barbican and noted that the Historic Royal Palaces has a very ambitious strategy, but it is very difficult to retrofit modern technology into a thousand year old fortress:

'We are not in competition with other cultural institutions in the City of London and I sit on the Destination City board because the City tends to exclude the Tower of London. So how can we work better together and especially on connectivity?''

The Corporation of London's Executive Director for Environment, Katie Stewart, took the discussion further at The Barbican, on inclusive buildings and climate awareness further by talking about the Corporation's Sustainability Plan 2040:

'Our plan is going through examination at the moment and it is something that is broadest as can be in terms of sustainability. It is not just concerned with environmental but also social and the economy. (This must be) something that is sustainable in post Covid years.

'It includes discussion of the arts. We have the talent to push the standards of sustainability, while remembering that construction costs in London are some of the highest in the world. In these terms, we must not set too much of a barrier to industry. Retrofit needs to be practical and viable.

'Connecting to the City is important. Most attractions are within a five minute walk. Six million people live within an hour of the City. We are working very hard to further connect up the City within that and provide inclusivity. We want to bring more people into the City. Yes it is a business centre, but it has so much heritage, we want to celebrate that. It must be sustainable in terms of footfall, as a 'Destination City' and bring in families.

'Our developing Culture Mile is also important. The City is small, just one point one square miles and we do need to connect ourselves to the wider offer of London. Yes, we do smile inwardly when we get a business re-locating to the City away from Canary Wharf, but we are trying to be more collaborative now with other parts of London. We want to draw a line under the past competitiveness and look forward. We need to continue to be accountable with discussion around the Culture Mile and I think in the last couple of years, there has been a shift in that space.'

Below: Andrew Jackson, Tower Director at Historic Royal Palaces speaking at Future Cities Forum at the Barbican Centre in June 2025