GVA’s report on the future of london takes an interesting approach to rating boroughs and locations for their future development potential.
In doing so, it picks a number of outer London locations & boroughs as key, with Hammersmith & Fulham, Brent and Ealing all getting a mention. These three boroughs meet at Park Royal, where one of the reports “locations to watch” – Old Oak Common, the site of the proposed interchange between HS2 and Crossrail – is situated.
White City is also picked out in that list, with the prospect of Westfield, Helical Bar, Imperial College and the BBC all bringing development to the table.
The report says London should focus attention on those areas with greatest potential, and recommends greater public sector collaboration across local authrity borders.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Baroness Jo Valentine of London First added that she believes government policy is holding London back. She picked out specifically airport capacity, and the congestion at Heathrow, as a top priority from businesses perspective, alongside access to international talent – where she pleaded for sensible immigration and taxation policies to allow businesses to bring in what they need.
GVA worked with Centre for Cities on the report, and they have tried to highlight the areas of London that are likely to see significant physical development and regeneration over the coming ten years.
The report, Evolving London: The Future Shape of the Capital indicates that those areas likely to see the biggest changes are boroughs around the city centre or locations with new transport infrastructure.
The research also identifies six “Places to Watch”. Among these are Old Oak Common/Park Royal and White City.
Gerry Hughes, Senior Director at GVA comments: “We have named specific areas that we believe will benefit most but the dynamics of how London will evolve over the coming years is far more complex. The coming 10 years will be influenced by the ‘East versus West’ and ‘inner city versus outer’ debates as future commercial aspirations compete. Change may also occur where major land opportunities combine with policy levers to create new interest from developers.”
Alexandra Jones, Chief Executive at Centre for Cities, said: “The purpose of our research is to help council leaders and local authority officers make the most of opportunities for growth in London over the next 10 years. Public and private sectors need to work together to deliver change in cities, with a shared vision for development based on proactive local authorities working with potential investors to share risks and rewards. Our research contains lessons for any city seeking to understand how to tap their city’s development potential.”
See the GVA Evolving London report.
