Centre for Cities

London 2030: What are the challenges for development in London?

In the final of our London 2030 series of events and podcasts in partnership with Addleshaw Goddard, we look at the challenges for development in London. Demand for London property, both commercial and residential, continues to outstrip the rest of the UK. Becky Worthington, Chief Executive, Lodestone Capital,  Ben Denton, Strategic Director for Housing and Regeneration, Westminster City Council and Marnix Elsenaar, Partner, Addleshaw Goddard join Ben Harrison, Director of Partnerships at Centre for Cities to discuss what the likely consequences are for London if it can't meet its development demands. On the commercial end of development, is the market capable of delivering the right kind of office development in the right places to support London's future growth? How do we encourage economic activity in regeneration places? And on the residential side, why is London suffering from a lack of homes and can the public sector help increase supply in London?

What is the experience of business when using state-funded support?

Following up from the Centre for Cities' policy briefing looking at the state-funded business support schemes on offer Andrew Carter, Centre for Cities speaks to Mike Spicer, British Chambers of Commerce and Peter Pledger, South London Business Association, about business support as it currently stands and what policymakers can do to improve what appears to be a very complex system. Questions are raised such as: what is the impact of a complex business support structure on businesses on the ground? What is the role of the public sector, when there is already private sector support out there? How do you strike a balance between national support systems and local ones? And with the first phase of the Business Bank announced, how effective is it likely to be and what more could it do to support business directly?

London 2030: What are the challenges for employment in London?

In the second of our three events looking at London up to 2030, this event focused on the future of London's labour market. Ian Ashman, Principal of Hackney Community College and Chair of Association of Colleges, and Mark Beatson, Chief Economist at CIPD join Alexandra Jones, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities to discuss the key challenges for London as it grows its economy and its private sector jobs. This discussion explores questions such as: how London's sectors are changing and where the jobs are likely to come from? How can the Capital support SMEs to grow and develop to create new opportunities, and how can it stay competitive in a global market?

Can London meet its transport needs in 2030?

London has grown substantially over the past two decades, but is it sustainable looking forward? Centre for Cities is hosting a series of events with Addleshaw Goddard asking how to support London's continuing economic and population growth. To complement the first discussion in which experts discussed a the challenges for London's transport network, Ben Harrison Director of Partnerships at Centre for Cities talks to David McNeill, Director of Public Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement, Transport for London and Stephen Joseph Chief Executive, Campaign for Better Transport about whether London is destined to fail in its battle to match capacity and what type of investment is required in the English capital.

A Budget for growth tomorrow

So was the 2013 Budget a Budget for growth? The Chancellor argued that it was, setting out tax cuts for individuals and businesses, a significant boost to the housing market via mortgages and a boost to infrastructure spending, as well as cuts bound to improve popular such as cuts to fuel duty and beer duty. But will it be enough to support short and longer term economic growth in cities round the UK?

This short podcast sets out the Centre for Cities' immediate reaction to the speech. Alexandra Jones, Chief Executive Andrew Carter, Director of Policy & Research, and Ben Harrison, Director of Partnerships, give their initial thoughts on what the Chancellor offered cities. Amongst the topics for discussion are: does the boost to mortgages tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the UK’s most unaffordable cities – building more houses – as well as helping more affordable cities refurbish and retrofit? How will the investment in infrastructure affect cities? What do the commitments to implement Heseltine mean? And will measures such as the Employment Allowance help cities round the UK to create the jobs they need?

In Conversation with...Prof. Henry Overman

This is the first in a series of podcasts the Centre for Cities will be recording with the London School of Economics examining key issues affecting UK economies. In advance of the 2013 Budget, Alexandra Jones, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities talks to Professor Henry Overman, Director of the Spatial Economic Research Centre at LSE about the effectiveness of current policy in stimulating economic growth in cities. What can policy do to support places to unlock their potential?

Putting place back into housing policy

Jack Dromey MP, Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government, and David Hill, Chief Executive of Milton Keynes Council, talk to Alexandra Jones about how Milton Keynes has kept house prices affordable, and what national policy can do to tackle the housing crisis.