In a few weeks’ time we will see the Inspector’s report on the City Plan 2040, and there is something unusual for the City Corporation about waiting to have a report into our work produced.
We’re a 900-year-old organisation with a significant platform on the world stage which has successfully guided the growth of the City for centuries and ensured its rebirth from the flames on more than one occasion.
Yet, in this instance, we are pleased to have independent inspectors examining our work. Because whilst we set the vision in that work, we cannot realise that vision alone. It is through development, through growth that the vision will become reality.
The City Plan sets out our expectations for how development will come forward in the Square Mile. Because without that guiding hand of development, growth would be unsustainable, unmanageable and frankly undeliverable.
But the difference in the City, the fundamental that sits behind how our planning function operates, is that a guiding hand should be an enabler for growth not an obstacle to progress.
Myself, my predecessor and my successor are aligned in our ambition for the City, and our planning team led by Gwyn Richards is widely considered to be the most collaborative and delivery-focused in the business.
Our vision for the Square Mile is a bold one. It sees the City emboldening its role as the UK’s economic powerhouse and competing on the world stage as a business destination. Further strengthened by my new role as the lead member driving SME growth in the Square Mile, where 98% of our 24,000 businesses are SMEs.
The number of people working in this City will grow substantially and to accommodate them we will need a minimum of 1.2 million sqm of additional floor space. This sits at the heart of what we do, ensuring that over the longest time frames we retain our capacity to deliver that commercial growth. The policies in the City Plan and the new Offices SPD that support them are critical in ensuring that we retain this pipeline of delivery.
And alongside are the actions we take to create the conditions for growth. Investing CIL into public realm transformations that make the Square Mile a safe, attractive and welcoming place for City workers to come to. Working with the City of London Police to keep our City secure, safe and open for business. Maintaining high standards for our services, whether that’s helping to deliver new heat networks to power our buildings or coordinating construction work to ensure the City can keep functioning as we grow.
Alongside our core function as a business destination, our vision sees the City diversify and soften, becoming a seven-day-a-week destination for visitors. As well as our own investment in cultural attractions like the London Museum and Barbican, we are securing cultural and visitor spaces in new developments that will help to enrich the Square Mile, better revealing the City’s unique 2,000-year-old story.
Our vision sees development that is rooted in this place, informed by the infallible qualities of the City as a place of contrasts – of old and new, tradition and innovation. This is our USP, a secret sauce that other business districts simply cannot compete with. Our Celebrating Heritage SPD puts this history at the forefront of guiding schemes in the Square Mile.
Our vision is for a healthier and more inclusive City. Improving our air quality has been a major success story in recent years and we need to press on. The new Air Quality SPD is the next chapter in that story.
Our vision is for a more sustainable City, one where we show leadership and ambition for a resilient Square Mile that can not only adapt to changing climate but also demonstrate how a business-led city can be at the forefront of championing a low-carbon future.
Finally, I want to turn to the numbers. As I said earlier, the City Plan sets out a minimum of 1.2 million sqm of office floor space by 2040. The CPA has consistently stated that 1.2 million sqm is not sufficient, that the City needs more to meet the insatiable demand for best-in-class, Grade A space.
I want to be clear that my successor and I are completely aligned with that. We want to see us comfortably exceeding 1.2 million sqm. That’s why we set this figure is a minimum in the City Plan. Let’s not forget that our capacity work came up with a conservative estimate of there being space for 1.6 million sqm within the City boundaries. Judging by what is under construction now, what is yet to come out of the ground and the determination of everyone in this room here today, I believe we will exceed that very comfortably.
Not growth for growth’s sake, but because of the benefits it brings – the jobs it creates and enables, the boost it brings to our economy, the innovation and creativity that it fosters, the history it frames and uncovers, the change it delivers to our built environment and making it more sustainable, more inclusive and more welcoming for all.
Thank you.
