Global urbanist, and NLA Senior Advisor, Prof Greg Clark CBE FAcSS, charts the changing character of metropolitan growth, it’s opportunities for new locations, and imperatives for established city centres, in London and in North America, following an NLA Cities Roundtable

As cities grow they shape shift. If the 20th century witnessed the rise of the cities and their suburbs, the 21st century is the moment of the metropolis and the mega urban-region.  As cities grow they spread. They become polynucleated and produce new opportunities for metropolitan centres beyond the traditional central business districts. 

 

Tom Wright, President and CEO of the Regional Plan Association (RPA) of New York, observed that the same impulses that are driving new locational growth in London are also present in New York.  There is observable polycentric development in the tri-state region, and these are leading to a fresh approach to regional planning, with a focus on what are the right policies and strategies for the next generation. 

 

Mary Rowe, President and CEO of the Canada Urban Institute (CUI) presented the story from Canada, arguing that the same broad trends are playing out in Canada’s biggest cities, from Toronto and Vancouver to Montreal and Ottawa. She highlighted that it is a time of uncertainty in Canada with the new patterns of settlement, consumption, and work places, not yet resettled after the pandemic.  

 

Shazia Hussain, Chief Executive of the London Legacy Development Company, the custodian Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (QEOP), spoke about the emerging new metropolitan district that is Stratford, with QEOP as its startling new multi-activity, and mixed use district.   Three phases of work have been defined. First, bring the games to London, second build the venues and the new district, and third, deliver the impact / legacy in the decades after the Games themselves. 

 

David Lunts, CEO, Old Oak Park Royal Development Corporation outlined the story from the West of London where the imminent arrival of a new railway station for High Speed Line 2 (HS2) at Old Oak Common coupled with adjacency to Park Royal, Europe’s largest urban industrial district, is creating  a powerful impulse to develop a new districts which combines industrial innovation with digital industries, in a newly connected location where large scale housing growth is possible.  

 

The emergence of new districts and nodes in the wider regions of these cities is a cause for optimism. But the pathway to translate that impulse for growth into successful and durable places is uncertain. The nature of our new cycle of polycentrism is one which is both distinct from city centre growth and recovery, but is also dependent upon it. These new centres feed upon success of the established cores, and they leverage the co-benefits that the urban cores produce in scale, connectivity, diversity, specialisation, and choice. So we need both to attend to the needs of the new locations and to reinforce the adaptation process in the established centres. That requires investment, skill, and creativity, as highlighted by the panel. But it also needs clear conviction and solid resolve to prioritise remaking together our cities for the big imperatives of our times. That’s our task.         

Read the full essay below.