Carlo Castelli, Founder at Urban Purpose reflects on the opportunity London has to become a beacon for global urban development, as featured in the New London Agenda.

The New London Agenda champions a forward-looking new social contract dedicated to equity, sustainability and prosperity for all Londoners, a prime leading beacon for global urban communities. This is anchored in a place-based structure, encapsulating London’s unique essence: those who live in and contribute — economically, culturally and socially — can find a place of belonging in this dynamic city of arrival. As London embarks on a new 30-year cycle,  it can set the standards for cities around the world.

London’s foundation — and its most contemporary and powerful urban trait — lies in its open, distributed structure, echoing Abercrombie’s vision of a collection of diverse, vibrant villages connected radially but more and more often orbitally. A renewed spatial economic and social relationship between London and its regional metropolitan area will look beyond traditional boundaries and reinforce itself as a benchmark. Thanks to a rediscovered and more deliberate polycentricity, outer town centres will harvest greater possibilities and dynamics than ever before. A global city that is green, innovative, open, caring, lively and dynamic — these are the bedrocks upon which London builds its future.

The local and neighbourhood dimension of a global city like London can also offer development and engagement models that are valid for intermediate cities from which London can in turn learn.

The Agenda raises pivotal questions about measuring impact and redefining value in the 21st century. London, the city of cities, stands as the global city of the 21st century, exhibiting unparalleled diversity across people, places, atmospheres, cultures, and opportunities. It embodies the modern Venice Marco Polo refers to in Invisible Cities, encapsulating a myriad of urban experiences around the world — and yet in the same place.

This Agenda advocates for a ‘purpose-case approach’, a different way to (re-) define value and capture it. This much needed paradigm shift emphasises the need for a regional and inter-scalar approach to value creation and capture.

Together, we can leverage the Agenda to create an accessible, open and usable toolkit — a methodological framework that empowers various stakeholders and actors in the built environment to drive transformational change and measure success on its impact. This framework will serve as the compass, guiding decision-making processes, ensuring coordinated and integrated progress across the six areas the Agenda puts forward.

This is an invitation to find innovative and inclusive ways to look at collaboration between different actors in the value chain as a necessity, not as a ‘nice to have’, creating spaces for innovation that are pre-competitive. Inclusive and diverse processes will promote glances across the table to see who is missing, avoiding blaming exercises but to increase the variety of contributing voices.

As the Muslim adage goes, ‘a lot of different flowers make a bouquet’. 

London aspires to be the crucible where climate solutions and equitable approaches find an ideal marriage. The suggested direction is a collaborative process, pushing and leveraging the many emerging innovative ways to measure impact and purpose within the built environment community. This entails leveraging existing efforts and outlining an integrated proposed methodology, accessible to all, to navigate this framework in practice.

The Agenda represents a bold vision for the city’s future. Through collaboration, innovation and a methodological framework, London can chart a course towards equity, sustainability and prosperity. 

It will do so by celebrating London’s diversity and integration, both in voices and perspectives. London has to better elevate its ability to be a choir of soloists, harmonising the rich tapestry of contributions from stakeholders with diverse backgrounds.

It will augment London’s advantages, giving it a special ‘quality of life’ equation, one that matches its business acumen and supports its global competitiveness, while elevating the offer for its citizens.

A global city is part of a network of regional cities, super-connected, digital and physical.

The New London Agenda is not just a roadmap for London but a beacon for global urban development, positioning the city at the forefront of 21st century urbanism.