Shaping Successful Future Cities

A Foresight Report for Landsec

Case Studies

Landsec commissioned The Future Laboratory to examine the Global Forces for Change and the Six Principles for the Future of Urbanisation with a resulting foresight report to act as a guide and inspiration for successful urbanisation going forward.

The pace of change – both globally and locally – is accelerating, with rapid technological advancement, political uncertainty and socio-economic upheaval creating unpredictability.

This project combines Landsec’s analysis with The Future Laboratory’s unique strategic foresight methodology, to build a picture of what a successful – and unsuccessful – city in 10+ years could look like, as well as the practical and strategic implications. We’ve explored a range of possible futures so that we can anticipate change and help create a prosperous future.

Combining expert perspectives and our Foresight methodology (STEEP analysis), The Future Laboratory were able to help Landsec reach an understanding of what a successful/ unsuccessful city could look like in the next 10+ years, and what the strategic implications are for Landsec.

Click below to download the resulting Shaping Successful Future Cities report or scroll on to discover key insights for the future of our cities.

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Commissioned by:

27 February 2023

Author: The Future Laboratory

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: Executive Summary

Landsec

We face a stark reality: if those of us involved in shaping cities – national governments, local government, businesses, civic society and citizens – make the wrong decisions now, we could be faced with cities that, in as little as ten years, are becoming unliveable. It does not, however, need to be this way.

This paper maps out four possible future scenarios for cities, to explore how our urban spaces could potentially change and develop over the next decade, as well as the strategic implications for stakeholders. The four models work from worst through to best case scenario, exploring the key characteristics and defining features of each potential outcome.

Our actions today have a direct impact on which of these futures becomes a reality – which is why the paper also outlines our ‘Six Principles of Urbanisation’. These act as a guide and inspiration for successful urbanisation going forward.

‘If you want to make your own life better, you’ve got to get involved and improve your city. But the city’s got to allow that; it’s got to have mechanisms for doing so, engaging communities in driving resilience.’

Chris Murray, Director, Care Cities UK

: Future Scenarios

Branded Cities visual by Inferstudio for The Future Laboratory

We outlined and envisioned four possible future cities scenarios, from most to least likely :

: Adapting and Evolving - In this ‘most likely scenario’, cities will evolve by retrofitting existing infrastructure and social resilience will become as important as physical resilience.

: Green and Flourishing - In the ‘best case scenario’, people flourish alongside the environment. The positive elements of urban life can thrive and the returns from eco-system restoration are clear.

: Exhausting and Depleting - The ‘worst case scenario’ depicts a future in which urban planning and construction have failed entirely to address environmental concerns and social inequality. The city has been depleted of all its vibrancy and negates the positive aspects of urbanisation.

: Collective and Vitalising - A ‘possible future scenario’ is a city designed for society holistically, using data and digitisation to enhance quality of life for all residents. The city is focused on equitability, health and safety.

‘The city has to be 100% greener and then absolutely has to be more people-centric. We need to rethink our streets because changing buildings is hard.’

Katrina Johnston Zimmerman, Founder, THINK.urban

: The Six Principles of Urbanisation

Landsec

To help secure our future today, we have developed Six Principles of Urbanisation. These areas of opportunity – designed to lead us to probable or possible cities of the future – are explained in detail in this section of the report.

: Climate Prepared - Protects citizens against man-made and natural disasters, whilst ensuring the built environment is greener, more efficient, and becomes a net generator of energy and other crucial resources

: Resilient - Copes with fast paced change and external shocks - and still provides economic viability and an attractive, reliable place for citizens to live

: Desirable - Raises the standard for quality of life to attract and retain residents, occupiers and investment

: Responsive - Uses the best of human skills and emerging technology – to optimise spaces, mobility and wellbeing, whilst prioritising connectivity to improve quality of life

: Equitable - Houses diverse groups of people and businesses who coexist harmoniously, and ensures fair and equal access to amenities, employment, services, business, culture and nature

: Polycentric - Disrupts the traditional model – whereby a city develops outwards from a single economic middle – instead promoting a series of smaller centres for accessibility, walkability and convenience

This is just a snippet of the Shaping of Future Cities report. Click below to download the full report PDF.
READ THE FULL REPORT

‘To play our part effectively, we must understand how to respond to shifting needs over the next decade – and how cities should evolve accordingly.’

Mark Allan, CEO, Landsec

Are you ready for what’s new and next?

To learn more about the future of our cities, download the full report here.

If you are interested in finding out more about our foresight reports that combine quantitative and qualitative research with original case studies and innovations to achieve your business objectives, click here.

For more about our client reports and case studies, get in touch with a member of our team.

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