Editor's Outlook

The pandemic has certainly chipped away at the concept of community, upending urban life for billions. From home to office, park to pub - all corners of the globe are undergoing some sort of reboot, as we recalibrate our new normal.

Prior to the race for space exodus, cities were generating 80% of global GDP, while housing 55% of the world’s population. That’s a level of productivity that’s hard to walk away from and so is the investment that’s been made in these urban centres.

Encouragingly, data by Knight Frank indicates that people just can’t keep away from the bright lights. Take the top of the market in London, now bouncing back with unexpected energy. In autumn 2021, annual price growth in PCL began moving upwards for the first time since May 2016, with the number of buyers registering nearly 60% higher than for the same period in 2019.

The latest research by First Mortgage, one of the UK’s longest established mortgage brokers, further supports the city love-in – confirming that one fifth of those who moved out to rural pastures in 2020, are planning to return to The Smoke this year.

As we settle into a new rhythm, it’s worth remembering what draws us together in the first place. Cities host people of varying skills, backgrounds and ambitions, concentrating creative energies and fostering innovation. Studies show that this proximity to others facilitates innovation, whether cultural, social or scientific. And as we’ve seen during the pandemic, telecommunication isn’t a perfect substitute for the face-to-face connections we all crave.

London and indeed other major global capitals greatest strength, lies in their track record of reinvention. The City of London, for example, has responded to the rebalancing of home and work by converting vacant offices into homes targeted at cultural, creative and tech-led businesses, introducing long-term, low-cost leases. Developers have been equally nimble in addressing shifts in lifestyle, adapting under-production designs to reflect the new demand for outdoor space and work-from-home floorplans.

As the pandemic has laid bare, the alternative paradigm for human settlement - sprawl – isn’t without its downsides. Living farther apart from others imposes costs on economic productivity, the environment, and in some cases, people’s happiness. Climate change, which is exacerbated by car and airplane use, stands to compound those costs.

Even if density isn’t a panacea for these challenges, it’s one of our best bets for overcoming them. After a turbulent eighteen months, we should be reassured by another lesson of the pandemic: cities are resilient, just like the people who live there, and they will reassert their magic once again.

-Laura Henderson