That’s Cambridge sorted. What about the rest of the country?
They say that the only places UK politicians and senior civil servants get passionate about, apart from London, are Oxford and Cambridge because those are the places they know best.
Much as I like Michael Gove’s vision for Cambridge – and hope it happens – I felt that his speech yesterday didn’t say enough about two of the biggest opportunities around housing in the UK.
The first of these is the link between housing and transport.?The @Arcadis designed Cambridge South station is one way we can be sure that future growth in that city ties these together along with high quality jobs linked to science and research.
But why not extend this logic to the 25 towns and cities which will be directly linked by world-beating high speed rail services through HS2??Each of these stations offers an opportunity to focus housing, growth and high quality design around a world class transport service.?As we can see from recent station improvements in Barking, Reading or Bristol there is huge potential to unlock housing and growth around station development.
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HS2 gives us the chance to take this thinking all across the country.?Not just to Old Oak Common, Birmingham and Manchester.?But to Crewe, Stoke, Wigan and many other places which will all get brand new high speed train services when HS2 opens.
The second opportunity is between housing and jobs.?The vision for Cambridge is clear.?But all is still to play for across the HS2 route.?This is true in London, where HS2 and the nearby Crick Institute should be a perfect match if only Government could decide on the future of Euston station.?But it is also true across the Midlands and North, where High Speed trains will blur the boundaries between places which currently feel a long way apart.?For example, once you can travel from Wigan to Birmingham in 36 minutes you can expect local housing and labour markets to be transformed as businesses take advantage of these new opportunities.?This brings huge scope for towns to grow, and for housing-led regeneration across the route to take advantage of this.
Michael Gove’s speech shows the power of Government to make this change happen including with development corporations and focused investment.?It shows the potential to use public work to leverage in private investment and create huge economic value in specific places.?It is great that he has chosen Cambridge and Docklands as places to start this work.
Now let’s see a focus on and support for the many places which will benefit from HS2 in order to kickstart their planning and development, and get ready for the benefits that the new railway will bring.
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1 年I'm happy for Cambridge to be used as a testing ground, but I'm not sure how well the same approaches will translate to a larger city. Still, fingers crossed.
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1 年I’ll believe HS2 is a good use of the time, energy and money it is taking when it is up and running and a large % of people agree that it was worth it.
Director, People & Places Partnership: Bringing facts & faces to places.
1 年I think Cambridge was already ‘sorted’ in many ways. It’s seen a lot of growth over the last decade relative to its size. It’s also atypical as a ‘city’ with lessons not necessarily transferable. Unless of course the new vision addresses the need for improved infrastructure -including travel; closes the housing affordability gap that sees essential workers and post doctorate researchers living in shared, rented accommodation; creates outlying settlements with a suitable services and a greater sense of community. Without that, the government is picking very low hanging and slightly bruised fruit!