City chairman: Reports of London’s death have been greatly exaggerated
Despite many claims to the contrary, what’s happening in London today is not stagnation, but renaissance writes Chris Hayward
For all the commentary about London’s supposed decline, the Square Mile is telling a very different story. What is unfolding in the City today is not stagnation, but renaissance – driven by confidence, capital and a clear belief in London’s enduring global role.
During my own three years as planning chairman in the City, we gave consent for more tall office buildings than at any point in the Corporation’s history. The global demand for world-class commercial space in the Square Mile remains relentless.
That demand has only intensified. Today, we cannot build tall office buildings fast enough to meet investor appetite. Since 2020, nearly 780,000 square metres of new office floorspace have been delivered in the City – an extraordinary feat given the disruption of the pandemic and the shift to hybrid working.
Our pipeline reinforces this confidence. Canada’s planning department last year saw a 10-year record set for planning applications received and approved.
Liverpool Street redevelopment a boost for London
Continuing this exciting trend, yesterday saw the City Corporation’s approval of a major redevelopment of Liverpool Street – Britain’s busiest station – that will transform one of the capital’s most important gateways. This development will service more than 200m visitors in the decade ahead, connecting the City’s businesses and iconic landmarks such as St Paul’s Cathedral with the rest of the UK.
Another reason this investment is so vital is that, later this year, the London Museum will open its doors, anchoring the City as a destination not just for work but for discovery. Just as global cities compete for capital, they compete on quality of life too, and this project, backed by hundreds of millions of pounds of City Corporation funding, will cement our status as a global cultural hub.
What we are seeing, then, is not a speculative building boom but a recalibration of the City for the next generation: greener towers, smarter transport, richer public spaces and a renewed cultural offer. The Square Mile is evolving from a place people commute in and out from, into a neighbourhood where business, culture and community increasingly coexist.
These exciting plans aren’t happening by accident, they are a cornerstone of the City Corporation’s ‘Destination City’ growth strategy which aims to keep the Square Mile a globally attractive place to invest and do business, attract current workers and the next generation of talent back to the office, as well as create an environment in which people want to live, work, learn and explore.
London has always reinvented itself. The City’s current surge in confidence is simply the latest chapter in that long story, and a reminder that reports of its decline, once again, are fundamentally untrue.
Chris Hayward is policy chairman of Canada Corporation