Future of the city/City of the future

Written by Spencer de Grey, Head of Design, Foster + Partners

The overarching narrative of the past twelve months has been dominated by a singular global health emergency. Significant and long-lasting repercussions will be felt across society and industry, many of which are sure to influence the way we approach the design of our buildings and cities. While we still grapple with the fundamental changes it has brought to our lives and daily routines, one of the most pertinent questions we are asking ourselves is, what is the future of the city, or conversely, what is the city of the future?

Green is good

London has more than 800 square kilometres of green area. However, only 26 per cent of the green spaces is accessible to the public, while 36 per cent is locked in private gardens and the rest largely cordoned off for agriculture. The pandemic has highlighted these spatial inequalities: between people who have private gardens and those who don’t; those who have access to public green spaces versus people who live too far away from them. One way to remedy this inequality of access to green areas is to reclaim space from cars and give it over to people.

The Garden City Movement at the turn of the nineteenth century aimed to marry the health benefits of nature with urban conveniences. What if London took a leaf out of the Garden City manual and transformed its streets into miniature greenbelts surrounding homes? The science on biophilia increasingly supports the myriad mental and physical health benefits of nature. Providing Londoners with greener, safer, friendlier and by extension healthier streets would surely ease the pressure on the NHS.

Cities have increasingly been investing in pedestrian infrastructure since the turn of the Millennium. Times Square in New York or Trafalgar Square in London are two prominent examples. What is needed is more granular investment in small-scale tactical interventions at the residential street level that respond to traffic circulation patterns as well as community needs. Recent projects such as Derbyshire Pocket Park and Van Gogh Walk are proof that urban acupuncture – small, tactical interventions in the built fabric – has the potential to make a big impact. For example, reorganising street parking to create more space for cycles and greenery. Above all, we need places – communal front gardens in place of parked cars – where neighbours can gather, and children can play.

Active Mobility

The need for socially distant travel has accelerated the expansion of walking and cycling infrastructure. The biggest reason cited for not walking or cycling more is safety. By consolidating a network of dedicated active mobility routes, the city will become greener, cleaner and safer; and by extension, Londoners will become healthier. To that end, the Mayor of London, Transport for London, and the government have fast-tracked policies and pledged £2 billion in funding. Once the routes have been identified, designers will be able to reimagine the new and improved streetscape.

Today, there is a collective consensus that active mobility is better for our health and that of our planet. Ultimately, the future of mobility will be multi-modal, encompassing low-tech cycles to high-tech e-vehicles to meet the needs and distances of the city’s diverse population. As cities roll out upgraded active mobility networks equipped with e-bike charging and cargo-bike parking, they must also seize the opportunity to integrate green infrastructure into the cycle expressways and quietways, pedestrian boulevards and green belts. Establishing pollinator pathways, sustainable drainage and planting trees will help cities capitalise on ecological services, all the while creating more scenic, safe and sustainable streets.

Reimagining neighbourhoods

The pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have dramatically accelerated lifestyle changes that were already underway: flexible working, shopping online, and getting around on foot or by bike. By conservative estimates, a third of small businesses that line the main streets in our towns and cities will be lost in the wake of the pandemic. These neighbourhood stalwarts are so vital to creating an authentic sense of place and identity. Rather than allowing main streets – the lifeblood of our neighbourhoods – to either become shuttered and vacant, they must diversify their functions. The main streets that will not just survive but thrive in the wake of the pandemic will transform a fraction of their building stock to include housing for students and the elderly, co-working offices to cater to a decentralised workforce, and community care amenities such as childcare and walk-in clinics alongside neighbourhood retail staples. Such a diversity of functions would in turn diversify the demographic and ensure that neighbourhoods would be bustling around the clock and thus more robust in the face of future economic or health crises.

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Crises and catastrophes focus our attention and sharpen our commitment to protect lives, and in the process improve the quality of life. Designers can then work to reimagine and reengineer our cities towards healthier streets, revitalised high streets, and more resilient neighbourhoods. As the conversations around de-densifying places where we work, shop and eat unfold over the coming weeks and months, it is important not to scapegoat cities. Disentangling the root causes of these discrepancies will take years perhaps, but we must not lose those years in carelessly demonising density and devaluing the city. Cities are and have always been the engines of progress, places where innovation and creativity take root. The response to the threat of Covid-19 represents a watershed moment for London and many other cities around the world, and much like the previous crises, we believe it will emerge stronger on the other side because of the density of talent that will transform this challenge into an opportunity.