As part of our City of Tomorrow campaign, Montagu Evans’ NextGen team hosted a roundtable discussion with industry colleagues focusing on the future of London.

This was an insightful session which facilitated a variety of perspectives to be shared about what lies ahead for London’s future – including the challenges we are facing and the emerging solutions.

Many topics were touched upon, but the discussion centred on the following key areas:

• Social value – How do we make it viable? How do we ensure social value for the long term? Who or what will encourage efforts in this area?
• Future housing – How have our expectations of the home changed in recent years? What do we now demand from our housing? How can we measure wellbeing and lifestyle quality? Should we become more comfortable with renting rather than home ownership always being the end goal? How does the retrofit vs redevelop argument apply to our homes?
• Sustainability metrics – Can one measure ever encapsulate all aspects of sustainability? What are the alternatives to traditional metrics? Are they driving change? How can we make sustainability easier for all stakeholders to understand?
• Future-proofing buildings – How can we design for a redesign? What is the interplay of innovation in construction with entrenched regulations and requirements? How do we ensure operational sustainability in use?
• Macro pressures – How will current pressures affect efforts towards long-term goals?

It was striking that with only next generation peers within the room, much of the conversation related back to not only the sustainability of our city but the sustainability of change and impact.

Underpinning the conversation were the following themes:

• Transparency and consistency of planning requirements are needed across London.
• Keeping the end user of the city and their needs front of mind and engaged throughout the planning and development process.
• London may be ahead of the regions in what is being demanded from our spaces.
• We must ensure the longevity of impact in communities and the environment.
• There is a delicate balance of long-term goals with shorter-term pressures.
• Each development necessitates a trade-off of different goals.
• All stakeholders have a role in driving change in the city, and end users are empowered; it will not only be legislative, policy and financial pressures that form the city of tomorrow.

The Roundtable has given us more than food for thought, and we will be releasing additional content to expand upon the key topics and themes raised. For us, it is exciting that we will not only experience the city of tomorrow, but we have the power to shape its future.

With many thanks to our guests:

• Alice Reid – Stanhope PLC
• Jonathan Schogger – LaSalle Investment Management
• Rachel Scott – City of London Corporation
• Mitchell Tredgett – Hill Group UK
• Jessica White – Landsec

And to our colleagues at Montagu Evans: Jenni Cooper, Sarah Gibbs and Tom Loake.