The UK’s cities were hit hard by coronavirus but all have worked hard to transform and put themselves on the path to growth.
The levelling-up agenda has seen government bodies set up home in the UK’s regions and enabled cities to attract big-name occupiers that are no longer content to just be in the capital.
And while plans for part of HS2 may have been scrapped – potentially undermining government’s levelling-up agenda – the UK cities remain focused on connected hubs delivering the very best spaces for people to live, work and play.
In 2021, when lockdowns and WFH orders meant we couldn’t bring people together to in real life to debate and celebrate the future of the UK’s cities, EG instead took a visual and audio tour of more than a dozen of the country’s greatest conurbations to find out more about how they were responding to the changing nature of real estate.
Oxford
Our first stop was in Oxford, where we took a look at how this safe city was becoming something just a little bit different.
Manchester
From Oxford we headed up to Manchester to find out about how the city we’ve loved for being “Mad for it” was on the cusp of becoming a truly grown-up city.
Dublin
In the spring we hopped across to Ireland and landed first in Dublin to understand more about how it was balancing demand, density and design.
Belfast
Our next stop was in Belfast, a city becoming increasingly popular as Covid underlined how much people wanted the best of both worlds – access to the great outdoors and a city life.
Birmingham
As summer came, the EG crew took a trip to Birmingham, a city working hard to wave goodbye to its brutalist heritage and hello to some new beautiful architecture.
Bristol
From Birmingham to Bristol, the city that consistently ranks the greenest in EG’s annual Sustainable Cities Index and is intent on bringing life back to its core.
Leeds
From a green city to one of the very best places to live or work, according to numerous polls – Leeds – and a look into how it wants to transition from not just being one of the best, but being the very best. To being a city that is “compassionate and caring with a strong economy”.
Southampton
The EG team whizzed down south in August to the coastal city of Southampton, where we found out what the freeport might mean for the renaissance of the Hampshire city.
Cambridge
As real estate got deep into is new-found obsession with life sciences, we headed to Cambridge, one of the hottest spots for investment in the sector. But while Cambridge looks like the dream on paper, it is a city with an affordability problem second only to London. How is it turning the challenges it faces into opportunities for good growth?
London
With so much chat about the levelling-up agenda, some were whispering that London was being left behind, levelled down, perhaps. But while the capital was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, emptied out more heavily than some of its regional peers, we asked whether London had learnt some valuable lessons from lockdowns.
Swansea
To Swansea, where the council has appointed Urban Splash to create a 24-hour live, work and play destination in the St Thomas area of the city and believes that his has the recipe for success when it comes to regeneration.
Liverpool
In October, the EG team headed to Liverpool, a city refusing to be knocked down by losing its world heritage status and a city convinced that its freeport status will enable it to play on a global level.
Scottish cities
COP26 wasn’t the only big event happening in Scotland in November, the premiere of EG’s Future of Scottish Cities was also being staged in the country in which we took a closer look into Aberdeen’s shift from oil to green technologies, the repurposing of redundant retail in Edinburgh and Glasgow’s big green push.
Sheffield
And finally, to Sheffield, the former industrial powerhouse and producer of world-renowned stainless steel, looking at a potentially stellar future in technology, innovation and life sciences.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
