Tuesday was a phenomenal first day at this year’s UKREiiF, as the best and brightest of Britain’s built environment descended on Leeds.
Behavioural changes, the drive towards net-zero and a potential renaissance in UK life sciences and tech underpin the current state of play, said The Times’ Oliver Shah during his opening keynote.
“The essence of what the UK needs is economic growth”, he said.
“It has to invoke real estate… in particular, private capital and public knowledge working together.”
Pete Gladwell, Legal & General’s Group Social Impact & Investment Director, echoed Shah’s rallying cry – arguing social as well as economic victories are to be won via deeper public-private collaboration.
He added: “The common theme is a real laser focus on what the social need is for that place and keeping that focus – but crowding in the right partners to deliver on that need.”
The West Midlands is one of the regions where the far-reaching impact of the public and private sectors working hand-in-hand is being felt most acutely.
Unveiling Our Future: Central Birmingham 2040, Birmingham City Council and Arcadis revealed a bold masterplan – one that is set to double the city’s green spaces to a level comparable with Vienna, all while creating 74,000 new jobs and up to 35,000 new homes.
Simon Marks, Birmingham and Midlands City Executive for Arcadis, said: “The scale and nature of the proposed transformation has not been seen in over a century. Moreover, inclusive growth is at its heart where the communities and citizens of Birmingham will directly benefit from the transformation.”
