Resilient Cities

As city leaders, investors and developers looked to drive sustainable post‑pandemic growth and recovery, there was renewed energy to tackle major global issues head-on.

We believe this was an exciting moment to reboot. For 2021, we chose the theme of Resilient Cities, to focus on how we can work together as an industry to enable social, environmental, and economic sustainability, post-pandemic.

2021’s programme covered everything from the state of the market to the importance of social value, clean tech, transport, green finance and more. Delegates had access to 30 sessions over three stages, 4 receptions with networking opportunities throughout.

Day 1

	Hall Stage	Cinema Stage	Auditorium
9:30	Resilient Cities - seizing the post-pandemic opportunity The pandemic proved that our cities and citizens are vulnerable but also resilient. It triggered a seismic shift in attitudes and behaviours. This meant we had a renewed mandate to work together to ensure sustainable UK cities were ready for a more agile and adjusted future. Place based investment and development was needed to take action to drive social, environmental and economic city resilience. Panel Prof. Greg Clark CBE (Chair) Andy Street, West Midlands Cll Susan Aitken, Glasgow City Council Rachael Robathan, Westminster City
10:15	Break
10:45	State of the market In association with Deloitte We discussed the big-picture trends, key policy changes and opportunities for growth across different sectors. What were the global, regional, and local conditions of which we were aware as we transitioned from crisis management to recovery? Were existing economic policies fit for purpose? What were the key areas for investment opportunity in 2021 and beyond? Panel Alex Notay, PfP Capital (Chair) Ian Stewart, Deloitte (Keynote) Catherine McGuinness, City of London Allen Simpson, London & Partners David Partridge, Argent Related	Living - homes for changing needs In association with JLL How were our homes of the future being built to meet changing human needs? As we faced a rising and aging population, how did the industry assure that the diversity of requirements were met to create sustainable and affordable housing aimed at students, senior living and co-living habitation. Panel Simon Hodson, JLL (Chair) Catherine Raynsford, The Hyde Group Deborah Owen-Ellis Clark, Places for People Tim Seddon, Retirement Villages Group	Brent Cross Town In association with Argent Related At the heart of the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration programme, there was a joint venture between Argent Related and Barnet Council. The large-scale mixed-use development included homes, retail and offices, improved schools and greenspaces. Panel Professor Sadie Morgan, dRMM Architects and The Quality of Life Foundation (Chair) Nick Searl, Argent and Argent Related Cath Shaw, Barnet Council Stephanie Hilborne, Women in Sport Jenny Curtis, Vattenfall
11:30	Break
12:00	Enabling ESG investment In association with JLL The environmental and social impact of city development and investment had shot up the agenda. ESG was no longer a tick box exercise; it sat at the heart of corporate purpose and was becoming a key framework for investment decisions. This session discussed what this meant for our investment practices, city plans, development strategies, and ultimately the new places we created. Panel Susan Freeman, Mishcon de Reya (Chair) Guy Grainger, JLL Tim Weightman, Places for People Jeremy Wright, Greystar	Social value and why it is so important In association with Trowers & Hamlins This panel explored the ways in which city investment, planning and development drove positive social change for city residents, and what long-term strategies were needed to measure the impact and value we brought to communities. Panel Sara Bailey, Trowers & Hamlins (Chair) Marcus Bate, Mount Anvil Siobhan Jared, Transport for London Davinia Venton, Countryside Connor McDonagh, Ealing Council	Canada Water Masterplan In association with British Land The Canada Water Masterplan was a partnership between British Land, Southwark Council and the local community to create an outstanding new town centre for Southwark and London that complemented the local area, making an active, positive, long-term contribution to local life. Panel Jenna Goldberg, LCA (Chair) Emma Cariaga, Canda Water Professor Judy Raper, TEDI London Emma Trueman, Global Generation David Walters, British Land
12:45	Lunch Tech and Innovation reception - In association with Squint Opera Resilient London reception
14:00	Future workplaces In association with Savills The digitalisation of many working environments and our relationship to how and where we work has changed dramatically over. This panel discussed how we rethought the workplace offer, and design to better allow for flexible working patterns, as well as respond to the needs of the occupier, for whom wellbeing, accessibility, and sustainability front of mind. Panel Katrina Kostic Samen, KKS Savills (Chair) Matthew Flood, Landsec Linda Woolley, Kingsley Napley Dr. Craig Knight, Psychologist Louise Ioannou, HB Reavis	Retrofit - re-purposing and futureproofing In association with Waterman Group Retrofit, transformation and reuse of existing buildings is crucial to support our journey to meeting net-zero carbon targets. Alongside environmental benefits, what are the commercial and social returns of retrofit? How can we design buildings for longevity and future re-use? What kind of investment programmes do we need to make this happen? Panel Terri Wills, Waterman (Chair) Rachael Owens, Buckley Gray Yeoman Emma Harvey, Green Finance Institute Richard Whitehead, Waterman Group Jacob Loftus, General Projects	Meridian Water - diversifying regeneration In association with Enfield Enfield presented Meridian Water, a major regeneration programme bringing 10,000 homes and 6,000 jobs to Enfield, north London. Meridian Water was a distinctive neighbourhood designed to nurture economic environmental and social sustainability, in addition to welcoming future industries across digital, creative, and cultural sectors in particular. Panel Peter George, Meridian Water (Chair) Yuting Cheng, Fisher Cheng Jee Liu, WallaceLiu Daniel Rea, Periscope
14:45	Break
15:15	Towards net zero Reaching net zero targets was high on everyone’s agenda. The built environment will need to go further and pave the way to both a low carbon and circular future. Covid-19 and the climate emergency have exposed the need to act. We explored the industry’s call to action in addressing climate change and our journey to a greener, zero-carbon London. Panel Terri Wills, Waterman (Chair) Gary Clark, HOK Felicity Masefield, Native Land Andy Haigh, Grosvenor Group Hugh Dugdale, Elementa	Building community - are we really serious? The language of community was everywhere. But whose job was it to create and sustain the social fabric of a neighbourhood? Did developers have the appetite or ability? What were our expectations of councils? And what about the public and young people in particular: when did they finally get a voice? With the White Paper on Levelling Up out, this debate tested whether real estate can really move beyond bricks and mortar. Panel Matt Bell, Grosvenor (Chair) Tom Bloxham MBE, Urban Splash Nazeya Hussain, Kingston Council Azzees Minott, 2-3 Degrees	City of London markets co-location programme In association with Deloitte This briefing shared plans for the co-location of three of London’s historic markets – Billingsgate Fish Market, New Spitalfields Fruit & Veg Market and Smithfield Meat Market into one single site in Barking & Dagenham. We discussed the economic and development prospects presented by the move and the opportunities it unlocked for both its new neighbourhood and the central London spaces they vacate. Panel Mathew Evans-Pollard, Deloitte (Chair) Anna Dunne, City of London
16:00	Break
16:30	Cultural-led regeneration The culture sector contributed £34.6 billion to the economy in 2019 and played an essential role in driving the economic recovery post-pandemic. What were cities doing to support this recovery and how did we use sport, arts and culture to bring people back together? What was the role of cultural places and spaces in creating dynamic and sustainable places, and driving growth? Panel Ros Morgan, Heart of London Business Alliance (Chair) John Mulryan, Ballymore Rosanna Lawes, LLDC Martyn Evans, U+I	Repurposing real estate In association with Knight Frank This session explored how we have repurposed buildings to make them fit for purpose - delivered mixed-use schemes that suit post-pandemic behaviours. What was the impact of new planning policies on unlocking opportunities for adaption and change-of-use? How has capital flows fed into this? What approaches have been taken to ensure our future city neighbourhoods remain dynamic, socially inclusive, and environmentally resilient? Panel Nick Parr, Knight Frank (Chair) Binki Taylor, The Brixton Project Deborah Watt, Landsec John McElgunn, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Jay Squier, Native Land	Regeneration, growth and community - the key pillars of the Royal Docks, and future for London In association with Royal Docks With over 1,200 acres of land, 250 acres of water, and nearly 12 miles of waterfront, the Royal Docks was one of London’s most important and most exciting regeneration projects. This panel discussion highlighted how development partners have supported the delivery of affordable housing and supported economic growth, education, and local employment opportunities. It provided an overview of the programme of delivery for the area and the commitment to Community Wealth Building and future economic growth and prosperity, securing the Royal Docks’ roadmap transformation into a dynamic new destination for London. Panel Benjamin O'Connor, NLA Daniel Bridge, Royal Docks Team Caroline Pillay, Airey Miller Richard Gibbs, Albert Island Bek Seeley, Lendlease (Europe)
	NextGen evening drinks reception - In association with Gardiner & Theobald

Day 2

	Hall Stage	Cinema Stage	Auditorium
9:30	Our future urban life In association with JLL A growing and aging population. Climate change. Digitalisation and new technology. Social and economic inequality. Our cities and urban environments responded to accelerating trends and played a critical role in tackling global issues. How did the real estate industry need to respond? How did we create resilient future cities that responded to our changing human needs? What kind of future do we want to create? Panel Peter Murray OBE, NLA (Chair) Professor Andrew J Scott Stephanie Hyde, JLL	Harnessing data and technology How did we harness big data to better understand and manage our urban environments? How has technology helped us to deliver more efficient and environmentally sustainable buildings? What role did artificial intelligence and digital twins play in shaping our future cities? We discussed how new digital infrastructure, technological innovation and smart buildings helped ensure future resilience and improve quality of life. Panel Bola Abisogun, DiverseCity Surveyors (Chair) Theo Blackwell, Greater London Authority Tomáš Jurdák, MiddleCap Brett Spindler, Schneider Electric Gavin Chandler, Sir Robert McAlpine	Scotland is innovation – creating investment opportunities through innovation districts Scotland has a long history of innovation and it continued to strengthen and broaden this across the country as it created new innovation districts. These innovation districts provided the infrastructure, workspace and business support needed to allow stakeholders and occupiers to thrive and develop, created new networks to help drive forward the latest technologies, scientific discoveries and world leading engineering. This panel explored the latest progress in Scotland’s largest innovation districts and the opportunities they provided as they sought investor partners to deliver these world leading projects. Panel Bonnie Stephensmith, White Label (Chair) Dr. Ian Campbell, LifeArc David Ridd, Edinburgh BioQuarter Stephen Sheal, Net Zero Technology Centre Virginia Beckett, Regent Capital
10:15	Break
10:45	Planning for sustainable growth In association with Deloitte This session explored long-term approaches to planning and placemaking. How did we create places that support sustained economic growth across the area? What kind of investment was needed to create socially and environmentally sustainable cities? What impact did new planning policies have on development strategies? What innovative approaches were being implemented to support lasting improvements to the environment, green infrastructure, and biodiversity. Panel Lisa Fairmaner, Greater London Authority (Chair) Mark Underwood, Deloitte Sarah Parsons, Waltham Forest Patricia Cazes-Potgieter, TfL Kat Hanna, Lendlease	Future streets and public spaces This session explored our evolving relationship with our streets and public spaces. How have new transport innovations and a new drive to enable walkable, net zero cities impacted our approach to placemaking? What role did public spaces play in creating healthy, equitable and desirable neighbourhoods? What investments did we need to achieve this? Panel Yalena Coleman, Connected Places Catapult (Chair) Dr Chris Pateman-Jones, Connected Kerb Ruth Duston OBE, Cheapside Business Alliance Zoe Sellars, Waltham Forest Peter Heath, Atkins Ltd	OxCam Arc - a blueprint for national regeneration In association with Bidwells The Oxford-Cambridge Arc is home to world leading universities and is at the heart of the UK’s booming life sciences and innovation sectors. This session explored how the Arc has been delivered, the challenges of aligning a transport, environment and housing strategy cohesively across 26 local authorities while also meeting the needs of businesses and universities. Panel Mike Derbyshire, Bidwells (Chair) Professor Sadie Morgan, dRMM Architects and The Quality of Life Foundation Anna Strongman, Oxford University Development Saba Tahzib, MHCLG Lucy Wilkins, MHCLG Annette Jezierska, The Future Fox
11:30	Break
12:00	Housing delivery In association with Deloitte Affordability, sustainability, innovation. This session discussed the latest targets, opportunities, trends, and delivery approaches in housing delivery in London, and other major UK cites. What challenges and barriers did the industry face? What policies and partnership models do we need to enable the right kind of investment and large-scale delivery we need? Panel Simon Burnett, Deloitte (Chair) Graeme Craig, Transport for London Adina David, Greystar Geeta Nanda OBE, G15 Peter Denton, Homes England	Future logistics - a pioneering sector In association with Savills and Prologis The logistics industry has responded and adapted rapidly during the pandemic, bringing about both challenges and opportunities. It mixed industrial and residential spaces to create industrial hubs around cities; this panel discussed how solution-based innovation, new tech and automation paved the way for a strong sector recovery. Panel Benjamin O'Connor, NLA (Chair) Bridget Outtrim, Savills Robin Woodbridge, Prologis UK Sarah Birt, Greater London Authority	SC1 Innovation District In association with Southwark and Lambeth With Europe’s largest medical school and 600 clinical trials running at any one time, the SC1 partnership continues to build on strong foundations. Economic forecasts revealed the potential to stimulate £34bn GVA and 62,590 jobs by 2050. This session heard how Lambeth and Southwark are working with some of the UK’s leading academics, clinicians and industry to develop a world class health science community in south central London. Panel Professor Sir Robert Lechler, King's College London (Chair) Neelam Patel, MedCity Cllr Kieron Williams, Southwark Council Cllr Matthew Bennett, Lambeth Council Peter Ward, King's College London
12:45	Lunch Boroughs and Regions reception
14:00	Polycentric cities In association with Trowers & Hamlins This session discussed how the physical shape of our UK cities, and the relationship between interconnected town centres, drives the city’s economy. How did polycentricity support city resilience and prosperity? How have new working and commuting patterns impacted the role of outer economic hubs? What did this mean for city-wide planning and investment strategies? Panel Julien Allen, Trowers & Hamlins (Chair) Robert Evans, Argent/ Argent Related Katherine Fairclough, Liverpool Combined Authority James Mitchell, Axiom Architects Lucy Taylor, Ealing	From knowledge to innovation - the life sciences economy In association with JLL We examined the UK’s role in the knowledge economy on the global stage. How did we shape our cities to promote and enable innovation? What were the major and emerging knowledge clusters across the UK and how were these clusters driving innovation? And how did real estate contribute to the companies and occupiers fuelling the innovation economy? Panel Chris Walters, JLL (Chair) Toby Reid, We Are Pioneer Group Kath Mackay, Bruntwood SciTech Steve Bates OBE, BioIndustry Association Sarah Haywood, MedCity	Euston - London’s great development opportunity In association with The Euston Partnership Euston presents a unique opportunity to create a new 60 acre piece of city, with a world-class transport hub at its centre, creating thousands of jobs, homes and acres of green and public space. We heard from Euston project delivery partners HS2, Network Rail and Lendlease about their vision for the project, which aimed to grow not only the local economy of Euston but that of London and the UK. Panel Tom Vennar, Euston (Chair) Mike Luddy, HS2 Mary Ann Lewis, Camden Phil Gould, Euston David Penney, Penney Financial Partners
14:45	Break
15:15	What’s next for city centres? What did the future of city centres post-pandemic look like? And what policies were put in place to guarantee the best sustainable and economic outcomes for city centres across the UK? Panel Leanne Tritton, ING Media (Chair) Alexander Jan, Central District Alliance Tony Reeves, Liverpool City Council David Ainsworth, CO-RE London	Modular housing What were the opportunities and benefits that modular housing brought to provide sustainable regeneration and development in cities? This panel examined the ways in which modern methods of construction can be used as innovative solutions to long-lasting and effective housing. Panel Katie Saunders, Trowers & Hamlins (Chair) Samantha Wait, Swan Housing Group Katherine Hegab, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Gareth Bradford, West Midlands Combined Authority	Net zero innovation project showcase Our Net Zero Innovation session showcased leading projects that responded to the climate emergency by pioneering design and green technologies to reduce carbon and reach Net Zero targets. Panel Amy Till, NLA (Chair) Derek Wilson, Transport for London Neil Pennell, Landsec Steve Smith, AAMM Marie-Louise Schembri, Hilson Moran
16:00	Break
16:30	Tomorrow's West End - seize the moment In association with New West End Company and Westminster Property Association With Crossrail opening and Westminster City Council haivng delivered a £150 million public realm transformation scheme for the Oxford Street District, the West End’s International Centre is undergoing a monumental transformation. This session explored the committed investment, upcoming developments and provided unique insights into one of the world’s most renowned shopping and leisure destinations as we look at the decade ahead. It was a truly, transformative moment for the West End, and now is the time to seize this generational opportunity. Panel Amanda Sheppard, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, WPA (Chair) Jace Tyrrell, New West End Company Andy Byford, Transport for London Debbie Jackson, Westminster Council Ben Maher, Outernet Global	Power of partnerships What makes partnerships in the built environment durable and effective? This panel examined the opportunities and barriers presented by the pandemic for public private collaborations. Panel Sarah Cary, Meridian Water (Chair) Lisa Ravenscroft, Mount Anvil Tonia Secker, Trowers & Hamlins Heng Leong Cheong, Ecoworld Patricia Brown, Central	Clean tech and the green economy In association with Southwark and Lambeth SE1 had the densest concentration of clean tech start up businesses in Europe. We heard from pioneers who were working to nurture and expand the green economy cluster, and the role it played in tackling the climate emergency. Panel James Byrne, Sustainable Ventures and Sustainable Workplaces (Chair) Agnes Czako, Airex Cllr Jason Ochere, London Borough of Southwark Cllr Claire Holland, Leader of Lambeth Council Emily Wilson, London & Partners
	Closing drinks reception - In association with New West End Company and Westminster Property Association