London, a beacon for global urban development

The NLA’s New London Agenda 

The NLA sits at the heart of an ecosystem of people and businesses that shape the UK capital – London’s built environment community, which has wide-ranging influence over experiences of the city and the way it operates and grows, from the quality and accessibility of homes to the ease of travel, the safety of streets and the quality of air people breathe. 

The New London Agenda is the NLA’s framework for best practice in city-making – drawing on 18 years of experience in London and with direct contributions from over 400 people across the public, private and charitable sectors and all aspects of city planning, design, development and management. 

The Agenda sets out a framework that this diverse community can apply to projects of all scales and sizes, presenting how the built environment can be a key and intentional player in supporting London’s transition to a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous city, as London enters a new 30-year development cycle.

Activating the Agenda

Since London’s built environment community has a unique, and time-limited, opportunity to sit at the forefront of this next cycle, Urban Purpose is excited to be working with the NLA to find ways to help activate the Agenda.

Our founder Carlo Castelli authored part of its conclusion, reflecting on the opportunity London has to become a beacon for global urban development and the actions the built environment community can take to drive the Agenda forward over the next four years.

To do so, the agenda invites the community to embrace a new set of values that align with its intention to support London’s social, environmental and economic growth:

• taking responsibility for our role in shaping a city that delivers for its citizens
• providing clarity around our decisions and impact
• building trust between all those who should have a say in London’s future

Carlo invites built environment organisations to find innovative and inclusive ways to look at collaboration between different actors in the value chain as a necessity, rather than a ‘nice to have’, creating spaces for innovation that are precompetitive. Diverse and inclusive processes such as these enable us to understand who’s missing from the conversation, so we can then work to increase the variety of contributing voices.

Carlo believes that examples such as Meridian Water are bringing collaborative value-building approaches across scales that join together local regeneration, regional identity and national competitiveness, productivity and investment.
Health is a particularly strong example of how active travel and affordable housing at a local level can produce value at a regional and national level where relative budgets are held.

By championing a forward-looking new social contract dedicated to equity, sustainability and prosperity for all Londoners, Urban Purpose is proud to be supporting the NLA in helping London set the standards for cities around the world.

Read about the Agenda here or contact Carlo to learn more and ask about our advisory services.