NYLON: Innovation in New York and London

Monday 13 March 2023

Georgina Rizik

Executive Director
SC1, London’s Life Sciences Innovation District

Elie Gamburg

Design Principal
Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)

Catherine Staniland

Chief Impact Officer

Meredith Bostwick Lorenzo Eiroa

Senior Associate Principal, Higher Education Design Strategist and Practice Leader
SOM New York

Bethany Borel

Associate Partner
COOKFOX

Daniel McPhee

Executive Director
Urban Design Forum

For decades, innovation districts were campuses outside the city, as independent ecosystems. In recent years, the trend is shifting to new models that are emerging: these districts are now integrated into the urban fabric of our cities and bring together universities, research, life-sciences, tech businesses and cultural institutions.

These urban clusters are now at the heart of our cities, and are developing on an international scale. What is the impact of these innovation districts in the urban fabric of London and New York?

The recently launched NLA’s report on ‘Innovation District, Designing inclusive places’ presents best practices, key lessons and ideas for creating inclusive innovation districts for built environment professionals.

London and New York took this opportunity to present their innovation districts projects and their impact on cities. This event formed part of the NLA City Dialogues programme, which brings together speakers and audiences to foster cross-city dialogue and learning between cities.