The NLA Expert Panel on Innovation Districts met with a great deal of excitement about the role that innovation can play in supporting London’s growth, as exemplified by the ‘London Growth Plan,’ the ‘New London Agenda’ and the emerging ‘London Plan.’  

 

In our first meeting, we heard a summary presentation of these plans and were introduced to NLA’s recently published ‘Skills for Places’ report. We discussed the way in which innovation districts are central to the growth pillars set out in the London Growth Plan – such as a focus on frontier science developments and advances in developing and applying AI, medtech, media, and finance technology. Notably, we also touched on how the other aspects of London’s growth – such as its cultural and urban quality of life, and its strength in education and finance – are a critical part of its attractiveness to those who work in the frontier sciences / technology sectors. Much of where people choose to situate themselves is a life-choice based on quality of life, affordability and access to professional growth opportunity. 

 

We also mentioned the ways in which other aspects of London’s urban development – such as the availability of affordable housing across multiple income levels, the availability of light industrial space, the quality of supportive infrastructure, etc – directly affect the attractiveness and capacity of the innovation economy to grow.

 

In light of the topics mentioned above, this year’s Innovation District Expert Panel has decided to explore the ways in which the innovation economy and innovation districts can both support and benefit from the evolution of London’s physical fabric. This is particularly in support of the London Growth Plan.  

 

We propose to do this by focusing on 6 themes to understand how they are supported by innovation and to hopefully work in collaboration with other NLA Expert Panel groups. The London Growth Plan identifies all the innovation districts and clusters around the city, so we hope to reference them in our research to better understand the growth of the innovation economy. We also hope to gain inspiration from other innovation districts around the world, such as Paris Saclay and Kendall Square in Boston. 

 

The 6 themes are: 

 

The ways in which the education + healthcare sectors interact in mutually beneficial ways with innovation districts to strengthen London’s innovation economy

 

The ways in which the evolving nature of the commercial property sector can be upgraded to support / benefit from growth of innovation sectors such as the technology, research, media and life-sciences

 

The ways in which transport, infrastructure (power/water/data) can align to innovation sector needs and enable the net-zero economy

 

The ways in which housing and planning policy contribute to the growth of innovation districts and London’s innovation economy

 

The ways in which high streets can provide opportunities for innovation, culture, and consequently strengthen London’s innovation economy

 

The ways in which industrial spaces and the inclusive economy interact in mutually beneficial ways with innovation districts to strengthen London’s innovation economy

 

 

We have supplemented these themes with an additional question for our entire panel: 

 

 

The Innovation Districts Expert Panel group’s output for the year will be a ‘mini-presentation’ covering these 6 themes and other learnings about London’s innovation ecosystem. We hope that the NLA will be able to share our insights with their members and with other policy makers to better inform the implementation of the London Plan and help drive the London Growth Plan.