On Wednesday, Futurecity Founder and CEO Mark Davy shared an exclusive preview of the Place Vision Toolkit, a new framework to support local authorities in defining their unique ‘cultural DNA’. Mark presented the Toolkit to representative from the 32 London boroughs and the GLA’s Culture and Creative Industries team at Olympia in Hammersmith & Fulham. The Toolkit was devised as part of a unique partnership between Opportunity London and launched in collaboration with Future of London with support from Yoo Capital.
“The Place Vision Toolkit shares our unique approach to place-based research and visioning with our London Borough partners. The aim is to galvanise London’s major development opportunities to deliver creative placemaking for London through embedding culture at the heart of a civic, community and commercial priorities. We welcome this partnership through Opportunity London to embed placemaking within this important global investment portfolio.” – Mark Davy, Founder & CEO, Futurecity
Building on 17 years’ experience devising cultural placemaking strategies across London, the UK and internationally, the Place Vision Toolkit aims to help boroughs enhance the placemaking vision and value proposition for brownfield, greenfield or greyfield sites as part of their profile within Opportunity London’s ‘The London Investment Prospectus’.
“Culture and leisure define our great global city. We know investors want to future-proof their investment decisions for this decade and beyond. By partnering with industry experts Futurecity, Yoo Capital, and Future of London alongside London’s policy makers and authorities to make our City more investible, we are on the fast track trajectory to unlocking London’s next £100bn of capital investment.” – Jace Tyrrell, CEO, Opportunity London
As part of the preview, Mark Davy was joined by Quintain Limited CEO James Saunders and the management team from Wembley Park including Head of Masterplanning and Design Julian Tollast and Head of Marketing Claudio Giambrone to talk about the process of transforming the former industrial site into one of the most successful new Creative Districts for London.
Guests also heard from Lloyd Lee, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Yoo Capital, about the regeneration of Olympia through a short walking tour.
“As the capital’s independent built environment network, Future of London is delighted to partner with Futurecity and Opportunity London on an exclusive preview of the Place Vision Toolkit for London borough partners. We’re committed to finding realistic and practical solutions that support our members – including London boroughs – in their day-to-day work. The new toolkit will help our borough partners with good principles, new tactics and fresh ideas for showcasing the potential of their places to London’s communities and global investors.” – Nicola Mathers, Chief Executive, Future of London
“With over 40 acres of Central London land under development by our team today and in our development plans for 2025/26, we know first-hand the importance of working closely with Local Councils and the GLA to create a shared vision that delivers for our communities, our small businesses, our families, our students and also for the global businesses that come to do business with London. We welcome the introduction of the Future City Place Vision Toolkit to aid developers and Councils as they strive to create the next generation of future places across London.” – Lloyd Lee, Managing Partner, Yoo Capital
Place Vision Toolkit
Creating a unique Place Vision sets out the ‘cultural DNA’ of a site, identifying the unique real estate, placemaking and community opportunities that it can unlock. At a time in which each of the London boroughs are busy drawing out their unique identities, the Toolkit will help make investment opportunities more attractive, relevant and more contextual to reflect the unique identities of each borough. It helps position the site’s strategic contribution to the local area, the borough and London, connecting investors to the site’s specific potential as a unique destination.
The Toolkit is a 5-step process drawing on Futurecity’s unique experience delivering cultural placemaking strategies across multiple typologies of developments and with all major developers on sites such as Wembley Park, Battersea Power Station, Greenwich Peninsula, East Village and Barking Riverside.
Much of the content for a Place Vision can be drawn from existing plans, strategies and delivery plans, capturing economic, social, cultural and environmental priorities. In-depth public consultation as part of Local Plans and neighbourhood strategies can also provide key messaging about a site’s opportunity.
Together with an understanding of the physical and social assets contained within and around the site, the Place Vision brings this intelligence together as a succinct statement of the site’s unique placemaking potential for investors, the Borough and London.
Read the full press release here.
Photography by James Marshall.
