Forest City – can a new vision of urbanism overcome the nation’s declinism?

Two weeks ago over 1000 people gathered at the O2 centre in London to launch a growth agenda for the UK. Looking for Growth (LFG) describes itself as “a political movement to push Britain out of decline. We build, we pressure politicians, we influence policy, we organise, co-ordinate and improve Britain, bit by bit”.

Amongst speeches and panel discussions delivered over the course of the evening, an announcement was made about a separate initiative which embodies the ambition and optimism of the LFG movement and its anti-declinism. This initiative is about developing a new city east of Cambridge, called – for now - Forest City. It aims to meet many of the challenges Britain currently faces through affordable housing, biodiversity net gain and community investment.

The Economist described it as the most exciting point of the evening:

 “it is perhaps no surprise that the most excitement during the night was for a proposal to build a new “Forest City” of nearly 1m people near Cambridge. Such a project would be unencumbered by complaints from existing residents, offering attendees the fantasy of creating a perfect city from scratch—much like the digital worlds they spent their youth constructing in video games such as “Civilization”.

A dedicated social media campaign followed to promote Forest City, which attracted some strong reactions. Nick Timothy, MP for West Suffolk where Forest City would be built, criticised the proposal:

"Some foolish policy wonk has proposed a new city of one million people should be built - right in the middle of West Suffolk, between Newmarket and Haverhill.

"He clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about - his proposal paper misspells Haverhill and he’s calling it a “forest city”. Anybody living nearby will want to know where the forest is."

This alone attracted mainstream media reporting, from outlets including the BBC and the Independent, where the organisers behind Forest City shared their motivations for initiating the project:

“Our forest city project is a clear way to unlock £55bn in GDP whilst also providing world-class, four-bedroom homes for £350,000, replenishing nature with a new 12,000-acre forest and providing tens of billions in infrastructure for East Anglia and beyond. 

“Putting so much of the development in one place means we can move fast and don’t have to annoy millions of other Britons who are fed up with private developers and the characterless box homes they create.”

All of this helped to raise awareness of the project in the runup to a launch event last evening in north London which attracted over 300 registrants. I went along to learn more.

On arrival, I felt a similar vibe to that of the LFG event two weeks earlier. The crowd was young, and a mix of entrepreneurs, techies and – remarkably – civil servants. I joined a table of four men in their 20s, from MHCLG, the GLA and the RTPI. The fourth was a tech entrepreneur.

I should also add that, like the LFG event, it was overwhelmingly male – and this needs to change.

There was a palpable energy in the room, and people displayed more than a passing curiosity to be there. Everyone I asked about twhy they were attending told me they wanted to do something positive, be part of something focused and deliverable, and join a “community of optimists”. This was not a talk shop, and quite unlike the many planning/housing related events I’ve attended in recent years.

The event was compered by the Forest City co-founders, Shiv Malik and Joseph Reeve, and featured several speakers including Tom Chance, CEO of the National Community Land Trust Network; Dame Patricia Hewitt, former MP and Secretary of State for both Trade and Health in the Blair Government; and Paul Powelsland, climate campaigner and founder of Lawyers for Nature .

Each of these speakers had an interesting and  relevant angle on the project: Tom Chance explaining why the community land trust model delivers benefits to local communities; Patricia Hewitt describing how her experience leading legislative change to ban smoking in public spaces can inspire positive change in society through collective action; and Paul Powlesland arguing the case for the rights of nature in development programmes (NB this is powerfully presented in Robert McFarlane’s book Is a River Alive?)

The co-founders presented some key information about the project:

·      Its overall goal is to get the government to establish development corporation (like they did for Canary wharf and the Olympic Park) which will have the powers to create a city of up to 1m people in line with their “vision”

·      The vision is based on a Community Land Trust and cooperative rental housing, a Special Economic Zone and a 12k acre forest

·      It’s in its early stages – for updates on these visit the Forest City website

·      They’ll soon announce an “Expert Board” and a design competition

·      They’re seeking to build a coalition of landowners, prospective residents anchor tenants, construction partners and the “general public”

A workshop followed, with group discussions and presentations on suggested approaches to delivering Forest City through

·      Media strategy

·      Residents support

·      Prospective residents buy-in

·      Government lobbying

·      Technology

As with many big, radical ideas, Forest City will take its shape by the individuals and organisations it attracts and the discussions and debates it generates. Last evening was a good sign of it succeeding on these fronts. It was energising to  contribute to this discussion amongst a positive, enthusiastic and focused group of people with a wide range of backgrounds and skill sets.

The creation of new cities is happening around the world, and  Forest City will have lots to draw upon, for better or for worse.

In the US, California Forever is seeking to meet the state’s housing and energy challenges by building a new city in Solano County, between San Francisco and Sacramento. In the Netherlands, the city of Almere has been built on reclaimed land to “test the future of urban life”.  And in Saudi, Neom is proving to be an example of how not to create a new city.

By bringing in new ideas, energy and talent to the discourse on urban development, sustainability, economic growth and community engagement, Forest City has every chance of delivering something exceptional to the UK. I’m happy to give it my support.

Clare Delmar

Listen to Locals

November 6^th, 2025