October 13, 2017

VeloCity: a new way to create places

Opinion piece

Written by
Tibbalds

Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Northampton and Oxford collectively make up the ‘Cambridge to Oxford connection’. As one of the most economically successful parts of the country outside London, this corridor has the potential to support a further 700,000 jobs by 2050. In June this year, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) launched the Cambridge to Oxford Connection Ideas Competition, to find exciting and innovative proposals that link infrastructure, housing and economic development to help create attractive and successful places to live and work for generations to come. Tibbalds’ submission was one of four shortlisted entries from the 58 the NIC received.

The NIC was asked to provide the government with proposals to maximise the corridors potential as a globally competitive knowledge-intensive cluster while protecting the area’s high-quality environment, and providing much-needed homes and jobs.

Our multidisciplinary team, which includes Mikhail Riches, Featherstone Young, Marko and Placemakers, Expedition Engineering & Khaa, proposes the ‘VeloCity’ – a unique spatial strategy that employs the forthcoming fast rail and road networks to create a finer grain vision of newly connected networks generating a shift towards cycling and walking supported by new automotive transport.

The vision has been developed to enrich village life and a sense of place, while creating new homes and working environments in healthy and socially cohesive places. It draws on the use of high speed data and technology to foster new employment opportunities and the enrichment of the natural environment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6M4CNSKMuo

More information about our submission and the competition can be found here.

We also invite you to e-mail your support of Velocity to cambridgeoxfordconnection@malcolmreading.co.uk where the public’s views are being registered.