Net Zero & the Economic Future of Cities

Cities across the UK and globally are facing multiple interlinked challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered the way city economies work and has re-formulated their economic and spatial dynamics, in both positive and negative ways.

The onset of higher rates of remote working, leading to hybridised work styles across both private and public sector, is altering how goods and services are delivered, generating productivity enhancements in some, but not all, parts of the economy.

The pandemic has also accelerated the use of technology across industries, especially retail and professional services, with ongoing implications for how commercial space is used – or not – in high streets and urban centres.

Running alongside all of this is the race to Net Zero carbon emissions and the need to tackle the impacts of climate change before they render our economic centres almost redundant. How far can Net Zero pathways and low carbon transitions be utilised as mechanisms for inclusive economic development in cities and can this be sustained for the whole cross section of urban communities into the future?