For more than a decade, Future of London has offered its cross-sector urban network independent, timely, practical content in a convivial atmosphere that supports diversity and next-wave leadership. More than 5,000 people engage directly with FoL across its live and online platforms; as of 2020, 500+ increasingly influential city leaders will have graduated from our professional development programmes.

Future of London is now expanding that offer beyond its core network of built environment practitioners – and beyond London and the UK – via a new podcast, CityBites. The ingredients are all here: a trusted platform; a track record in intelligent, objective analysis; a broad, mixed-level network; an online audience growing rapidly through webinars and social media; and the capacity to connect diverse groups and ideas.

This is a peer-driven podcast: FoL staff, associates and members of the alumni network invite guests from different sectors and roles to share stories, insights and ideas. The main aim is to support and inspire the next wave of city leaders. As other city lovers join the conversation, all the better.

Programme

How heritage-led regeneration is transforming Woolwich (August 2023)

In our two-part podcast, FoL alumni Bhavna Brooker and Rob Timmer find out how major regeneration project is balancing community identity, housing viability and historic preservation.
Part 1 – walking tour
Part 2 – expert roundtable

Party On? The night-time economy and London’s Covid recovery (November 2022)

Laetitia Lucy of Arup and Mark Inger of the GLA consider how the night-time economy is part of a vision for London as a 24-hour city.

Can tall buildings ever be sustainable (September 2022)

This podcast, produced in partnership with Montagu Evans, explores the future of our capital through the lenses of high streets, socially inclusive tall buildings and more.

Emerging talent podcast (April 2022)
Focusing on members of our Emerging Talent Programme, this series will explore the experiences of members of the cohort while launching their careers in the built environment on the programme.

Leading the way for cities (April to September 2021)
Part of an alumni-led series of events, podcasts and blog posts that engage with city-makers in their aspirations for the future of our cities, drawing on their collective experience, ideas, resilience and leadership as we emerge from the pandemic. The series seeks to re-appraise the status quo, bring fresh thinking to tricky issues, and help us to challenge ourselves on ways to be more ambitious for our cities, through our work.

Connections (August to December 2020)
Moving on from the kick-off series, we next explore how the pandemic is changing our relationship to shared space, community engagement, negotiation, connectivity and culture as the lockdown eases and we enter the recovery phase. We talk with a spectrum of frontline workers, analysts and strategic-level influencers charged with restarting the UK economy in an era of unpredictability and eroded public and business confidence.

Leading through crisis (May to August 2020)
A special run of FoL alumni-led interviews on staying resilient and effective during the Covid-19 crisis. In these five episodes, decision-makers from the public, private and third sectors share their views on how the sector is adapting and what the future may hold for cities, and leadership, post-crisis. This series ties to FoL’s multi-media Learning from Crisis programme.

Get involved

We’re looking for partners interested in helping FoL shape content around sector priorities, gaining profile and connection with FoL’s cross-sector, mixed-level network and reaching a potential global audience of prospective partners. To find out how you can get involved and support the podcast – or a mini-series of episodes – get in touch with Fran Lord.

Episodes

Proposal for London: A Roof Plan for London

Frustrated by all those wasted rooftops? So was PTE’s Peter Watkins. Check out his proposal for a tool that could bring acres of dead space to life. Video, podcast & resources from around the world.

Leading for way for cities #2: Adam Cossey - The future of civic centres

Leading the way for cities #2: Adam Cossey – The future of civic centres

Episode 2 of Leading the way for cities with Alumni Rep Katie Randall talking with Adam Cossey, Partner at Hawkins\Brown, about how councils are transforming their historic civic centres to create new mixed-use spaces and meet modern demand from their communities.

Leading for way for cities #1: Arthur Kay – Homes for key workers

Episode 1 of the alumni-led Leading the way for cities series with Arthur Kay, chair of the £100m Key Worker Homes Fund and Founder and CEO of Skyroom – an award-winning technology and urban development company which delivers precision-manufactured homes in the airspace above existing buildings.

Proposal for Greater Manchester: “A Call to Green”

Interested in ways to green your town centre? Check out the video of this great Proposal for GM and get-it-done discussion. Got a Proposal to deliver yourself? Catch the six-minute behind-the-scenes interview for tips and inspiration.

‘Connections’ Ep. 8: Creative use of public assets

This ‘Connections’ episode focuses on the creative and progressive use of public-sector assets to achieve greater local impact. Local authorities are increasingly asking how they can deliver more social and economic value through the properties that they own, control and influence.