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Perspectives on Edinburgh 2050

Last week our Edinburgh office hosted ‘Perspectives on Edinburgh 2050’.

Focusing on the four key themes of connected, inspired, thriving and fair, from the City of Edinburgh Council’s recent consultation about the future of the city and its society, we considered what these mean from a property market perspective and how they will affect business in Edinburgh.

We brought together specialists from our Planning, Sustainability, Heritage & Townscape and Economics teams, alongside guest speakers Kate Campbell, Convenor of Economy and Housing Committee, City of Edinburgh Council; Paul Lawrence, Executive Director PLACE, City of Edinburgh Council; and Stefano Faiella, 360 Architecture, with developer architect Alastair Cook to discuss the Edinburgh of the future and how the city can grow and evolve.

Below we summarise the key points from Turley’s speakers.

Planning

Against a backdrop of fast paced growth and change in the city across a range of key areas, including inward investment, economic growth, low emission zones and active travel, Head of Planning Scotland, Colin Smith, introduced the event and shared his thoughts on the challenges facing Edinburgh as it moves towards 2050, including how and where can Edinburgh grow and evolve, when all need to draw from the broad benefits of change and adaptation but there is frequent resistance to localised impacts and change in general. 

• Edinburgh must remain competitive with other city regions in the UK and further afield in order to attract inward investment and remain an attractive location choice for employers, people and tourists;
• Edinburgh is a successful city but must address the effects of that success in terms of affordability and quantum of housing for all tenures, including for students and the elderly;
• Smart growth must be achieved, with recognition that sustainable economic growth can provide benefits to existing and future residents;
• The city can direct growth appropriately, using a long term strategy about the location and connection of future communities;
• Some brave political decisions will be required; and
• Edinburgh must not become complacent. There are other growing and evolving cities with which we must remain competitive in order to maintain our attractiveness as a destination for investment, as well as a place to live.

Heritage and Townscape

Director of Heritage and Townscape, Catharine Kidd presented on the influence of heritage assets on development in Edinburgh and how the city’s built heritage can contribute to the economy, rather than being a handbrake on commercial development and growth.

Key observations:

• The city contains 50 Conservation Areas, 4,500 listed buildings and 2 World Heritage Sites, together with 14 Inventory Gardens and Designed Landscapes – there is likely to be a heritage consideration for most development in the city;
• The historic environment contributed £4.2bn to the Scottish economy in 2017-2018 through the economic impact of the regeneration of built heritage assets and in attracting tourism expenditure;
• Future development opportunities in the city will inevitably become limited to sites which have a previous use: our infrastructure and public buildings, car parks, retail and later 20th century developments; and
• Understanding the significance of heritage assets will be key to unlocking their development potential, in line with recently published new Historic Environment Scotland policy.

Read more of Catharine’s thoughts on the implications for future development proposals arising from the Historic Environment Policy for Scotland, which came into force on 1 May 2019, here.

Economics

Head of Economics, Antony Pollard reflected on the challenges facing the city in terms of maintaining its economic competitiveness, with a particular focus on the importance of the housing offer in capitalising on the success of the city, and in ensuring it continues to perform as a destination for inward investment.

Key observations:

• The city’s success is both an opportunity and a challenge – in planning for future growth, city leaders will need to consider how Edinburgh can continue to provide good quality housing and jobs for an expanding population;
• Edinburgh is the least affordable city in Scotland and going forward policy must seek to ensure future supply provides homes which are accessible to all segments of the housing market;
• A competitive city will need to provide a mix of housing types and tenures. This should include housing which will attract and retain more mobile professionals as well as meeting a recognised need for more affordable housing;
• The city must plan pro-actively for an ageing population. Providing the right housing for an increasing older demographic offers the opportunity to also ‘free’ up much needed family housing in areas of high demand; and
• City leaders will need to be positive in responding to new entrants to this market in particular, and be open to new products and locations.

In the context of planning for housing to meet changing needs, Antony also highlighted the link between encouraging new populations and supporting the future of existing retail centres to ensure their future vitality and vibrancy. We have recently launched a new model called ‘Full Circle’ for measuring the impact of mixed-use development in town centres and on struggling high streets, find out more about this model and its application here.

Sustainability

Head of Sustainability, Colin Morrison discussed planning for zero carbon inclusive growth, with particular reference to Edinburgh’s ambition of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2030, and the UK’s commitment to net zero by 2045.

Transformational change required in the next 11 years for Edinburgh to meet its 2030 net zero target will include:

• Decarbonisation of transport in the city  - public and private;
• Energy infrastructure network overhaul – zero emissions and use of carbon capture where necessary;
• Introduction of extensive electric vehicle infrastructure in public/private space;
• Implementing hydrogen as a fuel source;
• No more domestic or commercial gas use – Ground/Air Source Heat Pump will be required;
• Increase energy efficiency standards in new and existing buildings;
• Creating a circular economy; and
• Extensive urban greening of the city.

Read more on Colin’s views on planning for net zero here.

Find out more

For more information, please contact Colin Smith, Catharine Kidd, Antony Pollard or Colin Morrison.

For information about future events being hosted by Turley please register your details here.

21 June 2019