The UK’s housing crisis is often framed as a planning problem - but what if the real issue is scale - and confidence?
In this SXSW London fireside, Gensler’s Ian Mulcahey and Andy Silverster, London Editor at The Times, will discuss why incremental development and “New Towns” may no longer be enough to meet the demands of population growth, infrastructure pressure and long-term economic resilience.
At the centre of the conversation is a broader argument: the UK has become increasingly cautious about ambitious city building at precisely the moment it needs greater confidence in shaping its future. While other global cities and nations continue to think boldly about land creation, infrastructure and long-term urban expansion, the UK often remains constrained by short-termism and political hesitation.
The session explores a more radical proposition: what if the UK started thinking about creating entirely new land and new urban territories?
From reclaimed coastal landscapes in places like the Netherlands, Singapore and Hong Kong to the future potential of offshore infrastructure, the conversation examines how countries are physically expanding to support housing, industry, renewable energy and food production - and asks whether the UK has the political and cultural appetite to think at that scale again.Topics explored include:
Whether the UK is running out of viable development land
The limitations of continued green belt and industrial land reuse
Why the country needs renewed confidence in large-scale city building
How renewable energy infrastructure is already reshaping territorial boundaries
The role of major infrastructure in unlocking long-term growth
Whether “building more land” could become a legitimate future strategy for housing, jobs and national resilience
Framed as a provocative conversation about cities, democracy and national ambition, the session challenges audiences to reconsider the physical and political limits of urban growth in the 21st century.