UK's First New City in 50 Years Would Generate Over £50bn a Year, Major New Report Finds
The construction of a new city for 1 million people next to Cambridge would generate over £53bn a year, equivalent to the combined economic output of Leeds, Oxford and Cambridge, while creating England’s largest single land-based nature reserve, according to a major new report released today.
The 295-page report, We Can Build a City, was submitted by the Forest City campaign group last week to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, who are currently examining its feasibility following initial meetings with project representatives in mid-February. The report, which is the work of over 40 area experts, all working pro bono, sets out a technical and economic case for Forest City— a proposed settlement of 400,000 fully affordable homes housing around one million people in the Oxford–Cambridge corridor, east of Cambridge.
The report finds that once built and fully populated, the city would unlock at least 600,000 high-productivity jobs and would exceed the combined housing output of all seven sites recommended by the Government’s New Towns Taskforce. Furthermore by subsidising infrastructure costs via the sale of 8,000 acres of commercial land for offices, labs and advanced manufacturing, every home would be fully affordable. Coming amidst a lack of political support for the current expansion plans for Cambridge, the project posits an alternative way to grow the strategically important City without centralising planning powers from an area with over 300,000 people.
Forest City already has backing from former Labour Business Secretary Dame Patricia Hewitt, economic advisor to two Prime Ministers Tim Leunig, the masterplanner behind the Olympics and King’s Cross developments Steve McAdam, and London–Cambridge Innovation Corridor Chair Jackie Sadek. Last week the group announced that former head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Paul Johnson, had joined its advisory board.
“The UK desperately needs new housing, new ideas, and catalysts for growth. Forest City is a bold attempt to bring those together in an area of huge economic potential. If we are serious about getting on the right economic track, we need to get serious about Forest City, and other innovative projects which will support growth and prosperity.”
— Paul Johnson, Times columnist and Provost of Queen’s College, Oxford
Sir Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project, has also come on board to support the scheme, drawn in particular by the report’s plan to set aside 12,000 acres of new woodland as a nature reserve — a scheme that would become England’s largest contiguous land-based nature reserve and a future home for beavers, storks, voles, and in time bison.
“It is in the National Interest that we put our faith in people and organisations that believe that the future remains ours to make. All across the country people are listless in the face of inertia. Forest City provides a creative spark, an imaginative leap and a roadmap for a beautiful future with a new way to live. We are about to enter a new era where the old ways will be left behind. Embrace the new, with a gentle nod to the past, and we will reignite the flame of creativity that once singled us out.”
— Sir Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project
One of the UK’s most successful tech entrepreneurs, Cleo Founder Barney Hussey-Yeo, also weighed in with his backing:
“Cambridge is one of the most important innovation clusters in the world, but it’s being held back by a lack of housing and infrastructure. Forest City is a serious answer to a serious problem. If we want to keep world-class talent building in the UK, we need to give them somewhere to live.”
— Barney Hussey-Yeo, Founder of Cleo
Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Housebuilders, said the City could be as important a development as the NHS:
“Forest City 1 is a chance for the UK to reinvent placemaking, land use and the planning system. It can serve as a blueprint for growth, while solving some of the greatest challenges the nation faces such as the housing emergency, nature depletion and the skill crisis. It needs to be taken seriously and we certainly back the proposal… It’s a chance for this government, who has a mission to enable growth and solve the housing crisis, to leave a mark as well loved as the NHS.”
— Richard Beresford, Chief Executive, National Federation of Housebuilders
Local landowner Henry D’Abo also gave his backing to the development:
“I think it’s a bold plan, which would benefit local residents and harness all the potential of Cambridge, which is currently hampered by planning restrictions. The project will create a huge tech employment opportunity. It will also create the kind of growth this government is trying so hard to establish.”
— Henry D’Abo, local landowner
Shiv Malik, Forest City co-founder and co-author of the economics book Jilted Generation, who launched the project to a crowd of 1,200 people in October last year alongside co-founder Joe Reeve, said:
“Most people in Government know that expanding Cambridge is a no-brainer. The question for the last 15 years has been, ‘how?’. Forest City shows that a new city for 1 million people— the first of its kind in Europe and the Anglosphere for half a century—is the most scalable way forward. Not only is it projected to generate over £50 billion every year, it will give young ambitious Brits a reason to keep the UK as their home, and prove to the world again that this country can get amazing things built.”
— Shiv Malik, Forest City co-founder
Drawing on the work of transport planners, environmentalists, water and construction experts, and technologists, the report brings together six substantive pieces of work:
Report 1 — The Economic Case
Forest City’s 400,000 dwellings would deliver approximately £53bn in annual GVA and support at least 600,000 jobs at full build-out. House prices in Cambridge and Oxford currently sit at around 11 times earnings — against a pre-1995 national average of 3.5–5.5 — choking the region’s ability to retain young talent. 83% of graduates currently leave the Arc due to unaffordability.
Report 2 — Natural Infrastructure: Forest
The report reverses the conventional logic of tacking nature onto development at the end. Instead, 12,000 acres of contiguous forest and wetland would be designated a Nature Reserve, governed on a Rights of Nature / Guardianship model, with legally enforceable biodiversity standards: Local Nature Reserve status within 5 years, National Nature Reserve within 10, SSSI within 25.
Report 3 — Natural Infrastructure: Water
A city of one million people needs secure water supply. The report proposes a new 52 Mm³ reservoir at Great Bradley, supplying around 54% of demand, filled only on high winter flows to protect local chalk streams. Combined with pipeline extensions and an Advanced Treatment Centre, indicative capital cost is £3.4–4.3bn. This will help resolve broader water scarcity issues across the East of England.
Report 4 — Transport
“Business as usual” car-centric planning would produce gridlock on the already-saturated A14 and M11 corridors. The report instead proposes Symbiotic Mobility — a system where 80% of journeys are made by walking, cycling or public transport, not because people are forced to, but because it is the easiest option. Rail-first delivery is central: an extended East West Rail and rebranded Stansted Regional service through Dullingham, Forest City Central and Haverhill, linking the city directly to London. Indicative road and rail cost: up to £16bn.
Report 5 — House Building
The report is unflinching about the housing challenge. A 4-bed, 150m² Passivhaus-standard home at the briefed £200–250k target sits roughly 40% below prevailing UK market norms. Conventional housebuilder practice cannot close the gap; the report recommends a shift to production logic rather than market-rate contracting — standardisation, scale and manufacturing control. Even at £345–450k per home, Forest City would comfortably meet affordability criteria against Cambridge comparators above £1m.
Report 6 — Future Technology
Rather than predicting specific technologies, the city should design-in optionality now: reserve corridors for a 460 MVA peak energy system combining grid connection, distributed storage, district heating from data-centre waste heat, and geothermal; treat fibre as permanent civic infrastructure; and mandate an open, standards-based digital twin of the city.
Delivery is recommended through a publicly accountable Development Corporation, consistent with Recommendation 15 of the New Towns Taskforce Report. The initial masterplanning phase would be carried out by the private sector at no cost to the public purse, with a Parliamentary Bill targeted for 2028 and a ceremonial spade in the ground by the end of this Parliament.
- 1 million residents at full capacity
- 400,000 homes planned (70/30 buy/rent)
- 45,000 acres total site
- 12,000 acres of new forest and nature reserve
- £53bn annual GVA at full build-out
- 600,000+ high-productivity jobs
- £3.4–4.3bn indicative water infrastructure cost
- Up to £16bn indicative road and rail cost
- 6 storeys maximum height (excluding city centre)