New Century City schemes rise to tech challenge

Media City in the UK is an example of the trend towards New Century City (NCC) developments that are 'as much about the development of human and social capacity as real estate,' according to Michel Joroff, senior lecturer in the department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Speaking at the Urban Land Institute's European Trends conference in Stockholm last week, Joroff said the 200-acre Media City project in Greater Manchester is designed to attract 15,000 new jobs, with the BBC as the main tenant. In total, planners of the scheme hope it will contribute £1.5bn to the regional economy and provide 700,000 m² of new and refurbished floor space for business, retail and residential property. There will be space for 1,150 businesses operating in the media and creative sectors and for 1,500 trainee posts per year.

Joroff argued that content provision and technology are merging. He cited the example of the 10,000 eye-witness recordings from mobile phones the BBC received within an hour of the July 2007 bombings in London. Another example is the social networking website Facebook which was created by two male college students who wanted to meet women.

He said NCC developments acknowledged this trend and several projects are under way around the world. Joroff is a strategy adviser to a number of major mixed-use development projects in Europe and elsewhere which are designed to promote specific industries by harnessing the power of technology and human capacity.

Click on the link to read more about the ULI European Trends conference and New Century Cities in the June-July edition of PropertyEU Magazine.