Connectivity adds options for city region’s growth
The leaders of Leeds and Bradford Councils came together to present the case for West Yorkshire as a hub ripe for investment thanks to the region’s connectivity.
The UK Pavilion at MIPIM hosted Bradford’s Kersten England and Leeds’ Judith Blake, alongside four property and development partners, as they discussed how to “make regeneration work in HS2 places”.
Ian Mulcahey, managing director of design firm Gensler, which was responsible for King’s Cross said: “The way we work in one place, live in another place and shop in another is changing geography. The station is the embodiment of that.
“We see the glimmer of that at St Pancras and at London Bridge.”
Phase two of the high speed rail line is scheduled to arrive in the north in 2033, seven years after the London-Birmingham phase is due to be completed.
Cllr Blake said: “It has become so obvious that Leeds and Leeds City Region is at the heart of the country.
“I cannot describe to you the change in confidence in the city with the prospect of HS2 coming, shown by investors like Burberry and Vastint.”
Cllr Blake has recently returned from a delegation visit to Malaysia where she was reminded about the central role railway stations play.
“Stations are important as they are for people arriving and departing. But it’s the whole wrap-around – the restaurants, the businesses.
“We want people to have that really dramatic sense of arrival.”
The station’s importance extends beyond Leeds, with neighbouring city Bradford also looking forward to the impact HS2’s arrival can have.
“Everyone in Bradford is hugely supportive if Leeds’ solution for the HS2 hub,” said Bradford’s chief executive Kersten England.
“It’s already the case that the largest flows [of people] between any two cities in the UK is between my city, Bradford, and Leeds.
“Our perspective is we are a tube ride away from Leeds. Working together we have a GVA larger than Birmingham and a population larger than Birmingham.”
