The Economic Future of the Central Activity Zone (CAZ) Phase 1: Office use trends and the CAZ ecosystem Report to the Greater London Authority (GLA)
12. Opportunities for change in the CAZ and across London Strengthening active travel networks with inner London, and the move to a truly polycentric city The focus of physical and human networks The CAZ is the centre of London’s infrastructure network, with road, rail, underground, bus, and human networks converging on the central area. This facilitates the vast exchange of people, goods and ideas between the centre and the suburbs. The CAZ is reliant on the rest of London for a supply of labour, goods and food, and for the majority of its international connectivity through its airports. Because of this, the CAZ is also the epicentre of the most extensive human networks. The places that people meet, attend conferences, mix socially, and the (often chartered) institutions that support business networks are also focussed on the CAZ. The special relationship with inner London The CAZ is incredibly dependent on the rest of London for workers: 436,000 people from the rest of London commute into Westminster alone. Of those employed in the CAZ, around two-fifths live in the CAZ or inner London. Just under one-third live in outer London. And the remaining on-quarter live outside of London (ONS Census, 2011). This access to labour is aided by the higher frequencies and faster journey times of the radial links compared with orbital ones (with the exception of part of the London Overground network), the more financially January 2021
rewarding jobs in the CAZ, and the retail and leisure opportunities as detailed on previous pages. These travel distances of a few miles present an opportunity to draw inner London visitors into the CAZ through active modes, if social distancing conventions remain.
sectors thus stand to gain most from a significant, longer term move to home working, and outer London may also benefit.
Inner London is important for leisure, culture and entertainment. CAZ visitors are also more likely to live in inner London. Almost two-thirds of visitors to CAZ are Londoners (TfL, 2020b), whose residence is concentrated in inner London. The opportunity of a polycentric city The CAZ is the beating heart of London’s global city, and is complemented by the distinct offers of the satellites and the significant flows between them. There is an opportunity to build on this in future through improving the links between the suburban locations themselves to create a truly polycentric city. With a new paradigm of work, there is a real opportunity to create supporting centres, in both inner and outer London, each with their own identity and specialisation. If significant home working remains, there is possibility of increased leisure spend overall, through demand for getting out of the house from home workers. This creates opportunities for increased demand for hospitality, arts and entertainment closer to home. Inner London retail, food, and hospitality
Proportion of total central London non-work discretionary trips (Source: TfL 2020b) The home locations of discretionary non-work trips to the CAZ are concentrated in inner London boroughs
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