It’s July 2040. Youthful England manager Bukayo Saka has just led his team to a successful defence of their title at the Euros – the first team to do so since Spain in 2012.
Oxford rejoices with the rest of the nation, and the prime minister declares a special bank holiday in celebration.
But what does our city look like in 19 years’ time? Where are we working? How are we working? And what jobs are we doing?
Now, in 2021, we’ve been less badly affected by the pandemic than many cities and our economy is important on local, national and international stages.
Research and development, education and healthcare are key sectors. The University of Oxford generates more spin out companies than any other university in the country, and Oxford scientists have led the way globally in developing vaccines against coronavirus.
We are a fundamental part of the Oxford to Cambridge Arc. The Oxfordshire Local Economic Partnership estimates that Oxfordshire’s science and technology sectors could add £180bn to the UK economy by the end of this decade.
At the same time, we face challenges.
We have an acute need for more affordable housing. While there have been recent improvements, educational attainment in schools remains a concern. More than 6% of working age people have no qualifications at all.
We will need to find a balance between supporting our knowledge economy and delivering much needed homes. And we’ll need to create an inclusive economy where sustainable, safe and innovative jobs are available for everyone in Oxford.
We’re starting to think about how to achieve this and we want your views to help shape the Oxford of 2040.
We’re in the early stages of developing our Local Plan 2040, which will guide our city’s development over the next two decades. This will set out how and where new homes, jobs and community facilities will be delivered to make Oxford a better place to live, work and visit.
We’ve opened the first round of public consultation on what could be included in the Local Plan 2040, and this runs until 25 August.
This is just a first step in creating our shared future. Find out more and please tell us what you think on our Local Plan 2040 webpages.
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