London

London is a highly successful global city. It is the seat of national government and a core part of the UK economy. In 2014, it accounted for more than one fifth of the UK’s total GVA output. On a comparable basis, the city’s economy is larger than that of many European countries, including Belgium, Sweden and Norway. The region governed by the Greater London Authority (GLA)3 covers 1579km².

London has a large population of almost nine million, much higher than other UK cities, and this is set to grow to around 10 million in the next decade as migrants are attracted from across the UK and further afield. This is a diverse population, the most diverse in the UK, with a wealth of culture and communities. It is a well-educated population too, with the city topping European tables for levels of tertiary education attainment amongst its residents.

Today the city faces the challenge of adapting to continued population growth and accommodating both people and industries. It must also address significant inequality amongst its citizens. Despite its economic success, these fruits are not evenly distributed: a Londoner in the top 10 percent has 295 times the wealth of a Londoner in the bottom 10 percent, and 27 percent of the city’s residents live in poverty (after deducting housing costs). If its citizens of tomorrow are to live happy and healthy lives then London must also improve its relationship with the environment, from tackling its serious air pollution breaches to dealing with its waste.

Manufacturing has played a role in the city’s economy and society throughout history. Like other UK cities London underwent deindustrialisation in the late twentieth century, but unlike many others it thrived in this new environment and has established itself as a leading global financial services centre. The story of manufacturing in London is far from over, however, and new technologies look set to shape a new chapter.

Along with the rest of the UK, the city is gearing up to exit the European Union in 2019. The implications of this transition are not yet clear but will have significance for the capital’s manufacturers.

Case study report: The Maker-Mile in East London

Case study report: The Maker-Mile in East London

This case study focuses on making and manufacturing in the London inner city area of Hackney and Tower Hamlets, known as the ‘Maker-Mile’. It illustrates how manufacturing and making has historically and dynamically become embedded into a mainly residential-commercial part of London, with makers being distributed across the area as…

Case study report: London Borough of Haringey

Case study report: London Borough of Haringey

Haringey is representative of small, low-density, inner-city industrial zones which are embedded into their neighbourhoods.  With the growth of demand for housing and the increasing of land prices, sites like those found in Haringey are under serious threat from gentrification. The totality of the companies analysed in the Borough of…

Case study report: Old Oak and Park Royal (OPDC)

Case study report: Old Oak and Park Royal (OPDC)

This report looks into the state of the businesses, what is made and particularly the kinds of resources and technology used in the manufacturing process on one of Europe’s largest industrial estates, at a time where it is confronted by the demand for space within London. According to the Park…

Foundries of the Future: A Guide For 21st Century Cities of Making.

Foundries of the Future: A Guide For 21st Century Cities of Making.

Since the 1970s, cities world-wide have been witness to radical de-industrialisation. Manufacturing was considered incompatible with urban life and was actively pushed out. As economies have grown, public officials and developers have instinctively shifted their priorities to short-term, high-yielding land uses such as offices, retail space and housing. Inner-city growth from New…

Profiles: Public Practice, London

Profiles: Public Practice, London

Building capacity in for public authorities Public Practice is a new not-for-profit organisation that seeks to improve the quality and equality of London’s built environment. They identified that a lack of capacity in local authority planning departments is affecting outcomes, in response their programme places built environment experts (called Associates)…

Profiles: Poplar Works, London

Profiles: Poplar Works, London

Providing secure space for manufacturers In Poplar, East London, a new venture will co-locate workspace, manufacturing and education facilities to create a space for East London’s fashion economy. Whilst only a short distance from the financial district in Canary Wharf, Poplar is not an affluent neighbourhood. Poplar HARCA, a not-for…

Profiles: Mark Brearley – Kaymet – London

Profiles: Mark Brearley – Kaymet – London

We started in the basement of a radio shop in the 1930s and became Kaymet in 1947. A classic story of city enterprise. Four years ago, the business nearly evaporated, but now sales have more than doubled, to 40 countries, and the team has grown to ten. We are proud to…

Build it in Britain and why manufacturing matters for communities

Build it in Britain and why manufacturing matters for communities

Corbyn is right, manufacturing does have an important role. We need to move beyond well-rehearsed responses which seem to set opinion about the sector as a binary choice – manufacturing is everything vs manufacturing is nothing. This serves only to stymy useful and pragmatic discussion about the real value and…

Cities of Making: Insights From Brussels, London and Rotterdam

Cities of Making: Insights From Brussels, London and Rotterdam

Manufacturing is changing; where once consolidation and high-volume production pushed manufacturing activities offshore, new developments in technology are offering opportunities to re-distribute and re-localise manufacturing. Alongside this is the need for us to radically rethink the way we produce and consume goods to reduce the negative environmental impacts of our…

London’s manufacturing: a brief history

London’s manufacturing: a brief history

Centre of making The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the late 1700s and heralded dramatic changes in manufacturing. During the first half of the 19th century British-made goods dominated world trade. For a time the country was the world’s largest manufacturer – dubbed ‘the workshop of the world’. London…

Mapping London’s makers

Mapping London’s makers

It’s false that manufacturing in London is in perennial decline. Job numbers have actually reached a plateau since the end of the financial crisis. And the sector is more important for the city than it gets credit for. London’s manufacturers support the city’s wider population of businesses and residents. Providing…

London: making space for manufacturing in the city

London: making space for manufacturing in the city

The report argues that, despite significant changes to the scale and makeup of manufacturing in the three cities, the sector still has an important role to play in their economic and social fabrics. Perhaps even more so in a future which promises new opportunities from technological developments, such as distributed…

The Cities Report

The Cities Report

Urban manufacturing, interpreted simply as the production in cities of tradable goods at scale, is a poorly understood aspect of urban life that is often taken for granted or overlooked in urban planning. Following years of decline and offshoring, European cities may now be at a turning point. Firstly, manufacturing…

Think Manufacturing in London Is No More? Think Again.

Think Manufacturing in London Is No More? Think Again.

Among London’s rich history of trade and finance it is easy to forget that it was once an industrial city. The clothing, leather, hat and shoemaking industries were important to the East End, and other industries from watches and precision engineering in Clerkenwell, to shipbuilding on the Thames, to motor…

So, why do we need manufacturing in the UK?

So, why do we need manufacturing in the UK?

1. Manufacturing, the driver of innovation Innovation in manufacturing has been the main driver for increased productivity in economies. In the UK the first and second industrial revolutions changed the way we produced and consumed goods. These shifts, and the ensuing economic growth, catapulted the nation onto the world stage…