/ Citymakers - City Knowledge, Knowledge City: Cambridge
How can a small city ensure the rapid growth to advance its reputation as a hub for innovation remains sustainable?
Our second session in Citymakers 2023 took us to Cambridge where the practice has had a studio for a decade. A city synonymous with its university it is also recognised as being the country’s fastest growing city economy. The practice has had a studio here for ten years and been involved with building projects and masterplanning for nearly 30. Like us, our Cambridge-based clients and collaborators are passionate about shaping a positive future for the city but there are inherent tensions when talking about growth that were discussed by our speakers: first, the juxtaposition between the city's historic character and the sheer magnitude of planned growth; second, the dynamic between the essentially private interests of the University and Colleges and the public interests of the broader community and local authority; and third, the balance between long-term investment needs and short-term reality.
Paul Appleton has been involved in Allies and Morrison’s work in Cambridge since the earliest days. He traced how the city has evolved, expanded and interacted with the University and its colleges.
Architect Alison Brooks took a closer look at these interactions through the lens of a series of projects that explore adapting and rethinking university estates in the UK and overseas for a more inclusive future. She asked if we shouldn’t be rethinking our spaces for learning just as we are questioning the western systems of knowledge that underpin them.
These thoughts were picked up on in responses from Jane Hutchins, Director of Cambridge Science Park who added an innovation sector perspective into the mix, Rod Cantrill, Bursar of Fitzwilliam College who considered the high-level interdependence of the town/university relationship, and Sarah Chubb, Principal Urban Designer at Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service who turned the discussion back towards a consideration of the fabric of the city, urging the panel and audience to focus on the spaces between the new developments and the ‘messy’ everyday ingredients that will make sure that the future Cambridge is for town and gown alike.
