Category Archives

Category : Crossrail

Crossrail

‘Reinventing’ London: Planning for the Future

London is changing.  But then, it always is.  The theme of my new book, ‘Reinventing London’ is that change is the lifeblood of a great city.  Over the past thirty years it has replaced around 1 million jobs in manufacturing, largely around the edge of the city and along the radial routes, with more than…

Statistical rigour and HS2

At the Treasury Select Committee, in relation to HS2, Professor Graham said that it was important that we get these numbers right and in a scientifically rigorous way.  Both he and Professor Overman attacked the work published by KPMG as not only insufficiently rigorous, but also on the grounds that the results are too optimistic….

21st Century Policy Development

I spoke last week at a fascinating day on how policy development needs to be rethought, organised by Synthesis of which I am an Associate. The day made clear that both the techniques now available to us (computer modelling, simulation techniques) and our understanding of the elements of our problems (dynamics, feedbacks, behaviours, networks) suggest…

Infrastructure Rules

It is fascinating how our attitudes have changed. Ten years ago, I was arguing the case for Crossrail – the London rail link which will increase capacity into central London by around 80,000 people in the peak – to an audience which was entirely cynical about our ability to deliver this. An attempt to get…