A diverse group of some of the most influential Londoners from across the property industry and beyond gathered last month at the Property X-Change Summer Celebration for an innovative Ranganation-style debate on how to create thriving London high streets.
A hundred people attended the event, which took place on 28 June at The London Centre at The Guildhall and marked one year of Property X-Change.
During the event, 11 panellists – Ailish Christian-West from Get Living, Melinda Knatchbull from Sellar, Saff Williams from Brookfield Properties, James Manning from Grosvenor, Tola Alade from Marmalade Collective, regeneration specialist Rumi Bose, Paul Augarde from Augarde & Partners, James Scroggs from New working Class, Anna Devlet from British Land, David Kirkland from Kirkland Fraser Moor, and Gurpaje Singh from the London Borough of Hackney – took to the stage to participate in a dynamic, quick-fire debate loosely inspired by Romesh Ranganathan’s TV panel show “The Ranganation”.
The ‘Regeneration Nation’ debate, hosted by FT journalist Yasmin Jones-Henry, revolved around a range of discussion prompts including: ‘A high street anchor institution is worth its weight in gold’; ‘In property development, social value and financial value should be two sides of the same coin’; and ‘When push comes to shove, commercial interests on the high street outweigh community needs’.
The last two of these sparked particularly fierce debate, with the two sides of the coin swiftly evolving into a more complex cube. Several panellists stressed the importance of collaboration in the creation of successful high streets and acknowledged the tension between commercial and community needs. Scroggs summed up the challenge, noting: “The social stuff is interesting, but it’s not sustainable unless it has financial impetus.”
Issuing a call to action following the debate, Property X-Change ambassador Vivienne King said: “I do believe in the power of the high street to serve both the social and economic needs of people, but we mustn’t fall into the [trap] of thinking what we did in the past is fit for the future. The next generation of London’s high streets will be political, social and economic forces.
“I’d urge all property representatives to join with Property X-Change to help deliver its vision and use this as the opportunity to deliver more inclusive and representative places, and ultimately successful places. By taking the opportunity to rebuild diverse and inclusive high streets, we not only do the right thing for communities, but the better thing for sustainable development and long-term returns.”
To find out more about Property X-Change, go to propertyxchange.london
