The audience had come to hear a number of expert speakers and panellists reveal how they define success for a city and what the factors are that make it so. The four speakers and their topics were:
- Alexandra Jones (CEO of Centre for Cities and Chair of the London Stansted Cambridge Consortium), who spoke on What factors make cities successful in the 21st century?
- Dr Tom Holbrook (co-founder of 5th Studio, a local spatial design agency), who spoke about 'The Good City' in his presentation Designing a first-class city.
- Alex Plant (Chair of Cambridge Ahead’s Transport project and a Director at Anglian Water), who revealed the Routes to investment to support sustainable growth.
- Matthew Bullock (Chair of the Cambridge Ahead Growth project and Master of St Edmund's College), who revealed the latest Cambridge Growth Update.
The event concluded with a panel discussion of key on how the political landscape through Brexit and the results of Devolution for Cambridgeshire could impact the City’s growth. The panel comprised its chair, Jane Galvin (Regional MD, Barclays, and Chair of the CBI East of England), Lord Andrew Lansley CBE PC, Mark Reeve (Chair, Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP),and Darren Bear (CEO Eastern Region, Grant Thornton).
Speaking after the event, Ian Mather, Chairman of Cambridge Ahead, said, “It’s evident from the turnout and the immediate feedback that the event was of great interest to Cambridge’s business, academic, local government and community groups. Some really interesting ideas were aired and the latest growth data continues to show the strength and direction of the city’s economy. This event has shown yet again how Cambridge Ahead is leading the debate on the future of our special city. I would like to thank our speakers and panellists for giving their time and contributing so much to the success of the event.”
To read a full account of this event, view a gallery of images, read the press release on Cambridge's Growth, and view the press and TV reports of the event, please visit the Cambridge Ahead news page.
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