Driverless cars, robots in the home, 24 hour flexible working and augmented high streets. Oxford could look very different in the future.
We are starting a wide-ranging consultation to find out how Oxford residents and businesses want to see their city in 2050.
Government forecasts suggest Oxford’s population will be 180,000 by 2040 and so there could be 190,000 living in the city by the middle of the century. That’s 18 per cent above the city’s current population of 161,000 people – so we want to start thinking now about how the city will operate.
How the consultation took place
Starting on 6 November 2017, and over the subsequent four weeks, we asked for views on each of these themes:
- Oxford’s work and learning – your work, your business, the economy, education and the universities
- Oxford’s people and community – you, your family and your community
- Oxford’s built and natural environment – your home, your street, green spaces, buildings in the city and the climate
- Oxford’s transport and connectivity – your travel in and around the city
- Oxford’s culture and leisure – your enjoyment of the arts and leisure activities
The consultation has now closed and we are analysing the results
Using the results
Information from the consultation will be used to create a vision statement – called Oxford2050 – that will set out the aspirations for the city over the next decade.
The final Oxford2050 will be published in March 2018 as a living document on its own website. The aim is that this document will be agreed by residents, businesses, universities, charities, local authorities and other organisations across Oxford, so that the whole city is pulling together in one direction.
For Oxford City Council, the vision statement will underpin future policy documents – including future Corporate Plans, which set out its strategy and investments, and future Local Plans, which set out where housing, economic and leisure developments will take place across Oxford.
However the conversation will not stop. Oxford2050 will eventually become Oxford2060, rather than a single document that gathers dust.
Oxford2050 