Why Greater Cambridge?
Within Greater Cambridge, Cambridge City is a world renowned, historic city with a rich cultural heritage. Drawing on its exceptional intellectual tradition, the world-leading innovation ecosystem that has emerged around Greater Cambridge over the past fifty years has been an incredible success. An academic powerhouse, it also hosts the largest life sciences cluster in Europe and is home to many more phenomenal centres of research and innovation.
People who live, work and study in Cambridge highly value the quality of life that the city provides. Its popularity and success as a place is a result of its wonderful architecture, easy access to nature, and wealth of local amenities.
But with Cambridge’s success, there are now emerging challenges for continuing sustainable growth in and around the city for local residents, communities and businesses. With Cambridge playing an increasingly prominent role in global advances in healthcare, life sciences, food security, climate change and the digital revolution, it is clear that the continued success of Greater Cambridge should be treated as a national priority.
The Cambridge Growth Company (CGC) has been established to work with local partners to help realise the region’s full potential.
The Backs, Cambridge City Centre ©Alex Brown
Ridgeway at Eddington ©Jack Hobhouse
The Opportunity
Enabling innovation, businesses and job creation
There is huge potential to nurture innovation and growth drawing on the internationally significant life sciences and technology clusters found in and around the city, bringing immense opportunities for enterprise across the UK.
Laboratory space in Cambridge is in short supply as a result of Cambridge’s attractiveness. Bidwells has reported that occupiers in Cambridge were searching for 531,000 square feet of laboratory space at the end of 2024, with only 225,500 square feet available.
Compared to Cambridge’s international competitors, there is also a shortage of convenient incubator space for early-stage companies with seed funding (compare for example, with the Cambridge Innovation Center in Boston, Massachusetts).
The CGC can therefore support Cambridge’s economy to grow. This includes enabling:
- construction of more commercial and laboratory spaces which are needed to retain global leadership in key industries;
- synergies between the private sector and the academic sector to foster innovation;
- the creation of thousands of new jobs in and around the city.
The Works ©Nick Guttridge
Delivering homes
In 2024, the median average home in England cost 7.7 times the median average earnings of a full-time employee. In Cambridge, this ratio is 11.3, and in South Cambridgeshire it is 9.5.
Cambridge has already been building at a rate in excess of the UK average. But growth of the population, driven by Cambridge’s success is still running ahead of new housing supply.
The CGC want to improve access to more, high quality homes, which are affordable, in the places that people want to live and work. These homes would look to sustain healthy lifestyles, and provide access to nature and amenities that fosters a sense of community.
Abode at Great Kneighton.
©Proctor&Matthews
More efficient transport for all
Growing annual traffic in Cambridgeshire requires considered interventions to improve levels of congestion found in and around Cambridge, to overcome excessive journey times. Data now suggests each person driving in and around Cambridge, loses 52 hours each year to congestion.
The CGC’s plans for the city will look to have sustainable transport at its heart, drawing on existing strengths found in the city for both cycling and walking. The CGC is also committed to exploring a potential mass transit system for faster and easier travel in and around the city, including to the science and business parks.
Park & Ride guided busway ©Cambridgeshire County Council
Accelerating delivery of water infrastructure across Cambridgeshire
Cambridge is one of the most water-stressed regions in the UK. There is a significant opportunity for Cambridge to trailblaze exemplary water efficiency and water management approaches, to deliver the city’s economic potential without compromising on environmental standards.
The CGC will work with the Environment Agency, MHCLG and other experts to design and deliver high building standards for new homes and commercial space, innovative water re-use and efficiency mechanisms, and integrated flood and water management that supports improvement to the natural environment, including nationally important chalk streams.
Alongside this, the CGC will continue to support MHCLG’s ongoing work – with experts from the independent Water Scarcity Group and local partners – to ensure there is adequate water supply and infrastructure available for growth. This includes delivering innovative water savings interventions and working with water companies to provide the necessary infrastructure to support long-term growth. This work to date has already unlocked planning applications totalling over 9,000 homes and nearly 500,000sqm of commercial space.
Fenlands Reservoir ©BBC
And creating great places with upfront social infrastructure
Most importantly, there is an opportunity to build-upon what is special about Cambridge and its environs. The CGC believes that it is possible to move towards a model of ambitious, yet sustainable urban growth that demonstrates new places can equal the qualities and character of the old.
The CGC’s vision therefore is to enable developments to have gentle densities in a manner which complements and celebrates the city’s unique qualities and setting. These will build on the wealth of traditional and award-winning architecture to create new, beautiful, integrated neighbourhoods and healthy communities, with the public services that are needed to service them.
Marmalade Lane ©David Butler