Our Global Cities Reviewed: London and Paris breakfast seminar, which took place at Nuveen’s 7 Devonshire Square, compared and contrasted the economies and commercial development markets of Europe’s two megacities Paris and London. This followed a recent study trip to France’s capital undertaken by the Alliance in partnership with Opportunity London and the publication of our bi-annual report, Global Cities Survey, which compares London’s economy to five other international city centres.
Insights from the seminar included:
Pedestrianisation and public realm: Following news of revitalised plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street, panellists spoke about the quayside at the Parc Rives de Seine and how this has led to improved visitor experiences, with more leisure driving an increase in footfall.
Best in class office space: There is greater demand for Grade A office space in London than Paris, with offices needing to ‘earn the commute’ of its workers due to longer journey times. On average, commuters travel 20-35 minutes in Paris and 45 mins to one hour in London.
Formidable city pair: As the dust settles on Brexit, there is greater potential for London and Paris to work together, maximising on their proximity to harness competitiveness and drive economic growth for both cities.
Our speakers included:
- Laura Citron OBE, Chief Executive Officer, London & Partners
- Karen Cook, Co-Founder, SPICE Design & CPA Vice Chair and Treasurer
- Alexander Jan, Chief Economic Advisor, London Property Alliance
- Edouard Lefebvre, Former Managing Director, Comité Champs-Elysées and President, Splendor Mundi
- Ross Sayers, Head of Development Management, Landsec & CPA Chair (panel chair)
- Simon Swietochowski, Development Director, AXA IM Alts & CPA Board member
