London Mayor Makes Cannes Debut As Capital And Manchester Battle For Top Billing

Where once Boris Johnson was a regular box office draw at the home in Cannes, his successor as London mayor made his debut at MIPIM last week as the UK's cities bid for top billing at the show.

The UK’s regions and major cities were out in force at MIPIM, and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan made his first visit to Cannes seeking new investment to help accelerate the delivery of affordable homes and unlock new infrastructure and jobs in plans to grow the London economy by more than £100B over the next 10 years.  

Khan was also promoting infrastructure and transport hub development opportunities across Network Rail’s estate, which he valued at over £10B.

Pointing to the UK government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which was published while he was at MIPIM, he said: “If you need evidence that you've got the government, the mayor, councils, businesses all on the same page, that is it. As far as London is concerned, a new government isn’t just a welcome ray of light — it’s a game-changer.”

Khan spoke ahead of the Housing Matters event immediately preceding the main trade days at MIPIM and on London’s stand. He said the UK capital faced an “acute housing crisis” but insisted that developers and investors would find a far better planning climate to build projects in local communities.

However, probably the biggest announcement at MIPIM was over the ambitious plans to build a new 100,000-capacity stadium for Manchester United Football Club and regenerate a huge area of surrounding land. At a packed session showcasing the designs, Sebastian Coe, who oversaw the Olympics project and has been made chair of the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force, predicted it could surpass the London 2012 Games in scale.

“The proposed plans to regenerate the Old Trafford area could be the biggest thing that has ever been undertaken in Europe,” Coe said. “I don’t think I’m overstating it when I say that this has the potential to be not only a bigger project than 2012 but, in terms of European scope and scale, probably the biggest thing that has ever been undertaken.”

“This is not just one project in the heart of Greater Manchester. This is about rethinking the north of England, the north-west in particular,” Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said, adding that the stadium plan was a sign that the city and the region were “going up a gear.”

Burnham also said no public money would go into development of the stadium itself. Instead, local government would work with the club on the area’s regeneration and, through the relocation of rail terminals in Manchester, would use the development as an opportunity to boost the economies of the entire north-west region.

Alongside the UK cities, Ireland also made its MIPIM debut with a pavilion set up at the nearby Carlton Hotel hosting two investment sessions.