From past foundations to future skylines
POSSIBILITIES
Cities are constantly evolving, from the earliest trading centres to modern megacities, each generation shaping urban life to fit its needs. We are on the cusp of another such change, and today’s city-dwellers have very different expectations to their predecessors.
In April 2025 we conducted research with Censuswide which revealed a significant attitude shift between the generations, with high-rise city living, smaller private spaces, and better communal facilities high on the agenda for the under 30s.
As the line between where we live and where we work becomes more blurred, the next generation might be more comfortable living, working and raising their families in the city, which means it needs to change to accommodate them. As well as homes increasingly incorporating offices, people expect offices to offer more of the comforts of home.
Market research consultancy Censuswide strictly adheres to the Market Research Society code of conduct and ESOMAR principles and is a member of the British Polling Council.
Sample 1: 2,001 UK consumers (nat rep 18+), in field 2/4/2025 – 4/4/2025
Sample 2: 250 people who work in the built environment (18+), in field 3/4/2025 – 7/4/2025
High-rise aspirations going unfulfilled
The places that dominate the Global Liveability Index are still European cities known for their open spaces, culture, environment and stability, with Copenhagen knocking Vienna off the top spot in 2025. They have large suburbs with excellent public transport for commuters, serving the mid-20th-century western dream not to live in cities, but to escape to leafy suburbs and ‘dormitory towns.’
There is good evidence that this view has not been passed down. Generation Z and millennials are much more keen on high-rise living than their parents, with 47% finding it appealing, as opposed to just 6% of boomers.
Raised on K-pop, anime, and streaming dramas from Seoul, Tokyo, and beyond, younger generations picture cities buzzing with connectivity: high-speed broadband, late-night food delivery, frictionless transport, and accessible healthcare. They want to live, work, socialise, and raise families in one walkable neighbourhood.
Despite this aspiration, when asked to look ahead, only 19% believed future cities will allow them to live and work in the same place. In the short term at least, the commute remains a fact of life with nearly 80% of Brits still saying commutability is important, and 69% finding an under-one-hour commute attractive.
Maybe the explanation for a significant proportion being willing to travel for longer than an hour is that the commute is increasingly not a daily occurrence. The majority of the people we spoke to (60%) preferred hybrid work, so it is perhaps no surprise that a less frequent commute might be a longer one.
Younger generations picture cities buzzing with connectivity: high-speed broadband, late-night food delivery, frictionless transport, and accessible healthcare.”
London (38%), Leeds (27%) Manchester (26%) Newcastle (26%)
People in these cities are more likely to find high-rise living appealing than those in smaller or coastal towns
Most likely to want to live in a high-rise:
Aged 25-34
Aged 55+
Most likely to find living in a high-rise unappealing:
Women
Men
Cities in constant motion
People have very clear expectations of what should await them when they do arrive at work, however long it takes them to get there. Three quarters of Brits think it is important that commercial buildings contain green spaces. This goes hand in hand with an expectation of more use of renewable energy (35%), smart technology keeping everything connected (34%), and more sustainable and energy-efficient buildings (33%).
The reality is that many urban work and leisure spaces do not fit these requirements. The challenge is to match the emerging expectations of the next generation with an infrastructure designed around the lifestyles of those who have largely already left the city.
This is not a sad farewell to the office, but a recognition that flexible and hybrid working practices make different demands on office spaces. Indeed, a larger proportion of people working from company premises are more likely to feel connected to their colleagues than those working from home (40% vs 15%). Commercial buildings have to cater to a variety of different working practices, and expectations of what a work space should offer, while fostering those connections.
We need to consider multiple generations and demographics. A lot of younger people want to connect with people both from a personal and a professional development perspective, so you need to create spaces that encourage all different types of people to come together to learn, but also for there to be a social environment for all.
Ian Gow Director, Hoare Lea
of Brits think it is important that commercial buildings contain green spaces
feel it is important that non-residential buildings are accessible (e.g. inclusive design)
think appealing aesthetics are important
There is no blank slate
There have been many attempts to imagine the city of the future. From Fritz Lang’s dystopian Metropolis (1927) to Huawei’s hypermodern Jinhu campus, both in fiction and reality, it is often easier to discard the past when thinking of the future. However, many of those keen on urban living prize their heritage assets; nearly a third (28%) say there should be more focus on preserving historical non-residential buildings.
This does not mean preserving those heritage buildings as living museums; the transformation of Drapers Yard in Leeds is a wonderful example of an older building becoming home to the most modern of inhabitants, and matching all of those sustainability requirements people value so highly.
The price for cities that don’t move with the times can be high. The sand-blasted remains of Al-Ula, which thrived for two millennia as a hub of traders and pilgrims, was the victim of a sudden change in trading routes.
It’s unlikely this fate will befall Manchester or Newcastle – at the very least they are safe from the desert sands – but the cities that can blend their heritage and community with increased sustainability will be the ones to thrive over the course of the next century.
The cities that blend heritage and community with increased sustainability will be the ones to thrive over the next century.
While buildings changing use is commonplace, the transformation of Drapers Yard is perhaps one of the more radical story arcs.
The former two-storey warehouse has been transformed with a new facade, rooftop amenity space with green sedum roof, and new landscaping and planting on Marshall Street and Sweet Street. But it’s once you step through the doors that the scale of change becomes truly apparent.
The site, at the heart of Leeds city centre’s Temple area and its redevelopment, includes a 100-bed clinic, pharmacy and the UK office headquarters of clinical research company Fortrea. The company has worked on most of the available Covid-19 vaccines and the new facility is a gold-standard clinical pharmacology investigational unit. The UK life sciences sector has an outstanding reputation that Leeds plays a growing role in, with the largest concentration of medical device companies in the UK as well as a wealth of health, science and digital talent.
Moving spaces
The idea of buildings changing use is familiar to most people. Large towns and cities will usually have areas repurposed from their industrial revolution heyday, especially riverfront or marina developments. It’s not just an urban phenomenon; with barn conversions, churches that become pubs, and even large public buildings becoming flats or hotels, we are used to change of use and large-scale modernisation.
Over a third (36%) of Brits say there are currently non-residential buildings in their local area being repurposed. As long as modifications are made sympathetically, there is a widespread acceptance of buildings evolving and a preference for reinventing over rebuilding.
Just as we’ve seen industrial buildings such as warehouses becoming offices or co-working spaces, purpose-built office accommodation is now being converted to residential or other commercial use.
Many of the Georgian and Victorian industrial spaces have already been repurposed, and because they were built in the era of candles, or gaslight, they made excellent use of natural light, with high ceilings and large windows.
The challenge is to take 20th-century buildings designed in an era of artificial light and adapt them for a generation that expects light, airy and sustainably lit spaces.
Ruth Kelly Waskett Director, Hoare Lea
98%
of built environment workers surveyed say buildings in their sector have changed in function over time. The most common changes include:
Adapting to accommodate new technology and digital infrastructure
Retrofitting for energy efficiency and sustainability
Repurposing (ie. offices to resi, warehouse or co-working spaces)
Our client wanted to deliver a unique workspace, different to those in the surrounding area, by focusing on occupant health and wellbeing.
The existing fit-out was completely stripped, with the cores re-modelled and the primary plant relocated. The labyrinth of established corridors, boxy rooms and dated workspaces meant we had to find smart solutions for the challenging obstacles that lay in our way. This included upgrading the thermal fabric for better performance and increasing occupancy densities – all while improving the entire look and feel of the space.
Our focus was not only cosmetic; FORGE was designed to be conscious of its environmental impact, achieving BREEAM Excellent, Cycle Score Platinum, WiredScore Platinum and a Fitwel two-star rating.
We embedded specialist lighting throughout the building, installed high-efficiency air source heat pump technology for heating and cooling, fitted solar-controlled glazing and enabled multi-tenanted floor plates.
The building has been created to ensure maximum flexibility for its users. From the café in the reception, to the wide variety of spaces in the atrium grid, and even the sun loungers on the top floor, people can choose the best space to interact in. By creating these collaborative, co-working breakout areas, people are able to work in a modern and productive way that does not confine them to their desk area. This design, layout and functionality makes FORGE a truly modern workplace, ready to support the businesses of the future.
Breaking out of the cubicle farms
Having space to take breaks from their desk when working away from home was the number-one requirement for our respondents, even higher than connection with colleagues. Those fluorescent-lit cubicle farms of the 1980s now need to house breakout areas and team-building facilities, and become spaces that foster connections and aid creativity.
This might signal a change in working practices as a new generation enters the workforce, or perhaps we have always wanted to work in these aesthetically pleasing spaces. What is becoming increasingly clear is that in order to attract people back into the office, the office must first be attractive.
Paul Hanna believes urban spaces have to focus on what has always been attractive to those who enjoy urban living:
The colour and fragrancy, the hotch-potch of culture, that’s what entices people to urban spaces. This is evident in the successful redevelopment of the Northern Quarter in Manchester, or the North Lanes in Brighton. People will go to spaces if those spaces offer them something.
Dr Paul Hanna Head of Societal Impacts, Hoare Lea
Close encounters of the third space
A common theme when talking to people about both residential and commercial buildings was the importance placed on third spaces, be they commercial premises such as pubs and cafes, or public parks, libraries, and community centres. We found that 95% of Brits feel there are benefits to third spaces, with a reduction of loneliness and social isolation seen as the most common benefit (43%), but at the same time, there are not enough of them, and many that do exist are not fit for purpose.
Over a third of people (37%) felt that mixed-use community spaces, where residential, commercial, and recreational uses are combined, feel unwelcoming. There was also a sense that many of these spaces are focused on healthcare support for an aging population.
There is a perceived decline in community spirit, with a majority of people feeling that community spaces are important and that they look to businesses to provide them. This is particularly true of those younger generations looking more favourably on high-rise and new-build living. Although the city-dweller of the future may be willing to compromise on the size of their private domain, they expect a great deal more than they currently get from their public spaces.
The sympathetic regeneration of the latter, taking into account changing needs and desires, could offer a solution to this sense of alienation from third spaces. The regeneration of Urmston’s tired leisure centre into a thriving community hub is one such example.
felt that mixed-use community spaces, where residential, commercial, and recreational uses are combined, feel unwelcoming
of Brits think there are benefits to third spaces
see reduction of loneliness and social isolation as the most common benefit
Urmston’s leisure centre, Move Urmston, is not a new building; nor is it a special old one. But it has come a long way for £6.4million through a reworking of the front of the building. Remarkably, even through lockdown, while closed, its membership has grown, perhaps thanks to an intensive two weeks of fully booked, half-hourly tours of the building in early March.
So how is it sustainable? First, in encouraging more people to be active. And secondly in presenting a new face to the world but with relatively little demolition, thus saving a huge amount of embodied carbon. In operational terms, it is also bringing down energy use.
They kept the existing pool and sports halls and rebuilt the warren of rooms at the front of the building into a more simply navigated space, starting with an open entrance without turnstiles, and a climbing wall that acts as the energising face of the building behind the glass facade. An old and underused ‘conservatory’ becomes a poolside café and a sensory room. Studio spaces have been designed to work with different class sizes and give natural light even while, in one, the immediate plan is for a more immersive space where the big screen takes precedence.
Savings were found in the fabric efficiency and that of heating, cooling and ventilation (an invisible intervention of replacing the 30-year-old plant; a loss in embodied carbon but a chance to run the building more efficiently). Auto-off and dimming lights cut waste alongside a design to maximise natural light – noticeable in the entrance and in the clerestories of the existing axial spine. Air permeability has also been reduced to half that of the standard and the hot water system has been insulated.
Urmston shows that reworking, repairing and retrofitting, with plenty of attention to the tiny unglamorous practicalities, can start to make a difference to the climate as well as to people’s lives.
Photos: 5plus / Tom Bird
From vision to reality
The end product may be difficult to predict; however, expectations are clear: an emphasis on sustainability, accessibility and both green and communal spaces is common across all generations. Future commercial spaces will need to cater to the desire for connection and wellbeing, in addition to the traditional focus on productivity.
With 69% of Brits saying non-residential buildings should reduce their carbon footprint, how does the industry task itself with meeting the expectations of those using these structures?
Sustainable, modern buildings come at a cost, although there is evidence that people understand this, and cost is not a deterrent where sustainability issues are concerned.
This is another area where the generations divide, with city-dwelling, millennial, new-build inhabitants far more likely to agree to pay a premium for sustainability than their suburban and rural baby-boomer parents.
In cities at least, it does seem that the challenges of changing the use and profile of commercial buildings will reap rewards with their future users. The transformation of One Station Hill in Reading demonstrates what a smart, sustainable building can do not just for its tenants, but the area that surrounds it, too.
Often we are designing buildings that are not built for a few years. Future-proofing and enabling design to ensure that spaces and engineering systems can adapt to the tenants’ needs is absolutely vital.
Ian Gow Director, Hoare Lea
Sustainability and net-zero initiatives come with challenges, however. According to people who work in the built environment, the three biggest challenges in achieving net zero in this sector are:
High costs of sustainable materials and technologies
Difficulty retrofitting existing buildings
Supply chain constraints for sustainable materials
Cities of tomorrow, rooted in today
The cities the next generation inherits will not be built from scratch, they’ll be rewoven from what already stands. Older facades will frame smart, sustainable cores, and offices will double as social hubs. People don’t need offices in order to earn a living, but offices need people in order to justify their existence.
It is important to keep an eye on the changing attitudes of the public that will be using those buildings. Even the quickest project can take years to complete, and attitudes can change.
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