1. The future of UK cities Major city empowerment Smaller cities focus
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Major city empowerment
Smaller cities focus
London-centric
Figure 1: Three illustrative scenarios for the future of the UK system of cities

2. Scenario 1 The ‘Major cities empowerment’ scenario.
A future UK where major cities other than London, e.g. Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Greater Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham, experience the highest relative population growth over the coming years.

3. Scenario 2 The ‘London-centric’ scenario.
A UK where the significant majority of urban population growth occurs within the Greater South East city-region around London.

4. Scenario 3 The ‘Smaller cities focus’ scenario.
A UK system of cities, where smaller cities, such as Cambridge, Crawley, Huddersfield, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Reading, Warrington and York, collectively absorb the highest proportion of city-based population growth.

5. What if…?
Which of the three scenarios do you think is likely in the future?
Why do you believe this will happen?
What impact do you think it will have on the UK? Will this be positive or negative? Consider the social, economic and environmental opportunities and challenges?