Supporting NLA’s ‘One Built Environment’ campaign – why being recognised as a single industry matters?

The New London Agenda (NLA), which we are longstanding members of at Civic, has announced its ‘One Built Environment’ campaign, a call to Government to recognise the economic potential of the built environment as a single industry. 

According to the NLA, the UK government still sees our industry in fragments, when the country's growth agenda requires it to operate as one connected system.

The organisation has conducted research with the Greater London Authority and the London School of Economics, which identifies the built environment as an industry generating a quarter of UK GVA - £568 bn - supporting one in eight jobs (3.8m), and contributing £168bn in exports of goods and services each year.

NLA’s ‘One Built Environment’ campaign proposes a common framework that would make those priorities more coherent, more investable and more deliverable - and give places the long-term capacity to turn national ambition into growth and better everyday lives. 

It’s a campaign we support here at Civic, with three central asks to Government. 

Read more and sign here:

• Recognise the economic scale of the built environment as a single industry, using the methodology established by GLA Economics in NLA's ‘Defining the Built Environment’ report. 
• Include the built environment as a strategic growth sector in the Industrial Strategy, aligning policy and regula on across government to support innovation, productivity and growth. 
• Work with industry leaders on a 10-year, regionally led Built Environment Industrial and Investment Strategy - enabling places to leverage devolved taxes for critical infrastructure, strengthening UK supply chains & innovation, creating sustainable jobs and expanding exports.

Stephen O’Malley, CEO and co-founder here at Civic, shares why it aligns closely with system thinking, and the value that stands to be unlocked:

Stephen commented: “The built environment is extraordinarily good at demonstrating the importance of its individual constituent parts, but much less effective at articulating its collective economic, social and environmental contribution. 

“The numbers that the NLA highlights are striking: the built environment represents 25% of UK GVA (£568bn), one in eight jobs (3.8m) and £168bn of annual exports. Yet government continues largely to see and engage with the industry through individual sectors, professions, departments and funding streams. 

“We increasingly understand and design places as interconnected systems, yet institutionally, we continue to organise and represent ourselves through individual professions, sectors and interests. 

“Here at Civic, our own evolution sees us as system thinkers across the built and natural environment. We recognise that water, nature, transport, infrastructure, buildings, energy, climate, investment, economic development and communities don’t operate independently of one another, and we’ve carefully curated a team centred around built environment engineering, alongside transport, heritage, archaeology, sustainability, and place-based consultancy, in response. 

“Arguably, the industry and the government structures that shape these aspects of our built and natural environment, should also operate as one connected system.

“There is also a very practical case here. A more coherent approach across our industry, would help unlock and accelerate investment and delivery, improve productivity and innovation, create greater certainty around long-term infrastructure investment, strengthen skills and supply chains, and support climate resilience. 

“Ultimately, it would create better places and better everyday lives. That’s why we support NLA in its ‘One Built Environment’ campaign, and encourage all of our colleagues, industry peers and collaborators to rally behind the important collective effort. 

“All of us have a role to play, in carrying this message into our conversations within our industry and with changemakers, to help move the dial and create positive impact for people, place and planet.”

To find out more and rally your support, visit NLA or email Bex.Tinsley@team-civic.com to speak to our team of system thinkers about how to get involved.

Read more about our team’s roles at NLA, including as part of its expert panels and sounding board below.