One of Britain’s most successful new towns Milton Keynes has reached a major milestone, celebrating its fiftieth anniversary today
Milton Keynes is today celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. Forming part of the New Town movement, it is heralded as Britain’s most famous and successful town.
Milton Keynes started as the dream of politicians and planners in the late 1960s. The town was given the go ahead on 23 January 1967 after then Housing Minister Anthony Greenwood put the wheels in motion to create a unique green metropolis.
Milton Keynes was built on 8,850 hectares of farmland and undeveloped villages. It was positioned in the heart of England, roughly between London, Birmingham, Leicester, Oxford, and Cambridge. It is now home to almost 270,000 residents, 11,000 businesses and is used as a model for new cities worldwide.
Major contributor to the economy
Milton Keynes is undoubtedly successful, contributing over £10bn to the nation’s Gross Value Added (GVA) economic output. It also boasts the third highest start-up rate and the fourth highest density of businesses.
It is expected the town will grow further, with an interim report from the National Infrastructure Commission suggesting Milton Keynes could become a global showcase for science, technology and innovation. A third of employment in the town is based around innovative, knowledge-based businesses. Comparatively, this is a quarter nationwide.
Green planning
Milton Keynes boasts around two-fifth open space, with residents never more than half a mile from parkland. There are 15 lakes and 11 miles of canals, as well as 22 million trees and shrubs. The town also has more than 180 miles of dedicated bridleways, footpaths and cycle tracks.
The town remains dedicated to green initiatives, tripling the number of electrical vehicles driven in 2016. It has a network of charging points and a fleet of electric buses.
It also recently launched the first trial of driverless pods in pedestrianised areas as part of the LUTZ pathfinder project. This is being led by the Transport Systems Catapult, which is based in the town. This will see a fleet of 40 pods operating around Milton Keynes by 2018.
Future development
Looking ahead, the MK2050 Futures Commission was established to discern new ideas to develop Milton Keynes further. This includes plans for a smart, integrated transport network and the establishment of MK: IT—a new style university that promotes Living Lab research into the issues facing growing cities.
Leader of Milton Keynes Council Pete Marland said: “People came to MK to be part of something new where everyone could shape their place called home.
“This created a community keen to progress and move forward.
“We’re incredibly proud of the progress that MK, its residents, businesses and organisations have made in its first fifty years and we are as ambitious and optimistic for the future.
“As originally designed, nothing stands still in Milton Keynes and we’re ready for our next phase of growth.”
