For the second year in a row, London reigns over all European cities. Despite Brexit. Despite a war in Europe. The soft pound certainly made bucket-list trips more affordable, combined with the voracious global appetite to see the world after the pandemic. Heathrow Airport reported its highest-ever September traffic figures in , welcoming more than seven million customers, compared to 6. The original concourse also features new and expanded ticket gates and customer assistance infrastructure.
In , fewer than 70, homes were bought outside the capital by Londoners the fewest in almost a decade , down from almost , in at the height of the pandemic. There are even new metro stops as part of the transformational Elizabeth line buildout, with trains now running directly from Reading and Heathrow to Abbey Wood and from Shenfield to Paddington. And speaking of gathering people, the hand-wringing about the flight of talent and capital due to the pall of Brexit and the follow-up spectre of an airborne pandemic , while warranted, now seems excessive.
And new residents. The highest-profile new residents span the globally super-rich, from Middle Eastern buying activity hitting a four-year high in the second half of to the arrival of tech royalty, although aggressive tech-sector cost-cutting has brought the deep tech investment seen earlier this decade to a halt. Despite these recent economic clouds, London is still hot globally. The group has already approved and started construction on , square metres of new office space, with another , currently being proposed.
The approved space equals a jaw-dropping 70 football pitches. And will be double that once pending approvals come through. Recent tax incentives have included the lowest corporate tax rate among G7 countries and a cornucopia of research and development tax credits. The all-in commitment to biking, called Plan Velo, will place the city among the most bike-friendly on the planet, improving on its current 10 spot in our Biking subcategory.
Act 2 of the plan will teach children to ride bikes in schools, create bike repair infrastructure in neighbourhoods and promote local cycling tourism to the world. Since , city leaders have taken credit for creating an extra 30 hectares of pedestrian areas via widened sidewalks and car-free zones prioritising school zones in doing so.
