Evening Standard: "Grey sky thinking: predicting London's future"

Link to Evening Standard

"Wearying of the squabbles among our politicians, I decided to raise my sights, and probe some less constrained imaginations. So I asked a philosopher, a novelist, a financier, an economist and a historian what will London really be like in five years..."

The Philosopher:
"More than any other capital city, London has benefited from the anarchic vitality of globalisation. If Britain can adapt to a world in which the West is no longer at the centre, the city and the country will continue to be the better for it."

The Novelist:

"Gloriously, worldwide economic collapse has brought even the once impervious London property market to its knees, and young people can put roofs over their heads again, an expectation that had come to be regarded as grossly unreasonable, if not impudent."

The Financier:

"The UK will hopefully realise that it can no longer afford the luxury of the City as it is today, as it is costing the rest of the country and the economy too much."

The Economist:

"Over the medium term, London is going to be hit by the increase in financial regulations - but I suppose in the longer term, they will help us settle down to a new equilibrium."

The Historian:

"The one and only silver lining of this period of austerity is that it might help to ween us off our addiction to consumption."