The new ‘Nottingham Vision’ has taken inspiration from cities such as Melbourne and Madrid
17:00, 07 Jun 2026Updated 17:00, 07 Jun 2026
Councillor Neghat Khan says confidence in Nottingham has ‘never been higher'(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
The leader of Nottingham City Council said she thinks the East Midlands can overtake Manchester and the West Midlands as she showcased a new 10-step plan for the city.
Neghat Khan was talking as she and other local leaders pitched to businesses at the UK Real Estate, Infrastructure and Investment Forum in Leeds about why they should invest in the city.
And, along with council chief executive Sajeeda Rose and East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward, she officially launched the ‘Nottingham Vision’, setting out how exactly those in charge intend to boost Nottingham to be one of the UK’s top three cities by 2050.
She told the Nottingham Post: “The Nottingham vision is 10 bold ideas. I class it as a jigsaw. Everyone’s got a part to play in it.
“We want to compete with your West Midlands, your Manchesters and everywhere else. We think we can overtake them at one point. We’ve just got to really get that confidence.
“That’s how much I’m buzzing after the couple of days we’ve had here (at UKREIFF) because we’ve had some really good not just talk but real investment. We’ve got people who really want to back Nottingham because they can see where it’s going.”
Both Cllr Khan and the Mayor said that meetings with potential investors had gone “really well”.
The Mayor said: “We’ve had meetings with potential investors. We can’t talk about them at the moment but they are big investors that have been involved in other cities that have made significant change there and they are looking around the country and globally (for) the next big opportunity.
East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward said that meetings had taken place with ‘big investors’ about Nottingham(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
“They do see Nottingham – and the East Midlands more widely – as that, because we’ve got so much going for us in this region.”
The Nottingham Vision was put together by the council in collaboration with consultants Arup, in response to the announcement by the Mayor’s East Midlands Combined Authority at last year’s UKREIFF of an aim to connect Derby and Nottingham through the ‘Trent Arc’ region in the south of the two counties.
Launching the Vision to attendees at this year’s event, Cllr Khan told potential investors that “confidence in Nottingham has never been higher”.
She said: “(This vision is) not just a distant ambition. It’s a city already changing, already moving and already delivering.”
Arup’s Vicky Evans said that the vision had taken inspiration from other global cities – notably, Melbourne in Australia and Madrid in Spain.
She said: “We thought quite long and hard about which cities to look at. Melbourne was a really good example (with) the regeneration that’s happened around their river and the sports-led focus.
“We used Melbourne as a leading example of that and the impact it’s had within communities around it and bringing people into the city and regenerating that part.
“The other was Madrid. We’re working with Madrid at the moment, who are looking at a very similar way of thinking about bringing green space into their city, thinking about how play, children and rewilding can be brought in.”
The 10-step ‘Nottingham Vision’
- Homes in the Heart: Deliver homes through brownfield sites such as the Broadmarsh and the Island Quarter
- Children’s Forest: Turn Nottingham into a ‘Forest City’ with a “connected network of green corridors” including the Green Heart and “Robin Hood’s Gardens”
- Green Grid: Create an interconnected network of pedestrianised streets where people will want to “spend time rather than just move through”, by improving cycling and walking routes
- Connected Energy City: Develop a low-carbon energy network to power homes, sports centres, universities and hospitals
- Innovation District: Establish the area between the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee campus, Park campus, Nottingham Trent University, Biocity and the Island Quarter as an innovation district with a “vibrant urban identity”
- Commercial District: Curate a net-zero business district between Nottingham Station, The Meadows and the Island Quarter with enhanced amenities, transport gateways, tram extensions, an improved public realm and a new conference centre for local and national business events
- Centre for Small Business Innovation: Build a centre for small businesses and creatives in the city centre and make the city a ‘global’ hub for creative and design-led enterprise
- Sports Corridor: Connect the ‘Trent Sports District’ with the National Ice Centre, the Tennis Centre and the train station to boost the visitor economy and improve the city’s sporting profile and branding globally
- Independent Mile: Curate a walkable route through the city centre between Derby Road and through Hockley to Sneinton Market as a ‘journey’ through markets and local businesses, including at a ‘redesigned’ Old Market Square
- A City of Legends: Build a cultural identity on Nottingham’s legendary history, with a new annual ‘Nottingham Festival’ of ‘creativity and stories’ and a tourist route through the Castle, Lace Market, Carrington Street and Broadmarsh tying together stories through digital storytelling and public art