{"id":1011825,"date":"2026-06-07T20:22:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T20:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1011825\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T20:22:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T20:22:41","slug":"leader-says-we-can-overtake-manchester-and-birmingham-as-she-launches-10-step-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1011825\/","title":{"rendered":"Leader says we can \u2018overtake\u2019 Manchester and Birmingham as she launches 10-step plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new ‘Nottingham Vision’ has taken inspiration from cities such as Melbourne and Madrid<\/p>\n

17:00, 07 Jun 2026Updated 17:00, 07 Jun 2026<\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/p>\n

Councillor Neghat Khan says confidence in Nottingham has ‘never been higher'(Image: Joseph Raynor\/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

The leader of Nottingham City Council<\/a> said she thinks the East Midlands can overtake Manchester and the West Midlands as she showcased a new 10-step plan for the city.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

And, along with council chief executive Sajeeda Rose and East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward,<\/a> she officially launched the \u2018Nottingham Vision\u2019, setting out how exactly those in charge intend to boost Nottingham to be one of the UK\u2019s top three cities by 2050.<\/p>\n

She told the Nottingham Post: \u201cThe Nottingham vision is 10 bold ideas. I class it as a jigsaw. Everyone\u2019s got a part to play in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to compete with your West Midlands, your Manchesters and everywhere else. We think we can overtake them at one point. We\u2019ve just got to really get that confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how much I\u2019m buzzing after the couple of days we\u2019ve had here (at UKREIFF) because we\u2019ve had some really good not just talk but real investment. We\u2019ve got people who really want to back Nottingham because they can see where it\u2019s going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Cllr Khan and the Mayor said that meetings with potential investors had gone \u201creally well\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Mayor said: \u201cWe\u2019ve had meetings with potential investors. We can\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/p>\n

East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward said that meetings had taken place with ‘big investors’ about Nottingham(Image: Joseph Raynor\/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do see Nottingham \u2013 and the East Midlands more widely \u2013 as that, because we\u2019ve got so much going for us in this region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nottingham Vision was put together by the council in collaboration with consultants Arup, in response to the announcement by the Mayor\u2019s East Midlands Combined Authority at last year\u2019s UKREIFF of an aim to connect Derby and Nottingham through the \u2018Trent Arc\u2019 region in the south of the two counties.<\/p>\n

Launching the Vision to attendees at this year\u2019s event, Cllr Khan told potential investors that \u201cconfidence in Nottingham has never been higher\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201c(This vision is) not just a distant ambition. It\u2019s a city already changing, already moving and already delivering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arup\u2019s Vicky Evans said that the vision had taken inspiration from other global cities \u2013 notably, Melbourne in Australia and Madrid in Spain.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cWe thought quite long and hard about which cities to look at. Melbourne was a really good example (with) the regeneration that\u2019s happened around their river and the sports-led focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used Melbourne as a leading example of that and the impact it\u2019s had within communities around it and bringing people into the city and regenerating that part.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other was Madrid. We\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 10-step \u2018Nottingham Vision\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n