Britain stopped believing the future could be better than the past. We’re here to prove that wrong.
This is not another housing development. Forest City is a plan for a complete city of up to one million people, built over 30 years on 45,000 acres east of Cambridge. 400,000 permanently affordable homes. A 12,000 acre nature reserve, twice the size of Epping Forest. A new reservoir. A new railway. Planned properly, from day one.
Who’s Behind This
Forest City is a project of the Albion City Development Corporation (ACDC), founded by Joe Reeve and Shiv Malik.
Joe is a software engineer and entrepreneur who believes Britain’s best days should be ahead of us, not behind us, co-founder of Looking For Growth. Shiv is a former investigative journalist for the BBC, Sunday Times and Guardian, co-founder of the Intergenerational Foundation, and co-author of Jilted Generation: How Britain Has Bankrupted Its Youth. He spent a decade documenting how Britain failed a generation. Now he’s building the fix.
We don’t work alone. Our Advisory Board is chaired by Dame Patricia Hewitt, former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and for Health. It includes Professor Tim Leunig, the economist who advised two former Prime Ministers and three Chancellors; Paul Johnson CBE, former director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies; and Jackie Sadek, one of Britain’s most experienced urban regeneration leaders. Our Chief Masterplanner is Steve McAdam, who masterplanned Kings Cross and the 2012 Olympics. On nature, we’re advised by Sir Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project, and Paul Powlesland, barrister and founder of Lawyers for Nature.
The Work So Far
In under a year, Forest City has moved from an idea to a plan.
We launched at the O2 in front of 1,200 people. We assembled six expert working groups: over 40 specialists in housing, water, transport, nature, energy and economics, who gave their time to test whether this city can actually be built. Their conclusions fill a full feasibility report covering everything from reservoir capacity to the cost of a four bed home.
“I believe this report makes a compelling case. Whether you are a skeptic, an enthusiast or somewhere in between, I invite you to read this report with an open mind.”
Why This Matters
The numbers don’t lie. A junior doctor today earns less than they did 17 years ago. Housing costs have spiralled beyond reach. We’ve stopped having children at replacement rates. Despite all our technology, the fundamentals of a good life were more attainable a generation ago than they are now: a home, a family, savings.
The reason is simple. We stopped building. And when you can’t build, you can’t have a better future.
And contrary to the usual argument, building Forest City saves more land than it uses. The 31,500-acre city footprint sits within 56,000 acres of intensive arable farmland — and comes with 21,500 acres legally protected from development forever.
A New Model for a New Generation
We’re merging the best ideas from across the political spectrum: a Special Economic Zone to unleash enterprise, and a Community Land Trust to keep homes permanently affordable. This isn’t left versus right. It’s a new deal for everyone locked out of prosperity.
Instead of overpriced housing where your money disappears into land speculation, imagine a four bed family home designed to sell at £350,000. The equivalent home in Cambridge costs over £1 million. You own your home outright. When you sell, you get the value of the building. The land stays with the community, keeping homes affordable for the next family too.
Instead of business strangled by red tape, imagine a Special Economic Zone where companies can invest, adapt and expand at the pace of innovation itself.
Instead of concrete sprawl, imagine a genuine forest city, where a 12,000 acre nature reserve winds through the neighbourhoods and nature isn’t an afterthought but a first-class citizen.
For Cambridge, For Britain, For the Future
Cambridge’s world leading research institutions and companies are desperate to build labs, factories and data centres. They’re being blocked at every turn. Forest City unlocks that potential, not just for Cambridge but for Britain’s entire innovation economy.
If we match Milton Keynes’ productivity, Forest City will generate £55 billion in annual GDP. That’s not abstract economics. It’s funding for the NHS, schools and the public services we all depend on.
And we’re not asking for government funding. We’re asking for permission and partnership.
This Is About You
Whether you’re a young professional priced out of homeownership, a parent who wants somewhere your children can thrive, a founder who needs room to grow, or a local resident with questions about what this means for your community: this project is designed with you in mind.
Britain deserves better than managed decline. The impossible is only impossible until someone builds it.
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