Mayor calls on London's innovators to support city's recovery

Tower Bridge and City Hall, More London Riverside

As Future Cities Forum prepares for the next in its 'Science Cities' discussion series, where technology and innovation are central to reviving economies, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called on the capital's innovators to help drive forward the city's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our series of debates has looked at the way planning can help alleviate the over-heating economies of our future technology and science cities with consideration for well-organised work and laboratory spaces, housing and public realm, and the way master planning of urban spaces will change post Covid-19.

The Mayor of London's £1 million Resilience Fund will support innovative businesses in tech and other sectors to respond to some of the key recovery challenges facing the capital - and is now open to applications.

Among the partners which will work with him are Better Bankside and King's College London, Ealing and Lambeth Councils, Thrive LDN, the Royal Docks Team among others.

Better Bankside has been a contributor to our forum, speaking about the importance of creating new public realm and proper street wayfinding for London's historic walkways, around Borough Market leading to the Globe, where new places to dwell along with supporting retail is helping to revive the area.

Each partner - along with the GLA - is in charge of one of ten challenges which include supporting high streets, integrating the latest Covid-19 data and travel information for Londoners and making workspaces more flexible.

The Fund, delivered in partnership with Nesta and funded by the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP) will provide grants of up to £50,000 to develop solutions to help the city emerge stronger from Covid-19 - as well as ensuring it is more resilient to major challengers in the future.

The Mayor is also calling on public bodies, charities, businesses, social enterprises and educational institutions to take part in Designing London's Recovery - a new initiative which will harness the capital's design talent to make a vital contribution to the recovery from Covid-19.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said:

'The challenges we face as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic affect every area of our lives and the economy...This has been a dark and difficult period for our city and I hope that these funds will bring together the capital's talent and help build a more resilient city'.