Where will Oxford North take the city?

UK Property Forums consultant Hugh Blaza was glad to be present as Oxford North officially opened its doors.

The Cowley Road. Headington. Oxford City Centre. Grandpont. The Botley Road. North Oxford. Jericho. Summertown. The University. Just some of the loved and familiar districts of Oxford city. So many inspiring buildings and communities, old and new.

A group to which Oxford North now claims admission. A centre for work, certainly. A centre for learning and innovation: that’s the ambition. A place to live, yes, the houses and apartments are being provided. A place to be and from which to be. A proper district.

Connections: improved roads and junctions, cycle paths, bus routes, a train station within spitting distance. Linked, connected. With more to come, we are led to believe: Cowley Branch line, Eynsham Park & Ride: we’re looking at you…

The boldness of the vision represented by the Red Hall. It will incorporate a ‘town hall’ for the occupiers and visitors. Buildings of size and scale.

And now open for business and for leisure, if not pleasure as well. With a 21^st Century bike shed, in the shape of a wheel, and so without a back around which to have a furtive fag (see first image below).

People don’t want to leave; they seem to understand why this is here. They can be a part of this. And say they live and work in Oxford. Here, innovation will thrive and progress.

Oxford North, a part of the city, not apart from the city: that is the vision and the ambition. To take the pioneering ethos of the world’s greatest university town, to complement and enhance it. To accommodate and nurture it.

The lights are coming on and the ‘planets’ in the landscaping are starting to glow as dusk descends. Stroll along the pathways between them and look back at the openness of the glass and the illuminated floors. We are living in dark times but this place seems to be saying: “Here, we can be one of the beacons the world needs if we are to redress the balance and remain true to the ethos of enlightenment and discovery as the pendulum swings us away from ignorance and autocracy.”

Oxford North is seeking its first occupiers. Who will echo the boldness and the vision of the people who have made this happen? Which companies will choose to put down their roots here and share the excitement of their activities and ambition with other occupiers and ensure the district matures and develops its personality? I cannot wait to see.