Centre for London

About

Centre for London is a think tank based in the UK. It was founded in 2011 as a programme within Demos, a UK-based think tank, and launched as an independent registered charity in 2013. It undertakes research and organises events aimed at helping London meet its big challenges. The Centre, which is politically independent, acts as 'a critical friend to London's leaders, promotes a wider understanding of the challenges facing London, and develops long-term, rigorous and radical policy solutions for the capital'.

Contents

• in danger of falling victim to its own success director of centre for london wants devolution
• About
• History
• Activities
• References

History

It was set up by Ben Rogers, a writer on philosophy and history, former Cabinet Office strategist and member of the London Finance Commission. Rogers writes regularly for the Evening Standard, Financial Times and other papers. Its network of Associates includes Professor Tony Travers, urbanist Greg Clark and economist Kitty Ussher. It published an influential report by Kitty Usher, arguing that the Mayor of London should be given the power to set a statutory minimum wage for the capital. A 2014 Centre for London report by Associate Charles Leadbeater coined the term "Endies" (short for Employed with No Disposable Income or Savings) in describing the large percentage of Londoners in work but struggling with the capital's high cost of living.

Activities

Much of Centre for London's work has focused on housing and the built environment, including two influential reports looking at the role of the Thames Estuary in meeting London's housing needs. The Centre is also known for its work on East London's digital economy, including A Tale of Tech City—the first independent report on the East London digital cluster—and Connecting Tech City, an initiative aimed at connecting local young people and London's digital firms. The Centre has set up a digital platform—wearedotdotdot—that allows young people to find digital skills programmes and training opportunities in Tech City. In 2015 the Centre launched a new quarterly journal, entitled London Essays.

The Centre is funded by a mixture of public, private and social sector supporters. It hosts an annual Conference - The London Conference - which has established itself as a significant event in London's political calendar - the one time in the year when leading Londoners come together to talk about the future of the capital. Boris Johnson, former Mayor of London, has spoken at the Conference three times. Centre for London has collaborated with The Global Cities Initiative—a joint project of the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase—on a number of events and publications, including Nations and the Wealth of Cities, by Greg Clark and the Rt Hon. Greg Clark MP.