Leeds Innovation District
Client: Leeds City Council
In December 2016, SQW was commissioned by Leeds City Council to develop an Economic Vision for a proposed new Innovation District in Leeds, centred on the city centre's North West quadrant, where the main civic, education and health institutions are based.
The Economic Vision aimed to define the scope of the Innovation District and articulate the key growth opportunities and beneficial impacts of the proposed scheme. The study involved a review of the current innovation ecosystem in the local area, and across Leeds more widely, including an assessment of both hard and soft infrastructures, and potential complementarities between the proposed Innovation District and other developments elsewhere. We also carried out a review of comparator Innovation Districts, in order to make recommendations on the next steps for further developing the concept. The output of the work was a concise Vision document, supplemented by a robust evidence base.
