Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford corridor

The Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford corridor (formerly the Oxford-Cambridge Arc) is a notional arc of agricultural and urban land at about 80 km (about 50 miles) radius of London, in south central England. It runs between the two English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge via Milton Keynes and other important settlements in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, at the northern rim of the London commuter belt. It is significant only in economic geography, with little physical geography in common.

The original Oxford to Cambridge (O2C) Arc initiative was launched in 2003 by three English regional development agencies (RDAs), EEDA, EMDA and SEEDA. The aim of the initiative is to promote and accelerate the development of the unique set of educational, research and business assets and activities that characterise the area and in doing so, create an “arc” of innovation and entrepreneurial activity that would, in time, be ‘best in the field'.

In November 2017, a report for the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) noted that "in 2014, the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the "corridor" was £90.5bn (2011 prices); by doubling housebuilding rates in the area, and delivering East West Rail and the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway, this [would] increase by £163bn to a GVA of £250bn".^[1]

Industry

The Corridor is a major centre of the UK's high tech manufacturing and research industries. It is serviced by four international airports (Stansted, Luton, Heathrow and Birmingham), all located just outside the Arc itself. Cranfield Airport and Cambridge Airport take executive jets. Cambridge Airport is an important centre for aircraft maintenance.

Other major industries include agriculture, tourism, construction, entertainment, education, retail and finance. A high proportion of the population commutes daily to London. Commuting and business travel within the arc is relatively difficult: As of 2017 the East West Rail service runs only between Oxford and Bicester; similarly, the A421/A428 road spine is expressway standard (dualled and grade separated) only from Cambridge to the A1198 (Caxton Gibbet), and then between the A1 near St Neots and the M1 near Milton Keynes.

Future

The National Infrastructure Commission projects that the corridor will become host to major hi-tech industrial developments and will be the site to one million new homes by 2050.^[2]

Local issues

Universities

The Corridor has a major university sector with 20,000 workers as part of the knowledge economy: Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University, Buckingham University, The Open University (HQ Milton Keynes), Cranfield University, University of Bedfordshire, the University of Cambridge, and the Anglia Ruskin University at Cambridge.

Demographics

The Corridor is one of the most ethnically diverse regions of the UK. Bedford, roughly central to the Corridor and with a population of 100,000, is home to native speakers of over 100 languages, a figure which rivals London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. The Corridor has the fastest growing population of any of the similar regions within the UK; several of the major towns, most notably Bicester and Milton Keynes, are set to double in size over the coming few decades,^[6] and others, such as Cambourne, have been built from scratch since the late 1990s. The rapid expansion of the population, coupled with a rise in wages locally, fuelled some of the steepest house price rises in the UK over the period 1995-2005.

Politically, the Corridor is largely a Conservative stronghold, with only the urban constituencies returning Liberal Democrat or Labour MPs.

Transport

The region is well served by major radial routes from London (the M40, M1, A1(M) and M11 motorways, and the West Coast Main Line, the Midland Main Line and the East Coast Main Line railways). However, routes around the arc are poor, with a disjointed and overloaded road network (A428, A421/A422 and A43) and a fragmentary railway line (remnants of the former Varsity Line).

A twice-hourly express bus service, route X5, is operated by Stagecoach UK Buses between Cambridge and Oxford, serving the more important of the settlements below en route but taking 3 hours and 40 minutes to travel the 85 miles (137 km).

In November 2017, in its report on the Corridor, the NIC called for the railway line between Bicester and Bletchley to be reopened by 2023 and Bedford/Cambridge by 2030, and for the development and construction of a new grade separated dual carriageway between the M1 and Oxford by 2030, as part of the proposed Oxford-Cambridge Expressway.^[1]

Major settlements

See also

• Varsity Line
• Silicon Fen
• Thames Gateway
• M4 Corridor
• England's Economic Heartland

References