Forest City is an ambitious proposal to combine a large new settlement east of Cambridge with woodland, transport and water infrastructure. Its scale makes it a useful idea to examine, while its promises need to be read as plans rather than completed outcomes.
This restored November 2025 archive article includes an October 2026 review of the project’s own website. The details below describe the promoters’ current published vision and should not be taken as evidence that every element had been settled at the original publication date.
Albion City Development Corporation, founded by Joe Reeve and Shiv Malik, describes a city of up to one million people developed over 30 years. Its outline includes 400,000 homes, a 12,000-acre nature reserve, a new reservoir and railway connections.
The promoters’ intended ownership model separates the home from the land beneath it. A community land trust would retain the land, with the aim of keeping homes affordable for future residents. The frequently cited £350,000 four-bedroom home is a target based on the proposal, not a property currently available at a guaranteed price.
The project’s FAQ says homes are not yet being allocated and that it remains in the planning phase. It describes further masterplanning and public examination, followed—if approved—by delivery through a government-owned development corporation. These are stages envisaged by the promoters, not confirmation that approval has been granted.
The concept offers several questions worth considering. Could planning homes and infrastructure together produce a more coherent place? How would the proposed ownership arrangements work for successive generations? What evidence would demonstrate that the nature ambitions are being met?
Those questions give forward-looking proposals their value: they invite people to examine alternatives. They also identify what still needs to be tested. This article does not endorse the projected prices, environmental outcomes or delivery timetable, and it should not be read as an invitation to purchase or invest.