عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Back to the Future: UK Eyes New Towns to Help Housing Crunch 

An aerial view shows newly built homes in the new town of Northstowe, eastern England on July 31, 2025. (AFP)
An aerial view shows newly built homes in the new town of Northstowe, eastern England on July 31, 2025. (AFP)
TT
TT

Back to the Future: UK Eyes New Towns to Help Housing Crunch 

An aerial view shows newly built homes in the new town of Northstowe, eastern England on July 31, 2025. (AFP)
An aerial view shows newly built homes in the new town of Northstowe, eastern England on July 31, 2025. (AFP)

The UK's newest town Northstowe is gradually taking shape amid cranes and scaffolding, a possible blueprint for others as the government seeks to tackle a desperate housing shortage.

So far the town, which lies close to the affluent eastern city of Cambridge, has just 3,000 or so residents and next to no amenities.

But planners project that within the next two decades its population could swell to 30,000 people.

"I'm really excited about the future," said Jason Benedicic, who moved with his partner and young child to the town in 2020 because it offered more affordable space than the nearby historic university city.

"There is an amazing community, the people really make the place special," he said, adding there were regular events which brought everyone together as well as "great transport links" and "open spaces".

Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected in July last year, has pledged to build 1.5 million houses by 2029, as he tries to solve a chronic shortage of homes.

Most will be built by expanding existing urban developments, but the British leader has also vowed to start work on the UK's "next generation" of new towns.

The idea harks back to the late prime minister Clement Attlee's reforming Labor government of 1945-1951, which famously set up the National Health Service and welfare state.

Its new town project paved the way for the construction in the 1960s of arguably Britain's most famous new town -- the oft-derided Milton Keynes, just north of London.

When Milton Keynes -- now a city of more than 250,000 residents -- was built, car was king and the future of shopping was thought to be inside vast malls.

Now urban designers are more conscious about biodiversity and the battle against global warming, while buyers tend to prefer market towns, noted Katja Stille, of Northstowe planner Tibbalds.

"The world is very different from that time," she told AFP.

With its green spaces, cycle lanes, lakes and transport links, Northstowe, 12 miles (19 kilometers) northwest of Cambridge, calls itself a "healthy" new town with a "low-carbon community".

The site, on what used to be Royal Air Force barracks, welcomed its first residents in 2017 and some 1,600 homes are now occupied.

Once complete, the town will have 10,000 houses and eight schools.

It currently has no shops or doctor's surgery, but officials have announced plans for a "vibrant town center" on what is currently a field and a health facility.

"It would be nice to have a barber," said Benedicic, an IT consultant who became Northstowe's mayor earlier this year.

Stephen Brewer runs the town's Tap and Social cafe which opened in April 2024.

The 68-year-old feels "proud" to be one of the new community's pioneers but looks forward to the day his business has some competition.

"We're not fearful of that," he told AFP.

Britain has been gripped by a national housing crisis for several years, with supply failing to keep up with demand as people live longer and immigration soars.

With housing prices skyrocketing, home ownership is out of reach for many young people.

The charity Shelter England has estimated around 354,000 people are homeless across the country.

Starmer wants to deliver 300,000 homes a year during this parliament -- well above what has been achieved in recent years.

He has set about overhauling planning laws to make it easier for developers to override environmental regulations.

But there are questions over the availability of land, building materials, and workers with the necessary skills.

"It is an exciting but ambitious target and challenge," Tim Wray, group development director at Keepmoat, which is building 300 houses in Northstowe, told AFP.

A government task force is considering more than 100 sites across England for the next new towns, which could host 10,000 homes each. It is due to announce the locations this summer.

They will be "well-designed, beautiful communities with affordable housing, GP (doctor's) surgeries, schools and public transport," the government has promised.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

British Writer John Harrison Wins 2026 Booker Prize for ‘The End of Everything’

British author John Harrison poses after winning the 2026 Booker Prize for his novel "The End of Everything" at the awards ceremony in London, Britain, 09 November 2026. (EPA)
British author John Harrison poses after winning the 2026 Booker Prize for his novel "The End of Everything" at the awards ceremony in London, Britain, 09 November 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

British Writer John Harrison Wins 2026 Booker Prize for ‘The End of Everything’

British author John Harrison poses after winning the 2026 Booker Prize for his novel "The End of Everything" at the awards ceremony in London, Britain, 09 November 2026. (EPA)
British author John Harrison poses after winning the 2026 Booker Prize for his novel "The End of Everything" at the awards ceremony in London, Britain, 09 November 2026. (EPA)

British author ‌John Harrison has won the 2026 Booker Prize for his novel, "The End of Everything," a dystopian satire that the prize says probes the limits of human understanding, becoming the oldest winner in the literary award's history at age 81.

Harrison's 13th novel follows Phillip Tennent and his elderly aunt Marnie on England's south coast years after social order has broken down ‌and mysterious entities ‌known as the iGhetti have arrived.

The ‌Booker ⁠judges unanimously selected ⁠the 198-page book, saying it "turns you upside down, raises a wry smile and, surprisingly, given the subject matter, leaves you with a twinge of optimism."

The victory was the first Booker Prize for Harrison, whose career as a ⁠novelist and critic spans six ‌decades and includes acclaimed science ‌fiction and fantasy works.

His win also marks ‌a rare triumph for speculative fiction.

Mary Beard, ‌chair of the judging panel, described the book as "the politics of now seen through the lens of the future", saying it depicts a society grappling ‌with a catastrophe its inhabitants do not fully understand.

Accepting the £50,000 ($67,235) prize at ⁠a ⁠ceremony in London, Harrison said literary awards remained important in a "landscape of industrialized fiction."

Speaking to the Booker Prize in August, Harrison said his novel was inspired by the 2008 financial crisis and asks what happens when "all of our expectations and explanations of the world become an ongoing disaster, but we still have to make a life."

Harrison beat a shortlist that included former Booker winners Douglas Stuart and Marlon James.

Varieties

Fossil Fuel Emissions Fall Due to Iran War, Renewables, Research Finds

Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 9, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 9, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Fossil Fuel Emissions Fall Due to Iran War, Renewables, Research Finds

Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 9, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 9, 2026. (Reuters)

Global fossil fuel emissions are projected to fall slightly in 2026 due to the expansion of renewable energy and the oil price shock sparked by the Iran war, researchers said Tuesday.

Emissions from the burning of oil, gas and coal -- the main drivers of climate change -- rose by 0.9 percent per year on average in the past decade, hitting a record high in 2025, according to the Global Carbon Budget report.

But they are expected to drop by 0.4 percent in 2026, according to the research, published as nations meet at the UN's COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye.

It would be the first annual drop since 2020, when the Covid pandemic paralyzed the global economy, trade and transport.

This year, the US-led war in Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz played a role in driving emissions down as it caused a drop in oil consumption amid soaring crude prices, the researchers found.

The deployment of solar panels, wind farms and electric vehicles also contributed to the drop. Two thirds of the increase in global energy demand is being met by solar and wind power and electric vehicles, the report found.

"A decline in fossil CO2 emissions is encouraging, but a reduction driven partly by geopolitical shocks is not a sustainable climate solution," said Pierre Friedlingstein, director of the Global Carbon Budget Office at the University of Exeter in Britain.

"The long-term answer remains the rapid deployment of clean energy technologies," said Friedlingstein, who led the study published in the journal Earth System Science Data.

- Rebound looms -

Corinne Le Quere, a climate change science professor at the University of East Anglia, noted that emissions rebounded when economies recovered following shocks such as Covid or the global financial crisis.

A rebound is likely "when the oil tensions go away", she said in a media briefing.

Oil-related emissions are projected to drop 1.9 percent last year but it was "likely a short-term response to the energy shock triggered by the Iran conflict", the researchers said.

Gas emissions are set to fall 0.3 percent while those from coal use will rise 0.6 percent.

Overall, fossil carbon dioxide emissions are expected to reach 38.2 billion tons in 2026.

Including emissions from land-use change such as deforestation, total CO2 emissions are projected to rise to 43.3 billion tons, from 42.8 billion tonnes last year.

The researchers said land-use emissions are projected to rise partly due to peat fires and forest degradation in southeast Asia, associated with drier conditions linked to this year's exceptionally strong El Nino climate pattern.

The report found that the world's carbon budget -- the amount of CO2 that can be emitted before global warming exceeds 1.5C above pre-industrial levels -- stands at 150 billion tons.

The researchers calculated that at the current, the carbon budget would be exhausted in less than four years.

Nations agreed at the 2015 UN climate talks in Paris to keep global warming "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5C.

But the United Nations declared in September that the long-term 1.5C target would be missed in a matter of years.

Scientists say it is crucial to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels to limit the period of "overshoot" above 1.5C and bring temperatures back down as quickly as possible.

Varieties

Food Industry Pushes Back on WHO Guidance for Products with Added Color, Sweeteners

Around 11 million deaths a year are linked to unhealthy diets, according to the agency, based on data from a global study. (Getty Images)
Around 11 million deaths a year are linked to unhealthy diets, according to the agency, based on data from a global study. (Getty Images)
TT
TT

Food Industry Pushes Back on WHO Guidance for Products with Added Color, Sweeteners

Around 11 million deaths a year are linked to unhealthy diets, according to the agency, based on data from a global study. (Getty Images)
Around 11 million deaths a year are linked to unhealthy diets, according to the agency, based on data from a global study. (Getty Images)

Governments should consider regulating foods that include added colors, flavors or sweeteners designed to make the product more appealing to consumers, according to new draft World Health Organization guidance that has sparked swift pushback from the food industry.

The WHO draft aims to help governments identify which foods should be consumed in moderation as part of a healthy diet – and which products could be subject to measures like warning labels or taxes, depending on national priorities.

The new draft food-profiling model, published last week, marks the first time the UN health agency has included this type of ‌ingredient in its guidance, ‌previously only focused on nutritional content, including fat and salt.

“This draft ‌goes ⁠beyond traditional nutrient ⁠profiling by recognizing that foods may need to be considered not only for their nutrient content, but also for other aspects of their formulation” in order to prevent diet-related disease, said Katrin Engelhardt, technical officer at the WHO's department of nutrition and food safety.

Around 11 million deaths a year are linked to unhealthy diets, according to the agency, based on data from a global study.

The proposed new model is also the WHO’s attempt to guide member states through an increasingly polarized debate ⁠about ultra-processed foods (UPFs), a class of food or drink made using processing ‌techniques, additives and industrial ingredients, which often contain little ‌whole food. Examples include carbonated soft drinks or instant noodles.

BEYOND NUTRIENTS ALONE

Many food scientists say UPFs pose ‌numerous health risks but others – and the food industry – say they are defined too widely, ‌which risks demonizing healthy products.

The International Food and Beverage Alliance, an organization representing major multinational food and beverage companies, said it was concerned the proposed approach shifts attention away from nutritional quality and could capture more products for potential regulation.

"Of particular concern is the potential to undermine established nutrition priorities and reformulation ‌efforts,” said IFBA Secretary General Rocco Renaldi.

Other concerns for the food industry are higher costs from reformulating products or stringent labelling requirements, as well ⁠as the risk ⁠of class-action lawsuits as seen in the United States, and higher taxes for processed food companies.

Broadly, the WHO said the model covers “industrially-produced foods to be consumed in moderation” and is a bridge between its healthy diet recommendations and government policy on individual food products.

Lindsey Smith Taillie, co-director of the Global Food Research Program at the University of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said the point of the model was to target unhealthy foods, combining both nutrients and UPFs.

“These two frameworks have never been mutually exclusive and can and should be used by policymakers as the starting place,” she said, adding that healthiness is measured by multiple criteria.

Kraft Heinz CEO Steve Cahillane last week told Reuters that industry players should have a say.

"We're in the food business and we care about consumers deeply," Cahillane said. "And so we ought to have a seat at the table as these discussions evolve."

The WHO proposal is out for consultation until November 27.