Laura Citron on why the capital needs its voices to come together
Trying to sum up London in a single phrase or even sentence is harder than you might think. It never quite works. Frankly, London is too interesting.
Yet when you strip everything back, a consistent thread appears. London is shaped by a way of thinking. A mix of resilience, creativity, and the ability to reinvent itself again and again.
Spirit
Danny Boyle’s 2012 Olympics opening ceremony captured that perfectly. Rather than ‘selling’ London, he showed, through his brilliant staging of the Industrial Revolution, what our city does best – reinvent itself as the world changes, and in doing so, changes the world. His latest project, the revival of the post-war Festival of Britain, taps into that same spirit. Even when times feel uncertain, London still stands together and leads with hope.
Narratives
Uncertainty, of course, isn’t unique to us. Every global city is navigating new pressures. Today, the challenge isn’t only about infrastructure, investment, or visitor numbers/spend. It’s about the stories people believe. Narratives travel faster than facts, which means we need to tell London’s story more confidently and more clearly than ever before.
Perception
We saw this last year with the rise of the ‘lawless London’ narrative. Overall crime is falling, yet misleading posts online saying the opposite spread incredibly quickly. For many international audiences, those snippets became the whole picture. And the perception of London matters. It can influence whether students choose to study here, businesses choose to grow here, and people choose to visit – decisions that impact our economic growth.
That’s why how we tell London’s story is also so important. It’s not just about rebutting misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation (facts removed from context), important as that is. It’s about putting forward a confident, evidence-led, full picture of the city we live, work, and play in every day.
Authenticity
When we talk to international audiences – something my team does daily – what cuts through is authenticity. This may seem obvious, but in an age of mistrust, people want to hear about the real London – the city of nine million people – not an airbrushed one.
Team London
This thinking sits at the heart of our work to bring more connection and coherence to the voices already advocating for London around the world – corporates, universities, cultural institutions, sports clubs, political leaders, innovators, influencers, and everyone who cares about our city’s global reputation. Together, this group – what I call ‘Team London’ – holds real power to shape how the world sees us.
This applies whether you’re speaking to a founder in Mumbai about the city’s next innovation district, an investor in New York about our booming experience economy, or a student in Beijing about our hundreds of museums and galleries. It’s another ‘channel’ if you like – one that really adds weight to London’s message. And one that doesn’t rely on algorithms that might change overnight.
London Growth Plan
The London Growth Plan, which was launched last year, is already giving us shared stories about the city’s growth. But Team London builds on that, equipping you with what you need to tell London’s whole story, brilliantly, and with confidence.
The point is, our global appeal remains strong. London was recently named the world’s best city for the eleventh year running. And rankings help – they’re a useful signal – but they’re not the thing that builds reputation. Stories do that. And the most powerful ones get shared, repeated, and acted upon.
The world is only going to get noisier, more complex, and more emotionally charged. Which makes this exactly the right moment for us to come together – Team London assemble – to speak clearly, confidently, and with a unified voice about the city we love.
Laura Citron OBE is chief executive of London & Partners and Growth Mission Lead
www.londonandpartners.com
london-growth-plan.pdf
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