In the 1960s, the government decided that a further generation ofnew towns in thesouth east of England was needed to relieve housing congestion in London. Milton Keynes was to be the biggest yet, with a population of 250,000 and area of 22,000 acres (9,000 ha). At designation, its area incorporated the existing towns ofBletchley,Fenny Stratford,Wolverton andStony Stratford,[d] along with another fifteen villages and farmland in between. These settlements had an extensive historical record since theNorman Conquest; detailed archaeological investigations before development revealed evidence of human occupation from theNeolithic period, including theMilton Keynes Hoard ofBronze Age gold jewellery. The government establishedMilton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) to design and deliver this new city. The Corporation decided on a softer, more human-scaled landscape than in the earlier English new towns but with an emphaticallymodernist architecture. Recognising how traditional towns and cities had become choked in traffic, they established a grid of distributor roads about 1 km (0.6 mi) between edges, leaving the spaces between to develop more organically. An extensive network ofshared paths for leisure cyclists and pedestrians criss-crosses through and between them. Rejecting the residentialtower block concept that hadbecome unpopular, they set a height limit of three storeys outsideCentral Milton Keynes.
Facilities include a 1,400-seat theatre, a municipal art gallery, two multiplex cinemas, anecumenical central church, a 400-seat concert hall, a teaching hospital, a 30,500-seat football stadium, an indoor ski-slope and a 65,000-capacity open-air concert venue. Seven railway stations serve theMilton Keynes urban area (one inter-city). TheOpen University is based here and there is a small campus of theUniversity of Bedfordshire. Most major sports are represented at amateur level;Red Bull Racing (Formula One),MK Dons (association football), andMilton Keynes Lightning (ice hockey) are its professional teams. ThePeace Pagoda overlooking Willen Lake was the first such to be built in Europe. The many works of sculpture in parks and public spaces include the iconicConcrete Cows atMilton Keynes Museum.
Milton Keynes is among the most economically productive localities in the UK, ranking highly against a number of criteria. It has the UK's fifth-highest number of business startups per capita (but equally of business failures). It is home to several major national and international companies. Despite economic success and personal wealth for some, there are pockets of nationally significant poverty. The employment profile is composed of about 90% service industries and 9% manufacturing.
It may startle some political economists to talk of commencing the building ofnew cities ... planned as cities from their first foundation, and not mere small towns and villages. ... A time will arrive when something of this sort must be done ... England cannot escape from the alternative of new city building.
In the 1960s, the UK government decided that a further generation ofnew towns in theSouth East of England was needed to relieve housing congestion in London.[10] Since the 1950s,overspill housing for severalLondon boroughs had been constructed inBletchley.[11][12][13] Further studies[10][14] in the 1960s identified north Buckinghamshire as a possible site for a large new town, a new city,[15][e] encompassing the existing towns of Bletchley,Stony Stratford, andWolverton.[16] The New Town (informally and in planning documents, "New City") was to be the biggest yet, with a target population of 250,000,[17][18] in a "designated area" of 21,883 acres (8,855.7 ha).[1] The name "Milton Keynes" was taken from that ofan existing village on the site.[19]
On 23 January 1967, when the formal "new town designation order" was made,[1] the area to be developed was largely farmland and undeveloped villages. The site was deliberately located equidistant from London,Birmingham,Leicester,Oxford, andCambridge,[20][21] with the intention that it would be self-sustaining and eventually become a major regional centre in its own right.[10] Planning control was taken from electedlocal authorities and delegated to the Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC). Before construction began, every area was subject to detailed archaeological investigation: doing so has exposeda rich history of human settlement since Neolithic times and has provided a unique insight into the history of a large sample of the landscape of North Buckinghamshire.[22]
The corporation's stronglymodernist designs were regularly featured in the magazinesArchitectural Design and theArchitects' Journal.[23][24][25] MKDC was determined to learn from the mistakes made in the earliernew towns,[26][27] and revisit thegarden city ideals.[28][29] They set in place the characteristicgrid roads that run between districts ("grid squares"), as well as a programme of intensive planting,balancing lakes and parkland.[30]Central Milton Keynes ("CMK") was not intended to be a traditionaltown centre but acentral business and shopping district to supplement local centres embedded in most of the grid squares.[31] This non-hierarchical devolved city plan was a departure from the English new towns tradition and envisaged a wide range of industry and diversity of housing styles and tenures.[32] The largest and almost the last of the British New Towns, Milton Keynes has "stood the test of time far better than most, and has proved flexible and adaptable".[33] The radical grid plan was inspired by the work ofMelvin M. Webber,[34] described by the founding architect of Milton Keynes,Derek Walker, as the "father of the city".[35] Webber thought that telecommunications meant that the old idea of a city as a concentric cluster was out of date and that cities which enabled people to travel around them readily would be the thing of the future, achieving "community withoutpropinquity" for residents.[36]
The government wound up MKDC in 1992, 25 years after the new town was founded. Control was transferred to the Commission for New Towns (CNT) and then finally toEnglish Partnerships, with planning functions returning to the local council (Milton Keynes Borough (now City) Council). From 2004 to 2011 a governmentquango, theMilton Keynes Partnership, had development control powers to accelerate the growth of Milton Keynes.[37]
Along with many other towns and boroughs, Milton Keynes competed (unsuccessfully) forformal city status in the 2000, 2002 and 2012 competitions.[38] However the Borough (including rural areas, in addition to the MK urban area[39]) was successful in 2022, in theQueen's Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours competition. On 15 August 2022, theCrown Office announced formally thatQueen Elizabeth II had ordained byletters patent that the Borough of Milton Keynes has been given city status.[40] In law, it is the Borough rather than its eponymous settlement that has city status; nevertheless it is the latter that is more commonly known as the city.[41][42]
The name "Milton Keynes" was a reuse of the name of one of the original historic villages in the designated area,[43] now more generally known as "Milton Keynes Village" to distinguish it from the modern settlement. After the Norman conquest, thede Cahaignes family held the manor from 1166 to the late 13th century as well as others in the country (Ashton Keynes in Wiltshire,Somerford Keynes in Gloucestershire, andHorsted Keynes in West Sussex).[44] The village was originally known as Middeltone (11th century); then later as Middelton Kaynes or Caynes (13th century); Milton Keynes (15th century); and Milton alias Middelton Gaynes (17th century).[44]
The area that was to become Milton Keynes encompassed a landscape that has a rich historic legacy. The area to be developed was largely farmland and undeveloped villages, but with evidence of permanent settlement dating back to theBronze Age. Before construction began, every area was subject to detailed archaeological investigation: this work has provided an insight into the history of a very large sample of the landscape of south-central England. There is evidence ofStone Age,[45] lateBronze Age/earlyIron Age,[46]Romano-British,[47][48]Anglo-Saxon,[49]Anglo-Norman,[50]Medieval,[51][49] and lateIndustrial Revolution settlements such as the railway towns ofWolverton (with itsrailway works) andBletchley (at the junction of theLondon and North Western Railway with the Oxford–CambridgeVarsity Line).[52][53] The most notable archaeological artefact was theMilton Keynes Hoard, which the British Museum described as "one of the biggest concentrations of Bronze Age gold known from Britain and seems to flaunt wealth".[54]
Milton Keynes is in south central England, at the northern end of theSouth East England region,[59] about 50 miles (80 km) north-west ofLondon.[2][3][4]
Its surface geology is primarily gently rollingOxford clay or, more formally:
... a portion of more or less dissectedboulder clay plateau, with streams falling fairly steeply to the [Great] Ouse and Ouzel flood plains, across slopes cut chiefly in Oxford clay.Middle Jurassic rocks, in particular theBlisworth limestone andcornbrash, form strong features in the lands bordering the Ouse valley in the north.[62]
Its highest points are in the centre (110 m; 360 ft) and at Woodhill on the western boundary (120 m; 390 ft).[63][64] The lowest point of the urban area is in Newport Pagnell, where theOuzel joins theGreat Ouse (50 m; 160 ft).[65]
Because of the (poorly drained) clay soils and the urban hard surfaces, thedevelopment corporation identified water runoff into the Ouzel and its tributaries as a significant risk to be managed and so put in place two large balancing lakes (Caldecotte andWillen) and a number of smallerdetention ponds.[66] These provide an important leisure amenity for most of the year.[67] Building in the floodplains of the Ouse and Ouzel was precluded too, thus providing long-distance linear parks that are within easy reach of most residents.
The two Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Howe Park Wood and Oxley Mead, are the most significant of a number of important wildlife sites in and around MK.[69]
The nearestMet Office weather station is inWoburn, Bedfordshire,[71] just outside the south eastern fringe of Milton Keynes.[h] Recorded temperature extremes range from 39.6 °C (103.3 °F) during July 2022,[72] to as low as −20.6 °C (−5.1 °F) on 25 February 1947; this is the lowest temperature ever reported in England in February.[73] On 20 December 2010, the temperature fell to −16.3 °C (2.7 °F)[74]
Climate data forWoburn,[i] (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1898–present)
The concepts that heavily influenced the design of Milton Keynes are described in detail in articleurban planning – see "cells" underPlanning and aesthetics (referring to grid squares). See also articlesingle-use zoning.
The urban design has not been universally praised. In 1980, the then president of theRoyal Town Planning Institute, Francis Tibbalds, described Central Milton Keynes as "bland, rigid, sterile, and totally boring."[87] Michael Edwards, a member of the original consultancy team,[j] believes that there were weaknesses in their proposal and that the Development Corporation implemented it badly.[88]
The geography of Milton Keynes – the railway line,Watling Street,Grand Union Canal,M1 motorway – sets up a very strong north-south axis. If you've got to build a city between (them), it is very natural to take a pen and draw the rungs of a ladder. Ten miles by six is the size of this city – 22,000 acres. Do you lay it out like an American city, rigid orthogonal from side to side? Being more sensitive in 1966–7, the designers decided that the grid concept should apply but should be a lazy grid following the flow of land, its valleys, its ebbs and flows. That would be nicer to look at, more economical and efficient to build, and would sit more beautifully as a landscape intervention.
The Milton Keynes Development Corporation planned the major road layout according tostreet hierarchy principles, using agrid pattern of approximately 1 km (0.6 mi) intervals, rather than on the more conventionalradial pattern found in older settlements.[90] Major distributor roads run between communities, rather than through them: these distributor roads are known locally asgrid roads and the spaces between them – the neighbourhoods – are known asgrid squares (though few are actually square or evenrectilinear).[91] This spacing was chosen so that people would always be within six minutes' walking distance of a grid-road bus-stop.[31][k] Consequently, each grid square is a semi-autonomous community, making a unique collective of 100 clearly identifiable neighbourhoods within the overall urban environment.[92][l] The grid squares have a variety of development styles, ranging from conventional urban development and industrial parks to original rural and modern urban and suburban developments. Most grid squares have a local centre, intended as a retail hub, and many have community facilities as well. Each of the original villages is the heart of its own grid-square. Originally intended under the master plan to sit alongside the grid roads,[94] these local centres were mostly in fact built embedded in the communities.[95][88]
Although the 1970 master plan assumed cross-road junctions,[94]roundabout junctions were built at intersections because this type of junction is more efficient at dealing with small to medium volumes. Some major roads aredual carriageway, the others aresingle carriageway. Along one side of each single carriageway grid road, there is usually a (grassed) reservation to permit dualling or additional transport infrastructure at a later date.[m] As of 2018[update], this has been limited to some dualling. The edges of each grid square are landscaped and densely planted – some additionally havenoise attenuation mounds – to minimise traffic noise from the grid road impacting the adjacent grid square. Traffic movements are fast, with relatively little congestion since there are alternative routes to any particular destination other than during peak periods. Thenational speed limit applies on the grid roads, although lowerspeed limits have been introduced on some stretches to reduce accident rates. Pedestrians rarely need to cross grid roadsat grade, asunderpasses and bridges were specified at frequent places along each stretch of all of the grid roads.[94] In contrast, the later districts planned byEnglish Partnerships have departed from this model, without a road hierarchy but with conventional junctions with traffic lights and at grade pedestrian crossings.[27][97][n]
Cycleway network in Milton Keynes. The national cycle routes are highlighted in red.
There is a separate network (approximately 170 miles (270 km) total length) ofcycle and pedestrian routes – theredways – that runs through the grid-squares and often runs alongside the grid-road network.[98] This was designed to segregate slow moving cycle and pedestrian traffic from fast moving motor traffic.[93] In practice, it is mainly used for leisurecycling rather than commuting, perhaps because the cycle routes are shared with pedestrians, cross the grid-roads via bridge or underpass rather than at grade, and because some take meandering scenic routes rather than straight lines. It is so called because it is generally surfaced with red tarmac.[99] The nationalSustrans national cycle network routes6 and51 take advantage of this system.[100][101]
The fourteen-storey Hotel LaTour, the tallest building in the city, overlooksCampbell Park inCMK.[102]
The original design guidance declared that commercial building heights in the centre should not exceed six storeys, with a limit of three storeys for houses (elsewhere),[23] paraphrased locally as "no building taller than the tallest tree".[103] In contrast, theMilton Keynes Partnership, in itsexpansion plans for Milton Keynes, believed thatCentral Milton Keynes (and elsewhere) needed "landmark buildings" and subsequently lifted the height restriction for the area.[103] As a result, high rise buildings have been built in the central business district.[o] As of 2014, local plans have protected the existing boulevard framework and set higher standards for architectural excellence.[107][p]
Theflood plains of theGreat Ouse and of its tributaries (theOuzel and some brooks) have been protected aslinear parks that run right through Milton Keynes; these were identified as important landscape and flood-management assets from the outset.[110] At 4,100 acres (1,650 ha) – ten times larger than London'sHyde Park and a third larger thanRichmond Park[111] – the landscape architects realised that theRoyal Parks model would not be appropriate or affordable and drew on theirNational Park experience.[111] As Bendixson and Platt (1992) write: "They divided the Ouzel Valley into 'strings, beads and settings'. The 'strings' are well-maintained routes, be they for walking, bicycling or riding; the 'beads' are sports centres, lakeside cafes and other activity areas; the 'settings' are self-managed land-uses such as woods, riding paddocks, a golf course and a farm".[111]
TheGrand Union Canal is another green route (and demonstrates the level geography of the area – there is just one minor lock in its entire 10-mile (16 km) meandering route through from the southern boundary nearFenny Stratford to the"Iron Trunk" aqueduct over the Ouse atWolverton at its northern boundary).
The initialpark system was planned by Peter Youngman (ChiefLandscape Architect),[112] who also developed landscape precepts for all development areas: groups of grid squares were to be planted with different selections of trees and shrubs to give them distinct identities. The detailed planning and landscape design of parks and of the grid roads was evolved under the leadership of Neil Higson,[113] who from 1977 took over from Youngman.[114]
In a national comparison of urban areas by open space available to residents, Milton Keynes ranked highest in the UK.[115] Milton Keynes is unusual in that most of the parks are owned and managed by a charity, theMilton Keynes Parks Trust rather than the local authority, to ensure that the management of the city's green spaces is largely independent of the council's expenditure priorities.[116]
The Development Corporation's original design concept aimed for a "forest city" and its foresters planted millions of trees from its own nursery in Newlands in the following years.[35] Parks, lakes and green spaces cover about 25% of Milton Keynes;[117][118] as of 2018[update], there are 22 million trees and shrubs in public open spaces.[119][118] When the Development Corporation was beingwound up, it transferred the major parks, lakes, river-banks and grid-road margins to theParks Trust,[120] acharity which is independent of the municipal authority.[117] MKDC endowed the Parks Trust with a portfolio of commercial properties, the income from which pays for the upkeep of the green spaces.[117] As of 2018[update], approximately 25% of the urban area is parkland or woodland.[121] It includes twoSites of Special Scientific Interest,Howe Park Wood andOxley Mead.
Campbell Park, a formal park extending east from the business area to the Grand Union Canal, is described in thePevsner Architectural Guides as "...the largest and most imaginative park to have been laid out in Britain in the 20th century".[114] The park islisted (grade 2) byHistoric England,[131]
During World War II, British and American cryptographers atBletchley Park broke a large number ofAxis codes andciphers, including the GermanEnigma andLorenz ciphers.The 1815 windmill nearNew Bradwell village, beside the playing fieldsStony Stratford high street in festive moodPeace Pagoda
Milton Keynes (Village) is the original village to which the New Town owes its name.[19] The original village is still evident, with athatchedpub,village hall, church and traditional housing. The area around the village has reverted to its 11th-century name ofMiddleton.[142] The oldest surviving domestic building in the area (c. 1300 CE), "perhaps the manor house", is here.[143]
Among the smaller villages and hamlets are three – Broughton,Loughton andWoughton on the Green – that are of note in that their names each use a different pronunciation[r] of theough letter sequence in English.[151][152]
In early planning, education provision was carefully integrated into the development plans with the intention that school journeys would, as far as possible, be made by walking and cycling. Each residential grid square was provided with a primary school (ages 5 to 8) for c. 240 children, and for each two squares there was a middle school (ages 8 to 12) for c.480 children. For each eight squares there was a large secondary education campus, to contain between two and four schools for a total of 3,000–4,500 children. A central resource area served all the schools on a campus. In addition, each campus included a leisure centre with indoor and outdoor sports facilities and a swimming pool, plus a theatre. These facilities were available to the public outside school hours, thus maximising use of the investment.[153] Changes in central government policy from the 1980s onwards subsequently led to much of this system being abandoned. Some schools have since been merged and sites sold for development, many converted to academies, and the leisure centres outsourced to commercial providers.
As in most parts of the UK, the state secondary schools in Milton Keynes arecomprehensives,[154] although schools in the rest of Buckinghamshire still use thetripartite system.[155] Private schools are also available.[156]
As of 2023[update], Milton Keynes is the UK's largest population centre without its own conventional university, a shortfall that the Council aims to rectify.[157] In January 2019, the council and its partner, Cranfield University, invited proposals to design a campus near the Central station for a new university, code-namedMK:U.[158] However this project seems unlikely to proceed, following a government decision in January 2023 to deny funding.[159] In June 2023, the Open University announced that it would "initiate work on the strategic and financial case to relocate [from] the OU's existing campus at Walton Hall to a new site adjacent to the central railway station" and possibly commence teaching full-time undergraduates.[160]
Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre atBradwell Abbey holds an extensive archive about the planning and development of Milton Keynes and has an associated research library.[161] The centre also offers an education programme (with a focus on urban geography and local history) to schools, universities and professionals.[161]
Theunitary authority area, which extends beyond the ONS-defined Milton Keynes built-up area and encompasses the town ofOlney and many rural villages and hamlets, is fullyparished.[163]
Although Milton Keynes has no formalisedtwinning agreements, it has partnered and co-operated with various cities over the years. The most contact has been withAlmere, Netherlands, especially onenergy management andurban planning.[164] For several years from 1995, the city co-operated withTychy, Poland,[165][166] after participating in the European City Cooperation System in Tychy in March 1994.[167]
TheM1 motorway runs along the east flank of MK and serves it from junctions 13 and 14 within the environs of the city, and junctions 11a and 15 slightly further away via other connecting roads. The A5 road, designated as atrunk road, runs right through the west of the city centre, as agrade separateddual carriageway. Other main roads are theA509 to Wellingborough and Kettering, and theA421 andA422, both running west towardsBuckingham (and Oxford) and east towardsBedford (and Cambridge). Additionally, theA4146 runs from (near) junction 14 of the M1 toLeighton Buzzard.[178] Proximity to the M1 has led to construction of a number ofdistribution centres, includingMagna Park at the south-eastern flank of Milton Keynes, nearWavendon and M1 J13.[179]
Many long-distance coaches stop at theMilton Keynes Coachway,[180] (beside M1 Junction 14), about 3.3 miles (5.3 km) from the centre and 4.3 mi (7 km) from Milton Keynes Central railway station.[181] There is also apark and ride car park on the site.
The city is also served by a number of local and regional bus services, run by national operators such asStagecoach andArriva, with most regional services stopping at major centres in the city, such as CMK (including Central station), Bletchley, Wolverton and Magna Park.[182] The city council also operates an on-demand bus service known asMK Connect, which serves the whole unitary authority area.[183]
Population trend of borough and urban area 1801–2021
At the2011 census, the population of theMilton Keynes urban area, including the adjacentNewport Pagnell andWoburn Sands, was 229,941.[7] The population of the borough in total was 248,800,[186] compared with a population of around 53,000 for the same area in 1961.[187] In 2016, theOffice for National Statistics estimated that the Borough population will reach 300,000 by 2025.[58] The2021 census records the population of the Milton Keynes Built-up Area as 264,349,[188] and that of the Borough (now City) as 287,060.[189]
According to the 2011 census, the average age of the population is lower than is typical for the UK's 63primary urban areas: 25.3% of the borough population were aged under 18 (5th place) and 13.4% were aged 65+ (57th out of 63).[190][7] Themean age is 35.7 and themedian age is 35.[7] 18.5% of residents were born outside the UK (11th).[190] At the 2011 census, the ethnic profile was 78.9% white, 3.4% mixed, 9.7% Asian/Asian British, 7.3% Black/African/Caribbean/Black British, and 0.7% other.[7] The religious profile was that 62.0% of people were reported having a religion and 31.4% having none; the remainder declined to say: 52% are Christian, 5.1% Muslim, 3.0% Hindu; other religions each had less than 1% of the population.[7]
Sainsburys-Argos [then] company headquarters (left) and a Holiday-Inn hotel (one of 24 hotels within MK) in the city centre in 2021.
In 2014 and 2017, Milton Keynes ranked third in terms of contribution to the national economy, as measured bygross value added per worker, of the 63 largest conurbations in the UK.[191][192] In 2020, its ranking slipped to seventh.[190]
Milton Keynes has consistently benefited from above-average economic growth, ranked as one of the UK's top five cities.[193] In 2020 it was ranked sixth of 63 for business startups (per 10,000 people).[190]
In 2013,[s] 99.4% of enterprises beingSMEs, just 0.6% of businesses locally employ more than 250 people (but more than one third of employees),[205] whereas 81.5% employ fewer than 10 people.[205] The "professional, scientific and technical sector" contributes the largest number of business units, 16.7%.[205] The retail sector is the largest contributor of employment.[205][7] Milton Keynes has one of the highest number of business start-ups in England, but also of failures.[190] Although education, health and public administration are important contributors to employment, the contribution is significantly less than the averages for England or the South East.[205]
Of the population, 75% is economically active, including 8.3% (of the population) who are self-employed;[7] 90% work in service industries of various sorts (of which wholesale and retail is the largest sector) and 9% in manufacturing.[7]
In 2015, the City of Milton Keynes had nine "lower super output areas"[t] that are in the 10% most deprived in England, but also had twelve "lower super output areas" in the 10% least deprived in England.[207] This contrast between areas of affluence and areas of deprivation in spite of a thriving local economy, inspired local charity The Community Foundation (in its 2016 "Vital Signs" report) to describe the position as a "Tale of Two Cities".[208]
In 2018, the number of homeless young people sleeping rough in tents around CMK attracted national headlines as it became the apex of a national problem of poverty, inadequate mental health care and unaffordable housing.[209][210] On a visit to refurbishment and extension work on theYMCA building, Housing MinisterHeather Wheeler declared that "Nobody in this day and age should be sleeping on the street".[211]
The open-airNational Bowl is a 65,000-capacity venue for large-scale events.[212]
InWavendon,the Stables – founded by thejazz musiciansCleo Laine andJohn Dankworth – provides a venue for jazz,blues,folk, rock,classical, pop andworld music.[213] It presents around 400 concerts and over 200 educational events each year and also hosts the National Youth Music Campssummer camp for young musicians.[214] In 2010, the Stables founded the biennial IF Milton Keynes International Festival, producing events in unconventional spaces and places across Milton Keynes.[215]
Milton Keynes City Orchestra is a professional freelance orchestra based atWoughton Campus.[216]
The municipal public art gallery,MK Gallery, presents exhibitions of international contemporary art.[217] The gallery was extended and remodelled in 2018/19 and includes anart-house cinema.[218][219][220] Elsewhere in the city, there are twomultiplex cinemas; one inCMK and one inDenbigh.
In 1999, the adjacent 1,400-seatMilton Keynes Theatre opened.[221] The theatre has an unusual feature: the ceiling can be lowered closing off the third tier (gallery) to create a more intimate space for smaller-scale productions.[221][222] There is a further professional performance space inStantonbury.[223]
Milton Keynes Arts Centre offers a year-round exhibition programme, family workshops and courses. The centre is based in some ofLinford Manor's historical exterior buildings, barns,almshouses andpavilions.[141] The Westbury Arts Centre inShenley Wood is based in a 16th-century grade II listed farmhouse building. Westbury Arts has been providing spaces and studios for professional artists since 1994.[228]
In recent years, the City Council has promoted MK as a test-bed for experimental urban technologies. The most well-known of these is theStarship Technologies' (largely) autonomous delivery robots: Milton Keynes provided its world-first urban deployment of these units in 2018.[239] By October 2020, said Starship, Milton Keynes had the "world's largest autonomous robot fleet".[240] Other projects include theLUTZ Pathfinder pod, an autonomous (self-driving) vehicle built by the Transport SystemsCatapult.
Bob Leith, drummer for the Kingston upon Thames bandCardiacs and others went to school in Milton Keynes and formed his first bands there includingPart 1[280]
Fellsilent, a metal band, come from and formed in Milton Keynes in 2003[284][285]
Tesseract, adjent band, formed as a full live act in Milton Keynes in 2007.[286] Tesseract's guitarist, songwriter and producer Acle Kahney is also a former member of Fellsilent.[285]
^The area that is the subject of this article, the contiguous urban segment of the City of Milton Keynes local authority area, does not have legal city status itself although it is usually known as "the city". TheLetters Patent were awarded to the responsible local authority rather than to the settlement itself. See section§ Formal award of city status below for more details.
^population over 100,000.St Albans, a cathedral city of 57,000, is closer.
^The Woburn weather station is located 7.0 miles (11.3 km) from the Milton Keynes city centre. There is another station atStowe, just outsideBuckingham about 12 miles (19 km) distant. On 19 July 2022, the temperature here reached 38.7 °C (101.7 °F).[72]
^Weather station is located 7.0 miles (11.3 km) from the city centre.
^In reality, the bus operators have specified many bus routes that go through, rather than between, neighbourhoods.
^Bendixson & Platt report the Corporation as concerned at this outcome, which was an unanticipated emergent behaviour. In later developments, it aimed for increased permeability through the grid.[93]
^An additional ten-metre wide strip was originally specified to satisfy Buckinghamshire County Council's belief in a future fixed-track public transport system. In 1977 MKDC decided to cease to specify it.[96]
^The "western expansion area" is what becameFairfields andWhitehouse. The "eastern expansion area" isBroughton including Brooklands. "The Hub" is a development of residential tower, hotels and restaurants in CMK.
^Large-scale buildings include Jurys Inn (10 storeys)[104]The Pinnacle:MK on Midsummer Boulevard (9 storeys)[105] and theVizion development on Avebury Boulevard (12 storeys),[106]
^TheNetwork Rail National Centre is at the western limit of Silbury Boulevard near the Central station; this building complex occupies a large land area but only rises to the equivalent of six storeys;[108] The Hotel la Tour (Marlborough Gate and Midsummer Bvd) opens April 2022 and is 50 metres tall.[109]
^abNot in original designated area but subsequent expansion has grown to include it.[7]
^An updated report for 2016 is available but does not give this data.[204]
^A "lower super output area" is a small geographic area defined by the Office of National Statistics to contain 1,000 to 1,500 residents and thus to permit consistent national comparisons.[206]
^abAccording to a nearby historicmilestone (seeOrdnance Survey (1885)."Buckinghamshire Sheet XV" (Map).OS Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952. 1:10,560. Ordnance Survey – via National Library of Scotland.
^abcSouth East Study 1961–1981 (Report). London: HMSO. 1964.A big change in the economic balance within the south east is needed to modify the dominance of London and to get a more even distribution of growth cited inThe Plan for Milton Keynes (Llewellyn-Davies et al (1970), page 3
^Llewellyn-Davies; Forestier-Walker; Bor (December 1968).Milton Keynes: Interim Report to Milton Keynes Development Corporation.Milton Keynes Development Corporation.
^Croft, R. A.; Mynard, Dennis C.; Gelling, Margaret (1993).The Changing Landscape of Milton Keynes. Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society Monograph Series. Aylesbury: Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society.ISBN9780949003126.OCLC29216206.The creation of Milton Keynes provided an opportunity to study an extensive rural landscape before it was changed irreversibly. This book brings together the results of 20 years of excavation, fieldwork and documentary studies carried out by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation.
^abWalkerThe Architecture and Planning of Milton Keynes, Architectural Press, London 1981. Retrieved 13 February 2007
^Webber, M (1963). "Order in Diversity: Community Without Propinquity". In Wingo, Lowdon (ed.).Cities and space : the future use of urban land ; essays from the fourth RFF forum. Baltimore: Hopkins.OCLC710950.ISBN9780801806773
^Richings, James (16 March 2024)."Milton Keynes named one of the best places to live in the UK".Bucks Free Press.Forget the 1970s image of concrete cows, endless roundabouts and ugly architecture, the new town turned city deserves its place on the Sunday Times list.
^Chalmers, Theo (19 September 2012)."The curse of the living planners"(PDF).Milton Keynes Business Week.Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved14 May 2019.
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