The number of people aged between 20 and 29 living in city centres nearly tripled between 2001 and 2011, according to a new study.

The report by think tank Centre for Cities found that despite concerns over high rents, poor air quality and a lack of green space, young professionals prefer to live in city centres.

Restaurants preferred to parks
Over a third (39%) say restaurants, leisure and cultural facilities attract them to urban areas and 27% like the fact that they are close to their work.

Just under a third (31%) put the cost of housing as one of the major drawbacks to city living, with a quarter disliking the pollution and poor quality of environment.

One of the reasons behind the growth of city living is the expansion of universities. Students now make up 44% of people living in large urban centres.

Another reason given by the think tank is the growth in the knowledge economy and with it an increase in the number of jobs available in city centres.

Economic growth
The report says that, with some changes, cities can use this preference for city centre living to create economic growth.

It recommends:
• Making it easy for businesses to set up in centres
• Housing and transport to be put where needed and built to reflect the younger demographic
• Putting skills and business growth at the centre of all regeneration projects
• Creating more green spaces through the planning process
Alexandra Jones, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, says city centres have changed from deprived, crime-ridden areas into desirable places for young professionals.

She is calling for local leaders to build on this positive trend towards urban living by making centres even better places to live and work.

In its Housing Futures research, Strutt & Parker identifies young people that often drawn to living in urban centres as ‘Glomads’ or ‘global nomads’ as they are oftenopen to travelling from place to place over long periods of time for employment as they delay life decisions. They are typically the early adopters of new technology and may simply seek to live a life of limited commitments: the truly footloose. GloMads will place the largest demand on rental housing and will tend to prefer city centres or vibrant communities where they can take advantage of the culture and buzz of the place they are residing.