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The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has announced the four firms that have been shortlisted for the Cambridge to Oxford Connection, following the launch of an ideas competition in June.

As part of a two-part competition, the NIC is seeking what it calls 鈥渋nspirational yet realisable visions for the future of development within the arc encompassing four of the UK鈥檚 fastest-growing and most productive centres: Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Northampton and Oxford鈥�.

Whittled down from nearly 60 entries, the shortlisted teams are led by Barton Willmore, Fletcher Priest Architects, Mae and Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design.

Bridget Rosewell, the NIC鈥檚 Commissioner and chair of the competition鈥檚 jury, said: 鈥淎t the second stage, we will be looking for proposals that are rooted in their context and understand the local character, environment and landscape. We have asked competitors to consider how places will be integrated with infrastructure, but above all, we want to see what the proposals will mean for the lives of the people living and working in the corridor.鈥�

The top four teams will be given an honorarium of 拢10,000 to develop their initial submission.

Last November, the NIC published an interim report on the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford corridor and said it 鈥渃ould be a world renowned centre for science, technology and innovation鈥� after being tasked six months earlier by the then-chancellor George Osborne to 鈥渕aximise the potential鈥� of the corridor. It stretches approximately 130 miles around the north and west of London鈥檚 green belt and has a population of 3.3 million people.

The final designs produced by the shortlist will be used in the commission鈥檚 report to government later this year.