Welcome to Barnes2050, a place-based futures project asking a simple question: how do we make sure Barnes — the place and its people — is thriving and climate-ready by 2050?
It started with Hammersmith Bridge. It has become something much broader: an attempt to understand how this small part of London is changing, what forces will shape it over the next 25 years, and where we still have choices.
There are now more than 200 stories here. You could start anywhere.
But if you are new, start with these six.
What is shaping Barnes?
Introducing the forces shaping Barnes by 2050
Possible futures leave clues in the present. Demographics, climate, housing, technology and the way we move are already changing Barnes. This story introduces some of the trends worth watching — and how they connect to the emerging Barnes2050 Manifesto.
What does a changing climate look like here?
Heatwaves killed 400 of the trees at Kew Gardens
Climate change can feel distant and abstract. At Kew, it is already visible in the landscape. This story looks at what happened — and what it might tell us about the climate Barnes is heading towards.
What can an ordinary bus tell us about the future?
Does Barnes need a different sort of bus?
Barnes2050 often starts with something mundane: notice a local problem, question the conventional answer and ask whether a small experiment might reveal a better one.
What might we actually do?
Hammersmith Bridge Pod Pilot — WIP Proposal
Ideas matter more when they become tangible. This proposal brings together evidence, need and emerging technology to suggest an experiment: a new way of moving people across Hammersmith Bridge.
It also shows what WIP Proposal means. Not a finished answer. Something specific enough to examine, challenge and improve.
How does Barnes2050 spot what is changing?
A regular digest of small stories and subtle signals with one eye on the long term
Not everything here is a grand plan. Barnes2050 also notices the small stuff: a crossing, a tree, a shop, a cygnet, a piece of data.
These things may appear disconnected. Look at them together and they can offer clues about where Barnes is heading.
Sometimes the future is already visible. You just have to notice it.
Why think as far ahead as 2050?
Twenty-five years can sound like a long time. Seen through the life of a cygnet — or a generation — it feels rather different.
This story is about time, change and why thinking generationally matters. It may also be the best explanation of why this project is called Barnes2050.
That’s the short tour.
After that, please wander.
Read something you disagree with. Follow a theme. Steal an idea. Improve one. Tell me when I’ve got something wrong. Or start at the beginning.
2050 is a long way away.
It is also being built now.