Recommendations that two garden cities are built in southern England to ease the UK’s housing shortage have prompted debate and triggered political wrangling.

However, regardless of the politics, the opportunity to build two new cities from scratch is a thrilling one and if it goes ahead, a once in a lifetime opportunity for the leisure and wellness industries.

Cities designed from the ground up, using the latest sustainable design and green technology with fully integrated leisure, would be incredible places to live.

Things have moved on a long way since the last garden cities – Letchworth and Welwyn – were built and even the models used more recently for the UK’s ‘New Towns’, such as Milton Keynes, Harlow and Stevenage, are no longer relevant.

We need a new vision of cities for this new age of leisure: wellness cities, not garden cities (although they’ll need plenty of gardens and green spaces).

We now have a greater appreciation of the importance of things like humanscale development, the power of architecture to create communities and the importance of integrating green space and seamlessly embedding technology. We also have the tools, skills and knowledge to deliver something truly outstanding.

Britain leads the world in so many related disciplines: urban planning, architecture, sustainability, advanced technology, garden design, engineering and the creative industries. In additon, we have world class construction and surveying sectors and a great wealth of expertise in crafts and hand-building techniques.

But the most exciting part of living in a new city such as this would be the total integration of all the leisure – sport, leisure, wellness and health and fitness, hospitality, attractions and outdoor leisure.

In the last 30 years, Britain has moved from an industrial to a service and leisure economy and leisure is now the biggest area of consumer expenditure. A new city built with leisure integrated into other infrastructure such as education, transport, medical, commercial and retail – would create a world-class example of excellence showcasing the UK’s skills and expertise. It would also be a world first.

It’s recognised that in order for people to be healthy and lead long, happy and productive lives, wellness needs to be built into day to day life. A purpose-built wellness city [or well city] with places to walk, exercise and spend time outdoors, as well as with access to great facilties, would enhance quality of life, lead to better health and serve as a model for others to follow.

Let’s assemble a team of experts and creative thinkers from across all these disciplines, put politics to one side and make something really exciting happen.

Liz Terry, editor @elizterry