That’s the funny thing about the future, none of us really know what it holds. As human beings we have evolved a unique ability to project our thoughts into it, make predictions and conceptualise what we think the future looks like so we can plan accordingly, but the future is both uncertain and certain at the same time, a bit like Schrödinger's cat, it doesn’t have a reality … until it does.

In my new capacity as Director of the Future, I am responsible for using foresight and innovation to establish strategies that deliver commercial success and the company’s vision – to leave things better and more beautiful than they were left to us. That means my job is to think beyond immediate horizons, at the pioneering concepts required to imagine, design and build a better future through the projects we takes on, and the decisions we make during the process of delivery.

Urban Splash are focusing on a development pipeline of 4,500 new homes and 500,000 sq ft of commercial space. These will become a reality within the next 10-20 years whilst their impact on people’s lives and our planet will be felt for considerably longer. We can expect our current reality to change quite dramatically during this period, as our climate changes, societal and cultural expectations shift and technology impacts our lives in new and unexpected ways. Having a role solely dedicated to thinking within these timeframes is refreshing and commercially prudent.

The only control we have over the type of future that will materialise, is the decisions we make as we shape it. Of course, we have no idea what lies ahead with absolute certainty, but we do have agency over the choices we make, the paths we take and the type of future we try to be a part of. Either we make decisions that improve the likelihood of a better future or we don’t. To continue with the Schrödinger metaphor – we can, and should, do everything possible to ensure when we open the box, the cat is alive.