In this guest blog, local author Stephen Oram reflects on the power of near-future storytelling to spark conversation about the Fitzrovia of tomorrow.

Hello. I’m Stephen Oram, a speculative fiction author, an applied science fiction practitioner and previously head of a policy team in the Department for Education.

I’ve lived in Fitzrovia since 1992 and over the past 30+ years have seen the area change dramatically and expect it to continue to change.

But how will it change?

That’s the question that led me to use my experience in foresight for the area I call home, by gathering people together to imagine and discuss possible futures.

How a Chance Meeting Sparked a New Way of Exploring The Future

Back in 2016, Dr. Christine Aiciardi and I met in a neon-light art bar in Soho. It was my first time of reading a short story designed to bridge the gap between a panel of neurostimulation experts and the audience Q&A.

At the bar afterwards we got talking and she asked if I’d be interested in exploring how bespoke near-future fiction might work in her foresight work at the Human Brain Project Foresight Laboratory at King’s College London.

I was immediately hooked – the opportunity to see behind the headlines and meet actual scientists was gold dust for a near-future fiction author like me.

Using Near-Future Fiction to Open Up Possibilities

Since then, we have worked together on many projects, building on our experience each time and learning how to tailor the underpinning principles and methodology to suit the purpose of each project. Whatever the project, alongside encouraging and seeking as many perspectives as possible, we also try to imagine as many futures as possible.

We open up rather than close down the debate - foresight, not prediction or forecasting.

Bringing Community Voices into The Process

This can also be used to work with local communities. Back in 2019, Christine and I worked on a Finsbury Park project with Furtherfield, drawing local residents in to add their specialist knowledge of the area.

Six years later and with a lot more experience, Christine and I began Fitzrovia Futures 2055. We brought specialists in future technologies, landscapes and social systems and people who live and work in the area into a workshop generously hosted by the Fitzrovia Community Centre. Together, we imagined all sorts of possibilities in thirty years from now.

By bouncing ideas around and imagining different ways the future may be lived we inspired three bespoke short stories.

Introducing Three Fictional Futures For Our Neighbourhood

As of November 2025, we have our first three fictional futures:

“Appendix: Witness Interviews Transcripts” by Ana Sun;

“A Tale for a Tourist” by Penny Walker; and

“The History Bricks” by me, Stephen Oram.

These will be read and discussed in public events with residents, workers and businesses over the coming months.

The first of these events is in the Fitzrovia Chapel on Thursday 11 December at 6pm (reserve your seat here).

Join The Conversation and Help Imagine Fitzrovia’s Future

We’re also keen to work with discrete groups within the community, such as parents, workers, young people, small and large business owners, the homeless, and students, to get their views on the ideas in these first three stories. Hopefully, over time some of them might write their own to add to the canon of fictional futures and hence widen the debate.

We want more stories, more perspectives; we want involvement for the whole community. To quote a phrase I often use – ‘The future is ours and it’s up for grabs …’

You can find out more about the project, upcoming events, contact us and read the stories at https://fitzroviafutures.uk.

Stephen Oram

Imagining Tomorrow’s Fitzrovia