Lord Norman Foster: Britain resorting to 'quick fix' infrastructure solutions

For Sir Norman, the contrast between the two countries’ approach to aviation expansion is stark. Here was Britain, the global leader in engineering and infrastructure in the 19th century, opting for what he believes is a “quick fix” solution. On the other side of the world, Mexico is prepared to plough billions of dollars into bold projects whose benefits will be felt long after the current crop of politicians has gone. Sir Norman cannot understand why a country that once led the world has lost its courage.

“I think the thing that is truly exciting about the Mexican context is here is an administration, it’s young, dynamic…here is a government that is thinking beyond its own tenure,” he says.

Mexico is now spending billions on infrastructure that it will trade off for generations “in the same way that we trade in London on the investment that was made in the 19th century, in sewers, embankments, underground transportation, in railways,” Sir Norman argues.

“We led the world, we had this can-do attitude and we just did it and we got on with it. Generations, including my own, yours and our children are still trading on that, but nobody is renewing it, nobody is looking into the longer term.”

Sir Howard concluded that the economic disruption of building a new airport to the east of London would be “huge” and environmental hurdles “may prove impossible… to surmount”.

He was referring in particular to habitats protected under European law that would require the UK to prove there was no alternative to building on that land. The Airports Commission has also estimated that the bill for a new hub airport could spiral to as much as £120bn.

Sir Norman insists that the figures have been “totally exaggerated” and that in reality the price tag, including the cost of building new surface transport, would reach just a third of that sum. He also believes that the environmental obstacles of expanding at Heathrow are just as great.

“How about the environmental obstacles of pushing everybody through a tunnel, uprooting the M25 and subjecting London to the risks of over-flying traffic and the bombardment of noise and pollution?” he says. “The only place that is more expensive or more dangerous than an active airport to build in is a war zone, and that is a verifiable statistic.”

Like the Mayor, Sir Norman isn’t giving up on a Thames hub. The commission will make its recommendations after the general election but the final decision will rest with the next government.

“It does take a degree of courage, of optimism, of belief in the future, the ability to look far ahead,” says Sir Norman.

“As an architect, you have to be an optimist because your whole life is devoted to a future that is probably unfolding beyond your own lifetime, so I have a belief in sanity and the fact that in the end, common sense will prevail.

“I think eventually the penny will drop and somebody will ask: 'Why the hell didn’t they get on with it at the time?’ ”

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