Growth
Swindon started life as a small market town, which then grew considerably after the Great Western Railway chose to build its main engineering works here in 1841. When the industry declined, Swindon's future was uncertain, now hi-tech and multinational companies have chosen it as home and continue to prosper.
The town has been earmarked as one of the Government’s Strategically Significant Towns, with a growth target of an additional 35,000 new homes and 32,000 jobs over the next 20 years, increasing the population to 250,000. The Swindon Economic Development Vision and Framework has been produced to manage the growth – full details can be found at Vision & Framework. The plan sets out Swindon’s future and it’s response to the challenges of the global economy, climate change, Britain’s ageing population and the growth of emerging economies such as India and China.