MK:U will have a focus on digital and cybertechnology, robotics and artificial intelligence with “a new style of degree”

For years it has been dismissed as a soulless new town, famous only for its concrete cows and grid system of roads.

However, Milton Keynes is about to get its own university, which residents believe will transform the city into a national digital hub.

MK:U will open in 2023 to an initial cohort of 5,000 students and will specialise in digital and cybertechnology, robotics and artificial intelligence. Its other big faculties will be business and enterprise, smart cities, and “design thinking” — arts and design for the digital age.

Cranfield University, the postgraduate university near by, has won the contract to oversee the development of MK:U and play a role in ensuring the approximately £300 million needed to fund it is in place. It has