Manchester in Crisis - Why Manchester may never be a world class city
Manchester is currently riding the crest of the wave, never have there been so many cranes on the skyline, so many exciting new changes and developments in progress, so much investment and confidence in the city.
So why the talk of crisis?
In the opinion of Eye On Manchester, there are some hidden issues, problems being ignored, and other invisible threats, which could mean that Manchester will never become a truly ‘world class city’.
Eye On Manchester believes that in order to achieve its full potential, Manchester, that’s to say, the wider conurbation, needs a single, over-riding local government authority, like London, like New York, like Berlin. Manchester is a big city with a fragmented and parochial local government set up.
What’s the solution? I have a suggestion, to be published in due course.
There are two other issues. The second is Manchester’s often chaotic and fragmented public transport system. We’ve seen in recent weeks how the city centre has been brought to a standstill by bus companies competing for custom, scenes not seen since the 1920s. And the Metrolink ‘Big Bang’ is set to be more of a ’small whimper’.
Issue Number Three concerns the current wave of construction and the architecture - often of a mediocre standard - that is springing up all around us.
I’ve coined a new word to describe it - Read the main article to find out.
Yes, there are some notable exceptions, but just what kind of a city are the planners creating for us?
And it is simply not true to say that the current boom is unprecedented. I remember it happening between 1960 and 1970, when the Manchester skyline altered far more radically than it has in recent years, and many grave planning errors took place - the Crescents, Fort Ardwick and many others.
Then, as in recent months and years, many interesting and viable buildings have been swept away due to the pressures of planning and development, and many more are set to disappear. I believe many of the same mistakes are being made today as were made in the 1960s, and that we are going to live to regret it.