Manchester was one of the original industrial cities, but decline
started in the 1920s, and continued until the 1990s with a brief up tick
during the Second World War. In June 1996, a massive IRA bomb exploded
in the centre of the shopping area. There was prior warning. The area
was mostly cleared of people. Nobody died, but 220 people were injured.
A great deal of retail and office space was destroyed. 650 businesses
were no longer functioning.
20 days after the bombing with the help of the Conservative Party in
government, Manchester Mellenium Limited was created, tasked with
running a competition for the redesign of the inner city, the clean up,
and the rebuilding of the new Manchester. ( Sounds a bit like CERA to me.)
There were many conditions to be met by the planners: but one key
condition was that the plan had to be deliverable: Affordable,
buildable, and commercially attractive.
Five schemes were short listed:: The most popular scheme was eventually
rejected because it wasn't deliverable.
Here are some key takeaway ideas.
"Any city development dependent on the private automobile isn't
sustainable."
"Investment in light rail is expensive, but it's a 50+ year investment
in the future."
"The green spaces created in the Manchester rebuild are overused.
Maintaining grass on over-used public spaces is very hard."
Public fountains are popular, but the running cost is high. Don't build
facilities if you haven't thought seriously about the cost of ongoing
maintenance."
"Modern cities depend on two things: KNOWLEDGE and CONNECTIVITY."
"Connecting the University with the city is essential. Bringing the
University into the city is desirable."
"The planet has to look to more dense urban living a part of the
solution to our sustainability problems. Manchester suffered from
unsustainable urban sprawl. We had a declining 9am to 5pm city.
"Our success is that Manchester is now a 24 hour city. Thousands of
people now live in the CBD. They walk to work, and they walk to
shopping, and they walk to entertainment."
TRANSPORT:
Lots of new public transport schemes fail to meet their objectives.
I think he said that ALL the government money the city received was
spent on transport. I might be wrong about that.
"Where do people come from and where do they want to go?"
Connect residences with workplaces. Where possible have work and home
close together.
"Don't waste the opportunity Christchurch has now!"
"Build for the next 100 years."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
International Speaker Series:
Canterbury University in the Central Lecture Block
Monday, Tuesday. August 29th and 30th.
Starts 9.30am to about noon.
Starts 1.30pm to about 5.30pm.
To get there, off Clyde Road go down Arts Road.
Off Creyke Road go down Forestry Road.
The lecture theatres are where those two roads meet.
Parking off Arts Road.
The display for the proposed inner city rebuilding is displayed in the
foyer.