Businesses and trades such as the Dunlop rubber factory, Gaythorn gas works, the birthplace of the Rolls Royce, gold-beating and sign writing began to move out or close as the clearance progressed.
The planners' vision was to replace the traditional street life and social interaction above the hazards of traffic and replace the slum housing with habitable dwellings. In order to accomplish these deck-access apartments, walkways and bridges were constructed. The residential component of the redevelopment included 5,000 new homes in five deck-access developments and 13 tower blocks. The focal point of the redevelopment was the huge Crescent blocks inspired by the Georgian terraces of Bath. The deck-access towers contained almost a thousand units. The population of Hulme was 12,000 residents compared to 130,000 who lived there in the 1930's. Significant issues quickly arose such as heating inadequacies, pest infestation, child safety concerns and symptoms of depression and isolation through vandalism, crime and drug dealing. Issues of spatial isolation and social polarisation are symptomatic of the one-dimensional urban renewal approaches initiated in the 1960's.
These of course were not going to withstand the pressures of time and therefore deteriorated. This was down to the fact that they opted for the quickest and easiest solution not looking into the future and the long term benefits.
During the 1970's, City Council began to remove families from the deck-access blocks due to mounting dissatisfaction. The empty flats were let to singles, couples or groups without children and students from the adjacent higher education campus. The changing demographic mix further skewed the community profile. The community became increasingly inward-looking, isolated and economically uncertain. The 1980's consisted of a constant debate between community representatives, the City Council and central government on ways to improve opportunities in Hulme.
In 1991, Michael Heseltine, then the Secretary of State for the Environment, announced
City Challenge, the potential for a comprehensive approach to regenerate Hulme instead
of simply focusing on the physical redesign once again. The City Challenge bid allocated £7.5 million per annum for five years to aid the transformation in Hulme.
A partnership between Hulme Community Homes, Manchester City Council, Hulme
Community and Hulme Regeneration Ltd. was set up to achieve the City Challenge initiative.
Some local residents are not content with aspects of the scheme and it has been said that if local residents are unwilling to participate in the process or feel the exercise is futile the partnership will undoubtedly suffer and not fulfil the principles of urban regeneration.
A genuine attempt has been made to rectify the one-dimensional planning approach, which is committed to addressing only the physical or built form. The City Challenge partnership recognises and has facilitated the need to incorporate linkages between regeneration, education, job training, employment and improving the housing stock or 'simultaneous adaptation' to ensure a lasting impact for the area.
The regeneration process will be ineffective without acknowledging how a community functions and the requirements of local residents. Barbara McLoughlin suggests that Hulme works for some very sensible reasons. "It is viewed as a neighbourhood and not an estate. It is about analysing how people work, how people organise their lives and determining what ordinary facilities and actions we need to take to bring people back into society".
In 1981, the time of the Moss Side riots, unemployment in Manchester stood at 20% and the city had lost 194,000 people in 20 years- almost one third of the population.
In 1988 the Central Manchester Development Corporation (CMDC) was designated. It covered only 187 hectares, including large parts of the southern edge of the city centre but omitting the low-income neighbourhoods of Moss Side and Hulme. The CMDC was a ‘bricks and mortar’ approach designed to recover derelict land and buildings. In eight years it achieved some of its aim and £373 million of private investment was levered in with £82.1 million of UK government funds and £5.1 million of European Union structural funds. 4944 jobs had been created which, although fewer than predicted, showed improvement as did the 2583 dwellings built in an area where the initial population had been only 250.
Although the CMDC was judged a success, it did result in an excess of office space and provided housing for mainly young affluent professionals. This meant that locals who were less wealthy were unable to improve their situation and in some cases were forced to move from the area due to fluctuation of prices through increased demand. The number of bars in central Manchester doubled between 1994 and 1998 and 84,000 travel to the centre at weekends for the nightlife. Critics say that there may now be too many bars and restaurants for them all to survive.
A very recent development in Manchester has been the Commonwealth Games which have not only proved to be a successful event, but have also left a legacy of sports facilities and social and physical regeneration for sport, community development and education. There have already been reductions in crime and unemployment in the area, and educational achievement and health are improving.
Sport England invested a total of £165m in the Games and this has been matched by £2bn of private and public sector investment, which has already created 16,000 jobs. A total of 300,000 additional tourist visits to Manchester are anticipated annually and Sport England’s ‘Sport Action Zone’ in East Manchester is also proving a great boost for local people to take part in sport, act as volunteers, and gain employment. Sheldon Phillips said: “Investment by bodies such as Sport England is not simply an act of faith, it is based on sound principles and judgments. I am delighted that the Commonwealth Games are proving to be the catalyst for local regeneration that we anticipated.”
Also in 2000 plans for a new town within Manchester to help regenerate one of Britain's biggest areas of urban decay were unveiled by a business and council partnership. More than 1,000 hectares of land east of Manchester's city centre will be revived over 10 years in a scheme described as having "a scale and diversity almost unprecedented in an English city".
The scheme, which will be closely monitored by ministers, who regard it as a model project, is expected to attract £2bn in public and private funding. More than 15,000 jobs will be created as 12,500 homes are built, 7,500 existing homes are modernised, and the local population doubles to an expected 60,000. New shopping centres will also be be created to replace small scattered shops.
The project will be managed by an urban regeneration company known as New East Manchester (NEM), a partnership between Manchester city council, English Partnerships and the North West development agency.
Manchester city council has also backed an ambitious £10m urban regeneration scheme involving one of the largest compulsory purchase orders of its type in a British city. Tough powers forcing landowners to hand over derelict buildings and sites for redevelopment are to be invoked by the northwest development agency in an attempt to rescue Ancoats, the old manufacturing heart of Manchester and England's first industrial suburb.
Only 400 people now live in the area, although planners hope it will eventually accommodate 3,000, with new schools and health centres. Lyn Fenton, the chief executive, said the company was determined to ensure new housing went to people on lower incomes to create an inclusive community.
Several lessons have been learned from the regeneration process in Manchester.
Specifically, in terms of community representative ness, government accountability and monitoring future results.
Many attempts are being made now to amend mistakes in the past and Manchester is going to improve significantly as a result. Plans for the future are already in progress and the future looks bright for the inner city of Manchester.