Manchester continued to be a city of great industrial activity right into the mid 20th century.
There were two main problems in Manchester’s inner city. The first was that the city suffered extensive damage during the war. Manchester was a prime target for the Nazi bombing raids because of its central role to the economy of Northern England. 4.5 hectares of the city were destroyed by the bombing and a further 30,000 houses were damaged.
The other problem was the high proportion of old Victorian houses in the city. By the end of the war 70,000 houses had been deemed unfit for living. These were mainly located in the high-density Victorian areas.
Because of these problems the City of Manchester Plan was launched in 1945. Its aim was to clear the city of all its old, poor quality Victorian housing. Once the repairs from the war were finished another initiative restarted. This was the Manchester Slum Clearance Programme. Over the following five years, 7500 properties were demolished; most of these were in Miles Platting. These policies made up stage one of the urban redevelopment of Manchester.
The second stage revolved around the first regeneration of Hulme. In 1960 all the terraced housing in Hulme was demolished. It was replaced by four large crescents of high rise flats inspired by the Georgian house in Bath. The housing developments were separated from the traffic by walkways and bridges. Although the new developments provided homes for 12,000, it is interesting to note that this is only a small percentage of the 130,000 people that originally lived in the area.
The housing developments were seen as the way forward and although they won numerous awards they were beset with problems. These ranged from dampness, which lead to health problems, to noise pollution and high crime rates. Due to these problems it was later realised that these developments did not solve the problems so new projects were put forward in stage 4.
The main initiative in stage three involved Salford Quays and the surrounding area.
The Port of Manchester docks closed in the 1970s leading to the decline of a large part of Salford and Manchester. In the early 1980s the Enterprise Zone was established to the north and south of Salford Quays (Enterprise Zone incentives ended in 1991 having been available for ten years - the closeness of the Enterprise Zone to Salford Quays later helped both to attract business). At an exhibition in London local authorities were invited to show proposals for developing sites like the derelict land at Manchester Docks. During the 1980s, Salford City Council (SCC) purchased much of the dock area from the Manchester Ship Canal Company. In 1983 and 1984 development plans were drawn up by SCC and a private developer called Urban Waterside Limited. The plan was finally published on the 7th of May 1985 and approved by the Department of the Environment.
Salford Quays provides an excellent example of inner city redevelopment. Planners have breathed new life into an area that was derelict yet had enormous potential. This picture shows Salford Quays viewed from the south west. The picture shows how close Salford Quays is to the city centre of Manchester (centre background). The Metrolink route also encourages visits by tourists. Accessibility to the regions motorways, railways and the city centre of Manchester has been important in the development of Salford Quays.
Trafford Park was once the largest industrial estate in Europe and its industries relied on the Port of Manchester docks. They included chemicals, timber handling, grain storage, engineering and distributive activities. When Trafford Park Development Corporation was disbanded at the end of the 1990s, responsibility for the area passed back to Trafford Borough Council and Salford City Council. Large companies like Kelloggs, Rank Hovis and Cerestar (glucose products) still remain and they have been joined by new firms including Ciba-Geigy, Ford Trucks and Konica. There is also a MGM Canon Cinema and a new Performing Arts Centre. The site also houses the Lowry collection which was recently completed.
There have been many new initiatives proposed in stage four of the regeneration.
Manchester City Council submitted a plan in 1991 for the redevelopment of the Hulme area of the city. The council was successful and was granted £37.5 million in order to regenerate the area and put their plan into action. An organisation, Hulme regeneration Ltd (HRL), was set up by the council so to ensure that all groups, including residents were represented and given a voice in the fulfilment of the project.
It was decided to redevelop Hulme using the Garden city, i.e. providing as many green areas as possible in the urban area. Existing mature trees were preserved, new trees were planted, a new park was created and courtyards, roof gardens, balconies and window boxes were built into the plans.
It was planned to have a variety of housing styles built to a high quality using a range of building materials. The homes were also designed to be as efficient as possible, cutting costs on central heating and other utilities. Valuable old buildings were kept to provide a focal point in the areas.
It was not only the housing in Hulme that was redeveloped. The road network was also amended to reduce speed limits around the residential areas and also link the estate with central Manchester and the university. Greater provision for parking was also included. Several schools also received money for redevelopment and the park has had several new facilities added to it.
The problems of unemployment and crime have also been tackled. Jobs were created during the construction phase b these were not permanent. However the new office and light industrial developments have created several thousand permanent jobs. The opening of a large Asda in 1997 superstore also created 350 new jobs and showed that large retail chains had faith in the redevelopment of the area. The levels of unemployment have dropped in Hulme as has the rate of crime.
In order to redevelop the east of Manchester developers were invited to bid for a 30 ha housing site in Beswick, Manchester, in an area where a new Sport City was built for the Commonwealth Games in 2002.
Public-private sector taskforce New East Manchester (NEM) is running the tender and aims to replace rundown Victorian terraced council houses with a mixed-tenure housing development of between 1000 and 1500 homes.
People in the Beswick area who had bought their council houses had compulsory purchase orders put on them by the council, which bought the terraces for £7,000 each. Many of these were immediately demolished to make way for the new development.
NEM's regeneration programme hopes to attract £2bn in public and private investment over the next 15 years for its 1,200 ha site.
The fact that new redevelopment schemes are still being put forward leads me to the thought that the previous ones have not accomplished all that they set out to do.
The comprehensive redevelopment schemes of stages one and two did not solve the initial problem they set out to solve – the housing shortage after the war. Indeed, they reduced the availability of housing in the city, therefore increasing the problem.
These schemes did, in general, improve the standards of the dwellings from the squalor of the Victorian terraces. However, the schemes that were so widely praised when first implemented, like the first Hulme development, have proven to be faulty in design and increased the problems in the area. For example, crime and noise pollution in Hulme’s crescents.
On the whole I believe that the more recent regeneration schemes are more successful. Initiatives such as the Salford Quays EZ and the Hulme City Challenge have not only vastly improved the quality and appearance of the dwellings in the area but also counteracted other serious problems like high crime and unemployment rates. These initiatives have also targeted areas that suffered most from the decline in industry, such as the Quays, and provided permanent jobs for the local population. The regeneration programme for the east of Manchester also targets an area that has not been the subject of previous initiatives and will provide a greatly needed injection of investment and improvement into the area.
Overall, I feel the early initiatives did not achieve what they set out to do and some also caused more problems than were first there. My general feeling is that the initiatives have improved over time and that with increased planning they will continue to improve the social environment of the inner city of Manchester.