CRESC Public Interest Report - MANCHESTER TRANSFORMED: why we need a reset of

In our view, the scale of the transformation (and the associated style of deal making) is a real achievement with unintended consequences: Greater Manchester is increasingly formatted by the large scale rebuilding of flats and offices in the centre so that it attracts in-migrants to the centre more than it diffuses prosperity to commuting residents of the outer boroughs. [...] This has been capitalised through a set of deals between local actors and the UK government in the form of the Manchester City Deal in 201214 and Greater Manchester Devolution Agreement in 2014,15 and through the development of new governance frameworks, notably the creation in 2011 of the Greater Manchester Combined CRESC | Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change 5 MANCHESTER TRANSFORMED: wh. [...] The appendix to this report delivers on that aim with tables of evidence: on gross value added (GVA), which is the standard measure of regional economic performance; on the stock of houses and flats and on the scale of office building in the central city; on the record of private and public sector job creation; and on patterns of commuting and in-migration. [...] We need to find ways to include more people in the benefits of increasing prosperity, at the same time drawing on the talents and energies of a greater proportion of our population to develop economies which are more vibrant, innovative, skilled and productive.’31 After the Brexit vote, the language of fairness and the objective of inclusive growth is compellingly attractive for national and local. [...] Today’s network takes in areas as far as Rochdale, the affluent suburbs of Didsbury and Chorlton and the airport… With the tram in place, Greater Manchester comes together to create a city region greater than the sum its parts.’50 Before we consider how Greater Manchester reality falls short of this vision of mobility, let us first consider the scale and scope of the rebuilding of the central city.