Manchester's changing skyline

Its hard not to notice the vertical buildings springing up in Manchester City Centre. A tram ride into the centre from the south of the city takes you through Cornbrook and Deansgate where the skyline is changing on an almost daily basis.

Photographs: Howard Walmsley July 2019

This BBC radio program called Manhattan-chester explores some of the issues of the changing shape of our city - where the centre is now becoming a place of domestic living as well as nightlife and work - for our younger residents. It makes sense that younger people can be close to the places they go out in their evenings and weekends and can be car free using the public transport links. But how does this relate to Manchester being an age-friendly city? In many respects, the city centre could be the perfect location for older residents if it was designed well, being closer to services and amenities, public transport and all the connectivity of the city could be a real innovation in city centre development.

Another BBC article uncovers the demographics of who is actually buying these flats. Of the people who own 77 apartments in the One Smithfield Square Developments this article reports that only 9 flats are actually owner occupied, the rest being owned by buy to let landlords or foreign investors.

This project is concerned with the importance of Breathing Spaces in our city, but city centre developments seem to be losing breathing spaces rather than gaining them. Pomona is a case in point.

Perhaps we all need to remember the importance of nature. Not just because we like seeing and hearing nature but because our survival and life as we know it is intimately connected to it. This Love Letter to the Forest written by David Haskell as the last Pod Talk in Forest 404 is a stunning reminder of our interconnections and dependence on trees and nature, we ignore these connections at our peril: