Read on Twitter
A thread on BBC's #manctopia series:
It is great that there is national media interest in housing inequalities in Manchester. Some of the individual profiles highlight important issues of homelessness and displacement.
But, the series is ultimately a missed opportunity...
It is great that there is national media interest in housing inequalities in Manchester. Some of the individual profiles highlight important issues of homelessness and displacement.
But, the series is ultimately a missed opportunity...
The individual profiles are presented largely without context. Very little attempt is made to explain the transformation of central Manchester since the 1980s or provide an analysis of why the city centre is experiencing a construction boom combined with a housing crisis.
E.g. there is very little about the emergence of urban entrepreneurialism since the late 1980s, post-IRA bomb redevelopment, Leese & Bernstein, the Olympics bids, the Commonwealth games, Abu-Dhabi...
Strangest of all, there is almost no mention of Manchester City Council!
Strangest of all, there is almost no mention of Manchester City Council!
As a result the viewer doesn't get an understanding of the political actors, interests and ideologies that have shaped the city centre as it appears today.
In addition, the excessive focus on one developer and his projects doesn't really tell us anything useful.
In addition, the excessive focus on one developer and his projects doesn't really tell us anything useful.
If you want to learn more about the transformation of the city since the 1980s, you could start with this excellent book edited by @outtaKimbo and @WardyKG1969 https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719058882/
If you want to learn more about the current construction boom and the lack of affordable housing, you should check out this important research by @richmg_ and @InvisibleMapper http://www.gmhousingaction.com/from-homes-to-assets-an-update-on-housing-financialisation-in-manchester-for-2018-19/
You can learn about the struggle for housing justice in the city by following local social movement organisations whose voices should have featured much more centrally in the series:
@gmhousingaction
@tenantsunionuk
@AcornManchester
@GMSavers
+ Feel free to suggest others
@gmhousingaction
@tenantsunionuk
@AcornManchester
@GMSavers
+ Feel free to suggest others
