Synopses & Reviews
This book provides a comprehensive, reflective and critical analysis of the far-reaching process of urban transformation, searching beneath the hype to expose the true character of the 'new Manchester'. Has Manchester engineered an urban renaissance, having finally turned its back on the grimy factory economy? Or is it on a slow-motion slide into the post-industrial sludge of economic insecurity and social polarization? Drawing on the work of leading researchers and commentators in the field, this collection provides answers to these and other questions concerning Manchester's changing political economy.
Synopsis
Provides a critical account of one of Europe's most celebrated examples of urban transformation, getting beneath the hype to ask what has really changed in the 'new' Manchester. The first comprehensive account of contemporary political and economic change in Manchester. Explores the costs and consequences of making the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial or 'entrepreneurial' city, with broad implications for other major cities.
Synopsis
Confronted with a declining jobs base, deepening social problems and apparent indifference on the part of central government, many British cities made an 'entrepreneurial turn' during the last two decades. Few did so in quite such a dramatic way as Manchester: once a bastion of municipal socialism, the city has enthusiastically embraced the new economy of high-level services, comspicuous cultural consumption and aggressive self-promotion. City of revolution provides a comprehensive, reflective and critical analysis of this far-reaching process of urban transformation, searching beneath the hype to expose the true character of the 'new Manchester'. Has Manchester engineered an urban renaissance, having finally turned its back on the grimy factory economy? Or is it on a slow-motion slide into the post-industrial sludge of economic insecurity and social polarisation? Drawing on the work of leading researchers and commentators in the field, this collection provides answers to these and other questions concerning Manchester's changing political economy. It makes compelling reading for all those with an interest in the future of Britain's cities.
About the Author
Jamie Peck is Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Kevin Ward is Lecturer in Geography at the University of Manchester.
Table of Contents
Placing Manchester—Jamie Peck & Kevin Ward • Global Manchester: From Globaliser to Globalised—Peter Dicken • Mancunian Ways: Politics of Regeneration—Brian Robson • Economic Transitions: Restructuring Local Labour Markets—Benito Giordano & Laura Twomey • Entrepreneurial Turns: Municipal Socialism and After—Steve Quilley • Olympic Dreams: Visions of Partnership—Allan Cochrane, Jamie Peck & Adam Tickell • Metropolitan Manoeuvres: Making Greater Manchester—Iain Deas & Kevin Ward • Bomb Sites: Politics of Opportunity—Adam Holden • City Building: Redevelopment in Manchester—Gwyndaf Williams • Regional Tensions: Constructing Institutional Cohesion?—Martin Jones & Gordon McLeod • Poor Manchester: Old Problems and New Deals—Dean Herd & Terry Patterson • Hypocritical City: Cycles of Urban Exclusion—Rosemary Mellor