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Fables of the reconstruction: Inner-urban regeneration, city centre living and the reinvention of urban space Chris Allen and Sarah Blandy Correspondence to first named author at; Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research Sheffield Hallam University Unit 10, Science Park City Campus, Howard Street SHEFFIELD, S1 1WB Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 114 224 4522 Introduction There have been relatively few studies of city centre living in the United Kingdom. However, the limited number of studies that do exist tend to treat city centre dwellers as a relatively undifferentiated mass (e.g. Darbyshire, 1990; Fitzsimmons, 1998; Couch, 1999; Madden et al, 2001; Blackaby et al, 2002; Seo, 2002; Fox and Unsworth, 2003). First, city centre living tends to be characterised in terms of its appeal to young, single professionals as if this social group constituted an undifferentiated mass. Second, these young, single person households are assumed to follow a ‘housing career’ starting in the city centre and concluding in the suburbs. Third, these ‘housing career’ moves to the suburbs tend to be presented in terms of a desire to access better quality facilities (such as schools), greenery and low noise environments. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that city centre dwellers are not undifferentiated masses that are distinguished from other housing markets simply by virtue of the demographic characteristics of their housing consumers. City centre dwellers are shown to be complex and differentiated group of housing consumers that occupy a number of distinct positions within the city centre housing market, which should therefore be seen as composed of a series of sub-markets that operate according to their own unique socio-economic and cultural logic. Two typologies of city centre dwellers and sub-markets are identified, as well as two ‘new’ and emerging sub-markets. First, we argue that previous research has been correct to point out that a large part of the market for city centre living is based on young, single professionals. However, we also argue that this market should not be understood simply in terms of demographics. Our interviewees drew on post-Fordist discourse to describe this part of the city centre housing market which they characterised as made up of ‘city centre tourists’ that are seeking to ‘experience’ living at the heart of things. The growth of this market should not, then, be regarded as symptomatic of a culture of detraditionalisation (cf. Heelas et al, 1996) because these households tend to be highly ‘traditional’ in their outlook and therefore merely seek to experience the city centre before fulfilling their ‘natural’ preference to live in the suburbs. Another part of this element of the market was composed of ‘lifestyle changers’ that had “done the marriage thing” and decided it was not for them and were attracted into the city centre because of its ability to accommodate their ‘new’ non-traditional lifestyle. Their overall commitment to living in the city centre was similarly lacking because it could easily be usurped by a change in personal circumstances, e.g. falling in love. Second, we argue that an empirically significant part of the market for city centre living is often ignored in research reports that tend to focus on the majority consumers, i.e. young, single professionals. This part of the market is composed of ‘authentic’ city centre dwellers that ‘buy into’ the city centre because it is able to satisfy their lifestyle. Authentic city centre dwellers in Manchester were composed of ‘successful agers’ (that have ‘done the family thing’) and ‘counter-culturalists’ (such as gay and lesbian people). They have a genuine rather than passing interest in what is on offer in the city centre. Finally, we show that the high volume of demand for housing in Manchester city centre has resulted in the recent creation of two ‘new’ city centre housing markets which we identify; the first consists of the development of ‘city centre’ living options for ‘city centre tourists’ within inner-urban areas whereas the second consists of the development of a new inner and sub-urban aesthetic for ‘distinguished’ housing consumers. The paper is presented in four parts. First, we provide an overview of the research study and method. Second, we discuss Manchester as a post-Fordist city and the manner in whcih this has shaped the transient and tourist element of the market for city centre living. Third, we discuss Manchester as a postmodern city and the manner in which this has shaped th authentic element of the market for city centre living. Fourth, we discuss how and why the market for transient and authentic city centre living is currently expanding into inner and suburban areas as well as the consequences of this expansion. THE RESEARCH STUDY AND METHOD The purpose of the research study was to understand the nature and extent of the demand for city centre living in Manchester. A multi-method research approach was used. First, a ‘systematic review’ of research evidence about city centre living in Manchester was undertaken. This involved an analysis of the existing research evidence base; primarily the findings of previous research into city centre living in Manchester and other UK / world cities as well as ‘housing market’ reports by stakeholders in the field (for example, Halifax plc). It also involved an analysis of archive material at the Local Studies Unit of the City of Manchester library (e.g. key planning documents); a computer search and analysis of news reports about Manchester City Centre in the local and national media; a search and analysis of the web sites of key stakeholders, such as property developers. Second, interviews were undertaken with key stakeholders in the residential property market in Manchester including estate agents and on-site sales offices, lettings agents and managing agents, property developers, mortgage lenders, local authority planners, as well as a small number of focus groups with residents living in different parts of Manchester City Centre. 1 MANCHESTER AS A POST-INDUSTRIAL CITY Manchester is known as the world’s first industrial city (Williams, 1996; Peck and Ward, 2002) and, in many ways, its development, decline and subsequent restructuring epitomises the British experience of industrialisation and de-industrialisation. The name ‘Cottonopolis’ was assigned to the first industrial city (Mellor, 2002) reflecting the nature of the industrial base that emerged in the later part of the 18th century. By the end of the 1830’s, Manchester and its surrounding towns were responsible for 90% of cotton production in the UK whilst cotton accounted for 50% of all export earnings on the GNP (Haslam, 1999). As well as being at the forefront of industrial change, Manchester has also been a driver of social change. It was the ‘home’ of the Anti-Corn Law League, the Suffragette Movement and the Chartist Movement and the origins of the ‘weekend’ (the ‘Manchester week’) can also be found in Manchester. Charles Dickens’ Hard Times and Frederick Engels’ The Condition of the Working Class in England were also written about Manchester. However, the economic buoyancy of Manchester and, in particular, its central district did not last. First, Manchester experienced a process of ‘hollowing out’ from the 1850’s onwards, with the new middle classes moving out of the centre and into suburbs such as Chorlton and Didsbury (Williams, 1996; Haslam, 1999). This suburban growth paralleled its inner city decline. Second, employment in the textile industry halved between the wars and, by 1939, a catastrophic decline of the cotton industry had taken place which was followed, in the 1950s, by its near total collapse (Williams, 1996). The period of manufacturing growth following the second world was only a ‘temporary salvation’ for the city and its inner core. Between 1971 and 1989, the number of manufacturing jobs in Greater Manchester declined by 249,000 (Beynon et al, 1993). However, during the same period, Manchester began to assume a role of regional importance in retailing and commerce (Williams, 1996). The creation of Central Manchester Development Corporation (CMDC) in 1988 saw Manchester capitalise on this emerging strength as a regional centre for retailing and commerce. Between 1988 and 1996, the CMDC attracted £350m of investment into Central Manchester, creating 100 000 m2 of new office space and, with it, 4500 new jobs, as well as 2500 new residential units. The Salford Quays area, close to Manchester City Centre, also underwent a similar transformation. Today, Manchester continues to grow as a regional business centre and, between 1971 and 1989, the number of jobs in the service sector grew by 107,000 (Devine et al, 2000). For example, by 1996, there were fifty accountancy firms in Manchester staffed by 6,500 people whereas now: Manchester’s rejuvenated city-centre economy is dominated by a sought-after, prosperous professional business service core and the knowledge industries such as education and the media. Devine et al, 2000: 523 These industrial changes have not been without wider consequence. The decline of manufacturing industries that once provided life-long employment across generations of entire communities (e.g. Fords of Halewood on Merseyside), and the subsequent growth of service and knowledge industries, has resulted in a growth of young people leaving their community of origin in search of higher education and, subsequently, work opportunities in the new high-tech regional centres such as Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh or on the M4 corridor (Furlong, and Cartmel, 1997; Jones, 1999; O’Connor et al, 2000). One of the defining characteristics of contemporary society, then, is the increasing level of residential mobility (Burrows, 1999) which has undermined ‘traditional’ ideas about the lifecourse, i.e. 2 ‘leave school, get a job, get married, have children’ whilst remaining embedded in a web of established kin and friendship relationships in one’s community-of-origin (Furlong and Cartmel, 1997; Jones, 1999).

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