City of Manchester Plan 1945, abridged edition This report has been digitised by Joe Blakey and Martin Dodge from the Department of Geography, University of Manchester. The digitisation was supported by the Manchester Statistical Society’s Campion Fund. The copy of the report digitised kindly provided by Richard Brook, Manchester School of Architecture. Permission to digitise and release the report under Creative Commons license was kindly granted by Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council. (Email: [email protected]) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. 20 July 2013. C O NTENTS PR A .. page 2 I. TH D · I N 3 The Purpose of Pla nning- The Pla n in Outline-Ways and Mean II . H F UN I ATION 7 Basic Surveys-Popula tion- The Fa mily Unit J II . II • RAM WORK 10 The Z ning Scheme- Indu trial Planning- Highways JV. T H STR TUR 16 Design fo r Li ving- Ho mes- Types of Dwelling - l ndoor Space- Outdoor Space- School - The eighbo urhood- The District Y. R H SJN 28 Density- The Overspi ll Pro blem- The Redevelopment Programme- The Satellite VJ. 36 Sy tem- Ri vers- A mokeless ity- District H eating YJL. T li E R , IONAL A PJT L 40 Learning, Med icine a nd Lhe rts-The ity Centre-Transport- C ivic Building V LJL. T I-l - OND IT IONS 0 u ss 51 Fu rther Legisla ti o n- Loca l Government- T he Prospect Th e author\· acknowl dgment and thanks ore due to MR. DEREK SE lOR, who has prepared thi abridged version from the main edition WL D ME T f r the u e of ph otogra phs i made to: lc ale Society Ltd. Pla te 5 ( I); Scottish fndu trial Esta tes Ltd., P late 5 em ley cw pa pers Ltd ., Pl a te I (1) ; Ma nchester Guardian a nd Evening News 2; . R. Hin k , Plate I (3) ; . S. Roberts, R ochdale, Plate 4 (3), Plate 7 ( I) (-) (4), Plate 10 (2); Valentine a nd ons, Ltd., Pl ate 23 (1). .• i ... '..~ I CITY OF MANCHESTER PLAN ABRIDGED EDITION By R. NICHOLA S, B.Sc. M.Inst.C.E. M.T.P.I. City Surveyor and Engineer Printed and published for the MANCHEST R ORPORATION by JARROLD & SONS, LIMITED ORWICH A D LO N DO N 1945 PREFACE by the Lord Mayor of Manchester ALDERMAN W. P. JACKSON, J.P. WHEN THE POST-WAR PLANNING of Manchester was begun about two years ago the intention was to present the proposals to the Town Planning and Buildings Committee, and subsequently to the City Council, in a series of reports supported by plans. But as the City Surveyor proceeded with his task it became increasingly evident that the problems of planning and reconstruction in Manchester were so interrelated that it would be wiser and more informative to prepare and present the Plan as a whole. Accordingly, this course was adopted, and in this book Mr. Nicholas has developed his ideas for tbe future of Manchester. To-day our country is at the beginning of the great transition from war to peace, and all thinking people will wish to inquire about the sort of world to be built for posterity. The extent to which the Civic Authorities will be able to remodel Manchester as a fairer city with greatly improved living and working conditions will depend ultimately upon the interest, determination and wishes of the citizens, to whom I commend this book for careful study. Lord Mayor's Office, Manchester. W. P. JACKSON, May, 1945. Lord Mayor. by the Chairman of the Town Planning and Buildings Committee COUNCILLOR OTTIWELL LODGE J N AUGUST, 1941, Lord Reith addressed the Manchester and District Regional Planning Committee, of which Manchester is a constituent authority, and advised the preparation of a provisional plan for redevelopment. He ugge ted that those re ponsible should not consider themselves bound by existing legislation, but that they should plan b ldly and comprehensively. This was, indeed, a challenge, and an inducement to tackle the multifarious pr blems which be et us on all sides according to modern conceptions of planning. Mr. ichola has approached each problem with no preconceived ideas and no prejudices. He has examined with great th or ughnes all ava ilable information, and where this was not sufficient he has made his own investigations. Yet il has b en ever present in his mind that the health and happiness of our citizens must be his ultimate concern. Here is n attempt l revolutionise the face of the city, but rather to shape it into a satisfactory pattern-largely conforming to th e pre ent layout, but giving us the opportunity we need to improve its efficiency and its standing as a regional centre. ny co n tructive c mment will receive the most careful attention from the Town Planning and Buildings Com­ milt e when they proceed to a detailed consideration of the proposals, to which, by the very nature of the book, they ar n t c mmitted in any way at this stage. ~ ven t the casual reader it will be manife t that a tremendous amount of work has gone into the preparation of thi Plan n t on ly in the sifting of all available information about this great city and the manner in which Manchester ame t be what it i to-day but al o in original research into matters which have perhaps not received the prominence whi h U1 ir imp rlance d mand in earlier planning proposals. h untiring nthu ia m and energy of the whole of Mr. Nicholas's planning team has been most marked through­ ut thi p riod of un pectacular but unavoidable hard work. I am glad to have this opportunity of paying a public tribute l the mall b dy f men an d women, ably led by Mr. Nicholas, who have made the publication of this book possible. May 1945. OTTIWELL LODGE. BLITZ 1940 1. Pi ccadilly in fl ames on t he night of Dece mber 23rd . 2. The corne r of St. Mary's Gate and Deansgate. 3. The Free Trade Hall, o nce the ho me of the Halle Orchestra. 2 Here, in Piccadilly, St. Mary's Gate, Peter Street·-in many places throughout the city- there is the opportunity for rebuilding; for designing structures that will be worthy of our city. When we build again, !et us take fu ll advantage of this opportunity. Plate 1 3 PROBLEMS OF REDEVELOPMENT The long-term plan will provide for the "thinning-out", zoning and re­ building of the dense ly built inner areas. 1. Conges ted, obsolescent dwellings hemmed in by industrial and other build ings. The low standard of living conditions typified here must be dealt with at an early stage of the redevelopment programme. 2. Th e corner " pub" and sma ll shops (which I II are usually converted houses) are invari­ ab ly cramped, inconvenient and unsightly. Neighbourhood centres with their pl eas­ ant, spacious atmosphere will provide a marked contrast with shopping streets of this nature. 3. Industrial buildings and warehouses are inextricably mixed up with rows of small houses, and are serious obstacles in the path of large-scale redevelopment. Th e heavy traffic, noise and atmospheric pollution commonly associated with these buildings render them highly undesirable neighbours for the hom es of the people. 2 3 Plate 2 PART I THE DESIGN IT wAS T H E BLITZ that awakened public intere t in of it traffic and rnmun icati n f th ag use, height and planning. But it wa not the blitz that made planning condition f exi ting building and f th cconomi g - neces ary. graphical and other factors which have made it what it i . A great city is always in process of gradual recon truc­ gain, in order to en ure that our pr posa l may b in tion . Old building are continually being pulled down and full ace rd v ith real human n eds, we must fir t naly e replaced, or their site used for other purposes. Most of the campo ition of our present populati n and it family Manchester has been built or rebuilt in the last bali­ unit . We must e amine pa t and present hift and trend , century; but because the process went on unplanned, the seek out their causes and try to forecast their future in­ city we live in is not a great improvement on the Man­ fluence on the ize and structure of our population, n the chester of 50 years ago. Individual building have changed, character and distribution of our workplace , n our mean but congestion, dirt and ugliness remain. With or without of moving about, and on our dome tic and soc.ial way of a plan, most of Manchester will again be gradually rebuilt living. in the course of the next half-century. If at every stage this The life and well-being f every inhabitant f thi city­ process of reconstruction is made to conform with a that i , of some 700 000 people-will be directly afli cted master pattern ofthe kindsuggestedin thisbook the Man­ by the scheme here outlined. o a lesser d gre it al chester of 50 years hence will be acitytransformed; if not, concerns well over 2,000 000 people living in n rby area it will still be as ugly, dirty and congested as it i to-day.