44 BusIness AUGUST 2019
feature
M
anchester. Home
of industry,
football and
music, but not
much green
space.
Unlike London,
with its extensive Royal Parks, and New
York, where Central Park sits within easy
reach of midtown, Manchester has no
extensive greenery at its heart.
Though the suburbs are lush in places
- Heaton Park, Alexandra Park, Fletcher
Moss - and the Peak District is
tantalisingly close, in the city
centre itself parks are thin
on the ground.
With more and more
people living in the
city centre, there’s
growing demand
for public space
that’s safe,
attractive and
green.
Greening the city
and creating public
open spaces that
people want to use was
the subject of a
roundtable.
Held at Sedulo’s rooftop garden on
Deansgate, participants included Adam
Higgins, co-founder of social impact
developer Capital & Centric; Ed Lister,
managing partner at landscape and
urban design studio, Planit; Jonathan
Miley, director of Exterior Architecture;
Jessica Thompson, director at City of
Trees; and Jackie Copley, planning
manager at CPRE.
Kicking off the debate was chair and
property expert David Thame.
“Manchester’s green spaces and its
public spaces have a fraught history and
haven’t always been successful,” he said.
“They’re few in number, they haven’t
always felt safe, they haven’t always
been attractive, and yet they are
essential to an urban environment.
“Manchester has very fine public
squares, including Albert Square and St
Peter’s Square, but the potential to do
more is there.”
He continued: “The city lacks actual
green space, there are pockets of spaces
such as Parsonage Gardens
which are under-used. There is
also a safety issue to use
those spaces.
“So, where is
Manchester getting it
right and where is
Manchester getting
it wrong?”
Lister, of Planit,
pointed out that
most of the spaces
are free to use,
which encouraged
people to enjoy,
engage and share so
they become spaces for
everyone.
But, he said management and
maintenance of those areas, whether
soft or hard spaces, was a challenge.
Miley, of Exterior Architecture, said:
“The trees that we currently have are
great in the city centre, such as the ones
in St Peter’s Square. But I agree
management and maintenance are
absolutely where Manchester could be
better in terms of creating improved
public realm.
“We need to do more in makingpeople feel secure in public spaces in
Manchester, and that’s a difficult area,
but we need to get better at that.”
Thompson, from City of Trees, added:
“I love what’s happening in Manchester
with the mix of the old heritage
buildings and the new developments
really exciting, it’s attracting people and
evolving.
“We need green to complement that
because that’s what makes a city feel
really vibrant and buzzing, and gives it
that boho feel, the kind of thing that
people go to New York for. There are
pockets of it coming through, but more
green is needed in this city as a whole.”
Asked by Thame how we can create
spaces that people want to use, Lister
said safety was key, as well as making
spaces flexible.
“We shouldn’t be too prescriptive
about those spaces because they need
to adapt to the way we live today,” he
said.
“A lot of our spaces are around events.
If you take a look at MIF (Manchester
International Festival) you can see thechange of those spaces to vibrant event
spaces have been amazing.
“There’s a calendar of events
throughout the year, so it’s important
that all our spaces have that ability to
adapt.
“With the mental health wellbeing
agenda a priority, there’s a focus on
being mentally fit, as well as physically
fit, so the role of our public spaces and
the amount of green we introduce hits
that agenda.”
Thompson agreed. She said: “If you
take a sunny day on the First Street
development, for example. Every bit of
grass verge and green infrastructure is
full of people chatting and socialising
and I think, if you create those spaces,
people will come and use them.”
Copley, of CPRE, said: “There is
evidence to show the health benefits of
people walking to work along green
routes, as opposed to a pavement
alongside a road. Taking time in the day
to spend some time underneath a tree
has positive health benefits.”
Higgins, of Capital & Centric, added:How can
the city
go green?
How can we make Manchester
more green? That was the topic of a
roundtable held recently on a rooftop
garden. Shelina Begum went along
How Kampus will lookWe need green because
that’s what makes a city feel
really vibrant and buzzing
and gives it that boho feelJessica Thompson,
City of Trees