Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Thread

[1.618034]

Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont

Not sure if anyone else saw that series of programmes on BBC recently with Evan Davies (Mind the Gap - London vs The Rest). In episode 2 they talked about the huge gap between London and the rest of Britain/England and that we're missing our 2nd city, all the others Brum, Mcr are fairly even in size. So basically it would be prudent to create a northern Super-City linking Liverpool, Mcr, Leeds...

This is the intro to the prog but I can't find the full episode...

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1mx0qs_mind-the-gap-london-v-the-rest-episode-2_travel" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1mx0q ... e-2_travel</a>

Very interesting and looking at the investment that ADUG are putting in to Mcr then we may be beginning to see the start of it...?


And then yesterday we got the announcement about HS3...

The plot thickens.


EDIT: A synopsis of the episode is here.. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/cthdxp/mind-the-gap-london-vs-the-rest--series-1---episode-2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/cthdx ... -episode-2</a>

Last time, Evan Davis showed how the agglomeration of talent in London led to a lopsided economy. Here, the rest of the country gets more of a look-in, with visits to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. “We’ve taken our capital, turned it into a global hub, and let that distract from the effort of developing our national hubs,” he remarks.

But how does he think we can close the gap? With a larger, more competitive second city and an affordable, efficient transport infrastructure to encourage regional commuter towns to flourish. Towns like Hebden Bridge, which Evan discovers is now so bourgeois there’s a café specialising in cakes for dogs. Fur trade, presumably.

About this programme

2/2. Evan Davis asks what the rest of Britain can learn from London's success and looks at whether a megacity of the north could be created to rival it. He visits Liverpool, Manchester and Hebden Bridge, and finds evidence a northern metropolis stretching from Merseyside to Leeds is emerging, though investment in transport infrastructure is badly needed.

And a longer piece by Evan Davies

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26472423

Birmingham and Manchester are usually mentioned when the subject of Britain's second city comes up. But is Hebden Bridge - population 4,200 - the rightful owner of the title?

Pretty much everyone in the world knows which is Britain's biggest city, but who can name the second?

It is a trick question, of course. Britain does not have a second city. Instead, it has a first city and a couple of thirds.

The 2011 census figures for Britain's broadly defined built-up areas, ranked by population, show that Greater London comes first with 9.8 million.

That makes it as big as the next six urban areas put together - Greater Manchester (2.5m), the West Midlands (2.4m), West Yorkshire (1.8m), Greater Glasgow and Clyde (1.2m), Liverpool (0.9m) and South Hampshire (0.9m).

Drawing on that list, Manchester and Birmingham offer the best candidates for second city status, but each is still only a quarter of the size of the capital and its sprawling urban area.

Now, if Britain was a typical country, you might expect it to have a second city of about five million, which is twice the size of Greater Manchester or the area around Birmingham.


I say this because it has been observed - very loosely it should be said - that the size distribution of cities within countries tends to follow a pattern in which the biggest city is about twice the size of the second city, three times the size of the third city, four times the size of the fourth and so on.

It is named Zipf's Law after the American linguist George Zipf, who noticed that the frequency distribution of words in many languages followed that pattern.

For the UK, the implication is stark.


It is as though Britain has a great world city but lacks a great national one”

As the eminent economic geographer from the London School of Economics, Henry Overman, puts it: "These kind of arguments imply that the problem with Britain's urban system is not that London is too big. Instead, if anything, it's that our cities are too small."

Our second tier cities in particular.

Having cities that are too small is potentially an economic problem because we know that big cities act as hubs which boost whole regions.

We know that cities are where a disproportionate amount of business gets done. And we know that, typically, bigger cities are more productive than smaller ones.

One World Bank report summarised it thus: "The large and growing academic literature suggests that doubling city size increases productivity by 3% to 8%."

In other words, if you could make Manchester the size of London (by doubling it and doubling it again) you would expect it to be about 6% to 16% richer.


Those who hate Britain's lopsided London-centricity might want to think about the idea of promoting the creation of a far bigger second city - one of several million people, which could serve as a counterweight to the mighty force that is the capital.

Hitherto, one might say that the lack of a proper second city has allowed London to divide and rule the rest of the nation. And the argument is even more powerful now that London has become such an obvious global centre.

It is as though Britain has a great world city but lacks a great national one.

So, if you believe this analysis, which second city offers the most hope for taking on the might of London?

Manchester or Birmingham are usually put forward, and the data suggests there is a logic to those two being on the shortlist.

Most people who have thought carefully about it veer towards Manchester, which has had a faster growing population in the last decade and enjoys more of an international reputation based on its two football teams. (Not to mention the US exposure it has gained from the character Daphne in Frasier).

And, in a GfK opinion poll for the BBC, the city was a clear but not runaway winner. When asked which of six cities they would like to be the UK's capital if it were not London, 31% of people chose Manchester, against 25% for Birmingham. (The list also included Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and Bristol.)


However, there is an interesting alternative suggestion - Hebden Bridge. It is not a suggestion to take literally, but it does make an important point.

Hebden Bridge, nestling in the Pennines between Manchester and Leeds, is certainly one of the most interesting and flourishing towns in the UK. It was once declared the "fourth funkiest town in the world" (whatever that means) and is often said to be the lesbian capital of the UK.


Zipf's Law applied to world cities

Germany

Berlin 3,375,222
Hamburg 1,734,272


Brazil

São Paulo 11,125,243
Rio de Janeiro 6,323,037


Canada

Toronto 5,583,064
Montréal 3,824,221


South Africa

Johannesburg 7,860,7812
Cape Town 3,430,99

Source: National statistics agencies



The suggestion that it is Britain's second city came from resident David Fletcher, who was active in the 80s saving the town's old mills and converting them to modern use.

His point is that Hebden Bridge is an inverted city with a greenbelt centre and suburbs called Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.

His point was that the real second city of the UK is a trans-Pennine strip that extends the relatively short distance across northern England, joining the built-up areas that lie second, fourth and sixth in the UK ranking.

Certainly, Hebden Bridge has attracted a lot of professional couples who are split commuters, one heading towards Manchester and one towards Leeds each morning. It is a place that allows both those cities to be treated as next door.

And maybe therein lies some kind of answer to the critical mass of London. It's not a second city called Hebden Bridge, but a super-city that tries to turn the great cities of northern England into one large travel-to-work area.

It would require a lot of physical infrastructure to improve links between the different centres.

And there would doubtless be rivalry and tension. The fact that Manchester is at its centre may not delight those who enjoy the football rivalries that are well known in that neighbourhood.

But there is no need to combine the teams, or to combine the names.

There would simply be a need to build on the success the bigger cities of Britain have been enjoying in recent years.

 

[jrb]

Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont

MEN update on he story.

Local reaction.

Click on the link for some interesting Gallery pictures of the area.

It's a winner! City's £1bn plan to build 6,000 homes gets the thumbs up from residents

Jun 24, 2014 18:16
By Emily Heward


The first stage of football club-funded project will see 830 homes built in Ancoats and New Islington areas of inner-city Manchester

Ancoats and New Islington are among the areas to be developed

Plans to breathe new life into a once rundown part of inner-city Manchester have been broadly welcomed in the area.

More than 830 new homes are set to be built in Ancoats and New Islington in the first phase of a £1bn regeneration scheme funded by the owners of Manchester City.

Work to transform the city centre fringes began before the recession but stalled as the economic downturn hit.

Now, it is hoped the investment - part of a 10-year deal to build 6,000 homes in east Manchester - will revive efforts to make the area attractive to young professionals.

Matt Check, who lives in the Milliners Wharf apartments in New Islington, said he thought the area had great potential.

The 32-year-old analyst said: “I like it here. It’s got a nice mix of people and it’s really close to the city so it makes commuting easy.

"From what I've seen of the plans it looks quite interesting compared to the industrial history of the neighbourhood.”

Libby McLeod, 28, from Audenshaw, also welcomed the investment.

She said: “I think it will definitely be good for the area. It used to be a bit of a no-go place, but since the regeneration work started and these apartments started to be built it has a much better reputation.”

Mum Libby used to live in the city centre, but said the redevelopment would not tempt her back.

She said: “If there were more parks and things for children, maybe, but at the moment, no.

“It’s perfect for young professionals though.”

Her friend Julie Flynn, 34, also from Audenshaw, said she was glad to see City investing in the communities around the Etihad.

She said: “I’m a mad Blue so I think what they are doing with the area is great.”

But not everyone was so keen on the plans.

Irene Johnson, 71, said she hoped the new homes would be more like the houses built along Ashton Old Road in Beswick than the apartments that have sprung up around her retirement village.

She said: “I don’t like apartments at all. I think they’re too high-density and people are living too close together.

“Some are an eyesore already. They were all brightly painted white when they were built, but they just look old and scruffy to me now.”

She added: “I like the housing along Ashton Old Road. I didn’t at first, so you do change your opinion as time goes on.”

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/city-regeneration-plans-welcomed-new-7319549" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ew-7319549</a>

 

[petrusha]

Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont

Not sure if anyone else saw that series of programmes on BBC recently with Evan Davies (Mind the Gap - London vs The Rest). In episode 2 they talked about the huge gap between London and the rest of Britain/England and that we're missing our 2nd city, all the others Brum, Mcr are fairly even in size. So basically it would be prudent to create a northern Super-City linking Liverpool, Mcr, Leeds...

This is the intro to the prog but I can't find the full episode...

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1mx0qs_mind-the-gap-london-v-the-rest-episode-2_travel" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1mx0q ... e-2_travel</a>

Very interesting and looking at the investment that ADUG are putting in to Mcr then we may be beginning to see the start of it...?


And then yesterday we got the announcement about HS3...

The plot thickens.

I won't quote again the pieces you reproduced. I actually didn't see the Evan Davies programme, but it's something I've felt for a long time.

Within a radius of 50 miles from the centre of London, IIRC you have a population of between 15 million and 16 million people. Around 12 million people, IIRC, live within a 50-mile radius of the centre of Manchester, an area that takes in the whole of the Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire metropolitan areas, all of Lancashire and Cheshire, plus north Staffs (including Stoke and the Potteries), and parts of north Wales and North Yorkshire.

London is a global city and is always going to have everything that goes along with that. But if we can get away from thinking of the big northern cities as rivals and instead regard them as being part of a region with multiple important cities (a bit like the Ruhr in Germany, where there are several big cities), then IMO there's scope for development along the lines Davies describes. Manchester has an advantage over the other cities because it's geographically in the middle, has the biggest airport by far and so on, but it should be a case of all working together for mutual benefit.

And he's right about the investment needed in transport infrastructure. It's an absolute disgrace that in the second decade of the 21st century Manchester and Sheffield aren't even connected by an electrified rail line. Anyway, hopefully ADUG's investment will start to spark developments in the right direction.

 

[jrb]

Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont

Posted on SSC by RMB2007.

[bigimg]http://imageshack.com/a/img843/5116/sw2g.jpg[/bigimg]

 

[-nibz-]

Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont

What's the access like jrb while the work is going on? Can I park a motorbike up somewhere and take some pics? Thinking of nippin up during the week.

 

[jrb]

Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont

What's the access like jrb while the work is going on? Can I park a motorbike up somewhere and take some pics? Thinking of nippin up during the week.

Just park up near the souvenir store and walk back round. 5 minutes. I usually climb up on the concrete mast supports at ground level. That way you can see over the hoardings. I normally park at the back of Mary D's as it's in-between the stadium, the bridge, the mini-stadium, and the training academy.

 

[Chancy Termites]

Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont

Posted on SSC by RMB2007.

[bigimg]http://imageshack.com/a/img843/5116/sw2g.jpg[/bigimg]

Gene Kelly mark 2.

 

[Manchester1894]

Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont

I'd like to give you all the news you have all been waiting for....




































I'm not kidding...





























Forget the CFA.....














Forget ASDA...




















Forget even the Collar site...




















The stand redevelopment has nothing on this one....










NEW GOALPOSTS!!! ;o)

[bigimg]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bq58YtAIUAAWeP3.jpg:large[/bigimg]

David Blanchard
@Pitchworksuk visit @Mcfc #Etihad following supply of #new @HarrodUK #stadium#eurogoals #boxnetsystem

And NEW SEED!!!!
[bigimg]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bq5-ayWIUAAe-9F.jpg:large[/bigimg]

David Blanchard
@Pitchworksuk visit @mcfc #etihadstadium
new seed choice for next season with @QualitySeed #johnsons#premierpitch pic.twitter.com/avt0std9PD

 

[jrb]

Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont

Gone!

model Etihad stadium man city and commonwelth games

£180.

 

[Blue Streak]

Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont

So looking at the pictures posted is the whole of the South Stand Roof coming off?