Manchester needs a bigger city centre with more offices to grow like London, report recommends
20.09.2023 - 05:59
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Manchester needs a bigger city centre with more office space, 126,000 more homes around it and better transport links if it is to grow like London, a new report has recommended. The Resolution Foundation has said that, despite perceptions, Greater Manchester is 'still at the foothills' of its economic revival.
The think tank says that Greater Manchester has outperformed every other major city-region bar Glasgow on productivity - a measure of how much money each worker generates in the economy - since 2002, but it is still far below the UK average. The Tale of Two Cities report warns of 'complacency' as the sight of cranes in central Manchester seems to signify success to some.
However, on current trends, the think tank says, it would take almost a century to close the productivity gap with London to a 'reasonable point'. The report looks at what needs to be done to get that gap down from 35 pc to 20 pc.
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It argues that a bigger city centre would attract more 'knowledge-intensive' businesses in sectors like IT and insurance and more highly-skilled workers. It also recommends 126,000 more homes are built in 'well-connected' areas.
Controversially, it calls for more office space to be created in the city centre with new housing to be built around it. The report suggests a 'new approach' - contrary to the current long-held plans for the city-region - with more housebuilding in places like Tameside, Rochdale, Stockport and Bury.
It comes as Greater Manchester's plan to build 165,000 homes by 2037 approaches its final stages before it is signed off after