ABSTRACT

This chapter explores grassroots opposition to the enclosure of Library Walk in Manchester, UK. Community action transformed an everyday path into a space of imagination and conduit for wider debates around heritage, consultation, and public space. Most significantly here Library Walk illustrates how municipal placemaking strategies may fail to appreciate how emotionally and viscerally attached citizens can be to their built environment. Library Walk was described by the leader of Manchester Council as ‘Just the space left between two buildings’ but to many it was a place of beauty, escape, and deep personal resonance. The discrepancy between the corporate agenda and lived experiences of those who treasured the space resulted in a protracted conflict. This work gives voice to campaigners, offering an autoethnographic account of community placemaking. It shares lessons learnt by ‘The Friends of Library Walk’ and asks why this place became so significant. Library Walk embodied campaigners’ sense of belonging in the contemporary cityscape, so there was anger and disconnection when that connection was threatened. The case study reveals hidden power dynamics, issues of land ownership, and fissures between planning regulations and citizen passion. Library Walk became, to use local dialect for an alleyway, ‘the ginnel that roared.’