ABSTRACT
Town centres play a multi-purpose role in that as well as serving economic func-
tions they are also an important source of civic pride and identity. Promoting the
quality of the urban fabric is a central feature of government guidance relating to
the integrated management of urban areas. This is advocated for its contribution
to sustainable development concerns; in enhancing attractiveness for business
and investment; in reinforcing civic pride and sense of place; and in creating safer
city centres. In the previous chapter we discussed the extent to which Manchester
city centre had been able to meet a multiplicity of challenges through extending
and diversifying its economic base and in enhancing its commercial vitality.
However, equally important in increasing the centre’s competitiveness has been
the improvement to its urban fabric. The current chapter attempts to review prog-
ress in this field by appraising those elements of the renewal programme that
have done most to contribute to the city centre’s current vibrancy. Initially
concerned with the core’s existing morphology, it considers the centrality of
design aspirations to the renewal programme, and the balancing of this with
commercial realism. It then proceeds to consider the reconfiguration of the core’s
commercial footprint through block remodelling, before appraising design-led
instruments for realising individual projects.
