Where IS Manchester City Centre?

[Isaac Newell]

Oldham St has always been part of the City Centre, it was once the main shopping street before the opening of the Arndale Centre, and the area behind it was the city's main wholesale market.

It's decline didn't take it out of the city centre.

And that is why the University district is not part of the city centre. The City centre is already defined.

[kids]

Yeah the University area isn't city centre. Even if it is built up that doesn't = city centre. I wouldn't say that Castlefield is in the city centre too.

[Isaac Newell]

Larger cities don't have a city centre, they have districts. I don't think there are signs pointing to London City Centre, or Centre Ville in Paris.

I do think there are signs saying Central London though, but there is a subtle difference.

[Marksy_1]

Originally Posted by Isaac Newell

Larger cities don't have a city centre, they have districts. I don't think there are signs pointing to London City Centre, or Centre Ville in Paris.

I do think there are signs saying Central London though, but there is a subtle difference.

I Agree with that although London does have an unofficial centre (around the west end).

Manchester Royal infirmary states they are in Central Manchester, so Manchester is going the same way.

[Joydivison82]

I am not sure who wrote that thing about the city centre but GMEX was very much built and open by 1990, it was opened in 1986.

As already pointed out Oldham Street was a major shopping street before it shifted towards Market Street. One of the finest department stores, Afleck and Browns was on Oldham Street, it is now known as Aflecks Palace.

The main difference between Manchester in 1990 and now is that it is just a lot more dense than it was.

[Isaac Newell]

Originally Posted by Marksy_1

I Agree with that although London does have an unofficial centre (around the west end).

Manchester Royal infirmary states they are in Central Manchester, so Manchester is going the same way.

Central Manchester and Manchester City Centre are two different things.

Manchester City Centre is a distinct neighbourhood within Central Manchester.

[Joydivison82]

I think you're thinking too literally, like those that think Stretford isn't apart of Manchester.

[Isaac Newell]

Originally Posted by Joydivison82

I think you're thinking too literally, like those that think Stretford isn't apart of Manchester.

It's nothing to do with municipal boundaries, it's about land use and human activity. Manchester has an already defined city centre, that may grow a little on it's boundaries, but it will not enter distinct districts and subsume their identity

The district around the University will never be seen as part of the city centre, but has and will continue to develop a distinct identity of it's own, next to the city centre, or in between the city centre and the curry mile.

Likewise Castlefield may grow and be a link between the city centre and the Quays.

[WatcherZero]

I would go with the green map, minus Oxford Road Corridor.

As has been suggested large cities, even some large towns have multiple centres. I would argue that Salford Quays was a satellite of the city centre rather than a direct part of it. In more ways than one it is Manchesters Docklands.

[Marksy_1]

Originally Posted by Isaac Newell

Central Manchester and Manchester City Centre are two different things.

Manchester City Centre is a distinct neighbourhood within Central Manchester.

Do you think? I always think of Manchester city centre or central Manchester as distinct districts i.e. Castlefield, Spinningfields, NQ, Deansgate, King street / Business Dist, Arndale/Market st etc....I wouldn't say the city centre is a district as such?

[Isaac Newell]

Apart from Castlefield, I would regard most of those areas as too small to be regarded as distinct districts, and apart from Castlefield, all are in the City Centre.

[VoldemortBlack]

Originally Posted by Isaac Newell

Apart from Castlefield, I would regard most of those areas as too small to be regarded as distinct districts, and apart from Castlefield, all are in the City Centre.

Victoria, Castlefield, Piccadilly, Peter's Fields and the Northern Quarter.

Piccadilly can be broken down into neighbourhoods, such as the Gay Village,

Peter's Fields can be broken down into neighbourhoods like Chinatown & the area around Albert/St Peter's Square & MCCC.

Victoria can be broken down into Angel Meadows/NOMA, the "Millennium Quarter" & Spinningfields (although Spinningfields is expanding and will probably one day harbour its own district which will spill over into Salford)

[Isaac Newell]

They are little more than single streets or pairs of streets. Mostly marketing tools and not districts with any real identity. Districts have centres of their own.

You really need people living there to foster a real identity.

[aek-94]

According to Manchester City Council, this is the City Centre;



Source

[iheartthenew]

and bar the University 'corridor' and a bit of Castlefiled, all neatly within the inner ring road, as M60 said

[heatonparkincakes]

My swing on it is that what constitutes the central zone of Manchester grows and pulsates over time.

I vaguely recall being dragged into Manchester with a petoui smelling uncle to Yanks record shop off Oxford Road in I think 1980. That felt like the edge of the city. The Gmex I think was barren, where the Bridgewater is was I think a car park and a pub, the apartments were empty warehouses. Very much rundown.

Now it feels in the centre.

In time I feel the central zone will run from Mediacity to sports city, but the very centre will remain elusive as ever.

But I guess in our heads Issac is right. The centre of 1851 will be curiously similar to 2051.

[Cherguevara]

It will be interesting to see whether "Central" districts do begin to form around the city centre as Isaac suggests (and I would agree) they have in larger cities*. For instance some of the retail units along Great Ancoats Street are starting to fill up with the local shops and services (newsagents, cafes, bars) that seem more villagey than they are part of an expanding city centre. Similarly there's a lot about Chapel Street in Salford that appears to be developing not as an expansion of the city's core, but as an independent but complementary space. Castlefield already exists semi-detached from town and Chorlton-on-Medlock has a very distinct character as a university district.

* I wonder if it's not larger cities, but denser ones? Amsterdam isn't very large, but has a similar centre of districts.

[chasedwar]

IMO the inner ring road has and will continue to restrict growth of the city centre.
the only parts to succussfully stradle this jugular is the oxford rd corridor - mainly because the mancunian way is elevated and alows the flow of buildings and pedistrians. The other semi sucessful area to spread is Ancoats - because of the listed buildings and the less scary Great Ancoats street.

According to the post codes, the centre of the M1 postcode is the Minshul st Courts. But I would say most people refer to Piccadilly gardens as the defacto 'centre' or possibly the Town hall. The CBD is also a good indicator - especially in land value - thus prime centre.

Traffic consultants and town planners at the request of local councils have a lot to answer for. By restricting cars from practical A - B journeys and blocking most of the city centre and forcing cars onto a ring road has stiffelled growth of the city centre outwards. Today the ring road is being diverted to bring NOMA back into the city.

[heatonparkincakes]

Chased I am glad you have come on here as it is good to get alternative view points, as it can get a bit mono on here at times.

Town planners do have a lot to answer for. But even you have to acknowledge that our love affair with the car comes at a price in it's impact upon how our cities have evolved.

[Cherguevara]

Chased - Why should restricting car movements impede the centre spreading? Surely it's pedestrians who push out the centre rather than cars, since as you point out the areas where the city centre is expanding are those where people can safely walk beyond the ring road.