The Manchester model: The industrial revolution’s ‘shock city’ revives

Brian Groom is a former assistant editor at the Financial Times. He is the author of “Made in Manchester: A People’s History of the City That Shaped the Modern World” and “Northerners: A History, from the Ice Age to the Present Day.”

Once described as the “shock city” of the industrial revolution, Manchester has long prided itself on its continental links. And today, the city is again proving an international test case for how humans can live together in the 21st century.

Despite a recession, pandemic and European war, the economic output, jobs and population of this northern English city have grown strongly this century. Dozens of skyscrapers have sprung up in the previously low-rise city center, earning it nicknames like “Manctopia” or “Manc-hattan.” But while this is a startling turnaround from industrial decline, for some, the pace of change has been disconcerting — particularly its older residents.

Debate now rages about whether the rapidly changing city and its embrace of private sector investment — also known as the “Manchester model” — actually benefits ordinary citizens, many of whom remain poor, or whether it’s become a “neoliberal” playground for property developers and affluent newcomers.

In keeping with its history, today’s Manchester is cosmopolitan, with more than 150 languages spoken there. Created by soldiers from across the Roman empire who arrived at this damp location to build a fort around 79 CE, aiming to control northern Britannia’s tribes, it’s been a notably international place during key periods in history.

For example, those soldiers would likely be surprised to learn that, 17 centuries later, Manchester would be at the center of an industrial revolution, regarded by many as the most transformative period in human history. Factory pioneer Richard Arkwright gave the city its first cotton spinning mill in 1781. And by 1800, there were dozens of such mills, turning Manchester into Cottonopolis, the center of an industry reshaping the world.

Never before had such a global industry been built more than 2,000 miles from its nearest source of raw materials. And these factories created a new urban environment, new ways of working and living, ultimately helping generate sustained economic growth and wealth, as well as inequalities and some dire social conditions. And the population of Manchester roared from below 10,000 in 1700 to 303,000 in 1851.

The factors that aided this transformation included textile skills and commercial expertise that was built up in the pre-industrial era, when cloth was spun and woven at home. The city  had rivers to provide waterpower and was close to sources of coal for steam engines. And it had no craft guilds and few regulations aimed at keeping newcomers out. So, as the revolution proceeded, most cotton production moved to surrounding towns and Manchester became the hub for marketing, distribution and engineering expertise.

Visitors from abroad flocked to the city, seeing in it a foretaste of the future. It drew in merchants, agents and their families from all over. As French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, who visited in 1835, noted: “From this foul drain the greatest stream of human industry flows out to fertilise the whole world. From this filthy sewer pure gold flows.”

Then, later in the century, there was a wave of working-class immigration from overseas, notably Jewish Eastern Europeans escaping discrimination and pogroms, and Italians escaping rural poverty.

But like many industrial cities, Manchester suffered steep decline in the decades after World War II. “It reminds me of Berlin after the war. Everything was broken and falling down,” said German chanteuse Nico, who came to live in the city in 1981 (though the attraction for her probably had more to do with a reliable supply of heroin). And the city’s resurrection was then hampered by a disastrous 20-year experiment with modernist architecture.

Since then, however, there’s been an impressive rebirth — though recovery is still a work in progress.

First, the city center was successfully redesigned after it was bombed by the Irish Republican Army in 1996. And following revival projects have involved prestige projects focused on leisure, culture and lifestyle — a path also followed by other cities like Barcelona and Bilbao. Manchester’s music scene, boasting influential bands such as Joy Division, Oasis and Stone Roses, played an important part in this. And the city successfully hosted the Commonwealth Games, involving athletes from Britain’s former colonies, in 2002.

Manchester’s music scene boasts influential bands such as Joy Division, Oasis and Stone Roses. | Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Manchester’s population has now grown 30 percent over two decades, reaching 549,000 in 2021, while Greater Manchester’s population went up 14 percent to reach 2.87 million. And according to property data firm Urbinfo, as of August 2022, there were 55 city-center buildings above 20 stories, most of them built since 2000, with 23 under construction. If all those with planning permission are built, there will be 118.

Furthermore, the city’s economic strengths today include financial, legal, business, and digital and creative services, as well as biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, environmental technologies, tourism, global sports brands, media and real estate — making Manchester a key location for foreign-owned companies.

And yet a few years ago, veteran folk singer Mike Harding said Manchester “looks like a city designed by a schizophrenic drunk with attention deficiency disorder.” The city has a history of building big and bold, but it still suffers from significant poverty. According to the U.K. government’s 2019 Indices of Deprivation — based on population-weighted ranks of all the neighborhoods within it — Manchester is still England’s second-most deprived city after Blackpool.

“For the vast majority, the economy simply isn’t good enough,” said council leader Bev Craig in 2023. However, there’s still little sign of Manchester giving up its embrace of property-led development.

The city — and its region — now needs to show it can broaden and deepen this revival. And if it can spread the benefits widely among the majority of its population, Manchester will have earned the world’s admiration.