Case Study

Ideopolis: knowledge city-regions - Manchester case study  explores Manchester’s strengths, challenges and opportunities within the framework of the nine Ideopolis drivers. It makes policy recommendations and shows what other cities can learn from Manchester’s experience.

Key findings include:

• Physical knowledge city: Manchester has dramatically redeveloped its city centre offering residential and office accommodation – although interviewees have some concerns that this may be bypassing central deprived communities.
• High skill, high wage organisation: Manchester has a number of job opportunities for highly skilled people but not as many as some other cities. More demand from businesses for knowledge occupations would increase its knowledge intensity and its productivity.
• Vibrant education sector: Manchester has used its higher education institutions to great advantage to provide research, help to generate local employment & secure public sector investment, and work with the business community. Associated challenges the city is dealing with include ensuring the university engages with local communities, managing the impact of students and improving the quality of local schools.
• Leveraging strong connectivity: Manchester Airport has been used very successfully to leverage local growth as well as incentivise more tourism. However, there remain acknowledged challenges around creating a more integrated transport system and addressing congestion.
• Investing in communities: The city is working hard to address the challenges facing inner city communities, although some interviewees expressed concern about too much focus on economic growth and not enough on deprived areas.