The cunning plan
The plan for New Islington is beautiful.
The bones of it came from Alsop’s sketch, made with a glass of wine in one hand and a thick felt pen in the other – with Alsop there is no other way...
The plan is a great piece of strategic thinking, it is a great piece of urban design.
It will be one of the most special places to be in the city... we promise.
So, cleaning, greening and giving people choice add up, but unless we create an area where we can live our lives, it doesn’t add up to much.
Living our lives is about the uses we bring into the area. When we started there was one dimension – housing...
We wanted it to be much, much more.
We wanted New Islington to have:
Our ambition was to create the best place in Manchester.
- the best fish and chip shop,
- a greengrocer, a newsagent, a bookies,
- an Indian takeaway,
- a hairdressers, a coffee shop,
- a beautiful laundrette,
- a poncey wine bar, a great pub,
- a caff, a café, a greasy spoon,
- a chic little Italian with red checked tablecloths
- and a restaurant with 3 Michelin stars.
- a new clinic – that’s state of the art, alternative therapists, witch doctors, potions and national health,
- a new primary school that tops the league tables, a fantastic nursery and a wonderful crèche,
- a footie pitch that’s safe to use,
- a farmers market to buy local food.
We wanted New Islington to work like your favourite neighbourhood, but better. We recognised the ingredients of this successful place would take time. The framework plan laid the foundation, and we had some cunning plans about how to deliver.
Our ambition was to create the best place in Manchester. We think we’ve gone an awfully long way to achieving that. We’re not there yet, of course, but we have laid the foundation to achieve what we set out to.
