A New Community

The Redevelopment of Hulme

City Planning Department Manchester

A New Community The Redevelopment of Hulme

This report has been digitised by Martin Dodge from

the Department of Geography, University of

Manchester. The digitisation was supported by the

Manchester Statistical Society’s Campion Fund.

The copy of the report digitised kindly provided by

David Kaiserman.

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Manchester City Council.

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NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. 6 August 2014.

View of the City showing part of the Hulme Redevelopment Area in the foreground

J .S. Millar, B. Arch., . M.T.P. l.,A.R.l.B.A.,

City Planning Officer, Town Hall, Manchester.

Page 2 2 3 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 8 9 9

10 10

Back Cover

Contents Foreword Introduction First Priority A New Community Development Plan + Highway Network Town Design Principles Pedestrian Vehicular Separation Pedestrian Movement Scale+ Detailed Design Landscaping Local Road Systems District Centre Progress Report Conclusion Appendix Acknowledgments

2

Foreword

Manchester stands on the threshold of exciting times, and we its citizens, are witnessing the rebirth of a City as the rows of sub-standard housing are swept away. The decision of the City Council to accelerate the clearance of obsolete slum dwellings over large densely populated areas of the City presents a unique opportunity to create entirely new communities on the most modern lines and to provide surroundings in step with the 20th Century, a new environment which will fulfil the conditions for fuller and happier lives for the people of Manchester.

Apart from Cities like Hiroshima, Rotterdam, or Warsaw, where whole areas were devastated by war, there can be few parallels with the scale of the deliberate planned clearance now taking place over great tracts of this City. Already hundreds of acres of Hulme have been cleared and the first buildings are beginning to appear out of the dusty brick-fields, the remains of the once familiar fabric of the Hulme district of Manchester.

The rebuilding of Hulme is the first major comprehensive project to be con­ceived within the framework of an overall town design, as part of the broad strategy of urban renewal. The experience gained will be of great assistance in tackling the many other districts of the City where a compre ­hensive approach is needed if tomorrow's Manchester is to become more than just a series of vast housing estates.

We are concerned that the new areas of the City shall not only function efficiently and be pleasant places in which to live, but that each one shall exhibit the qualities of individuality and humanity that can best be summed up in the word 'character' .

This publication describes the broad proposals which have been drawn up for the new Hulme, which it is hoped will provide the framework within which a new community will arise from the old.

Cha irman of the Town Planning and Buildings Committee

Introduction

Five million people live within 10 miles of Manchester's Town Hall; an area still marked by the effects of the first Industrial Revolution with a formi­dable and immensely complex problem of urban regeneration, particularly in the sphere of rehousing millions of men and women at present living in old and sub-standard dwellings.

In 1955 there were about 128 thousand unfit dwellings in and around Manchester alone - 153 of the unfit houses in England and Wales: rather more than half these - 68 thousand -were actually within the boundaries of the City.

Faced with a social and physical problem of such challenging proportions, the City Council declared the clearing of the slums its firs t priority and embarked on an accelerated slum clearance programme, a imed initially at demolishing 7, 500 slums in five years.

In 1960, however, the rate ·of clearance was stepped up considerably, so that by December, 1964, when clear­ance was proceeding at 4,000 dwellings per year, 22, 000 unfit dwellings had been demolished and a further 16, 000 had been represented for clearance. Representation of unfit dwellings for demolition is now continuing at a minimum rate of 5, 000 houses a year so that all the remaining unfit dwellings in the City should have been represented by 1971. The present rate of representation and slum clearance is on a scale that compares favourably with any other city in the country.

Within a decade Manchester hopes to have demolished all its existing slum dwellings and to have replaced them by modern dwellings within new communities . To rebuild within the old City and provide the necessary community facilities · schools, playing fields, open space, hospitals and the major roads which are needed, demands that the best possible use is made of available land; to rebuild to modern s tandards means in practice that rather less than half of the existing population will be rehoused within the areas now being redeveloped and the families which make up the balance must be rehoused outside the City' s boundaries.

3 First Priority The principal ar eas of outworn

dwellings and unfit property form a collar around the centre of the City; the areas to be rebuilt over the next few years cover a thousand acres . In view of the wide -spread character of this urban decay, there is an unparalleled opportunity to redevelop comprehensively instead of rebuilding isolated areas in a piecemeal fashion on the old street pattern. This new approach to urban renewal means the creation of new communities which will have a full range of social facilities and

a totally new urban environment to match 4 rising living standards and the need to improve the quality of urban life.

Within the context of a City-wide strategy of urban renewal and the formulation of proposals for land re­clamation, open space and transport, comprehensive redevelopment proposals are now being drawn up for four major areas of the City. The first of these is Hulme, extending over 350 acres and large areas of which have already been cleared. The other three areas of comparable size are : -

ii) The Beswick/Bradford area to the east of the City Centre.

iii) Longsight to the south. iv) Harpurhey to the north-east.

It should be emphasised that these four areas do not represent the whole of Manchester's slum clearance problem. Eventually it is hoped that much more of the inner core of Manchester will be redeveloped within the framework of an imaginatively conceived and carefully worked out overall design strategy.

This is the background against which the broad proposals for the new Hulme may be conveniently described .

A New Community

Over half of the old Hulme has al -ready disappeared to make way for the tower cranes, the builder's huts, and the new buildings which will bring to life the blue-print for the new Hulme.

The old Hulme was a grim, desert of brick and tarmac with inadequate standards of living space and household facilities and without a tree or a leaf over hundreds of acres. And yet, apart from sentiment, some of its former residents remember the sense of identity and neighbourliness which was character -istic of the area.

It is located in a generally flat area of the City, less than two miles from its centre, from which it is separated by the valley of the River Medlock, The site now being redeveloped is bounded on the east by Higher Cambridge Street and the Higher Education Precinct, on the north by Mancunian Way (a new east - west primary route now under construction) on the west by the Borough of Stretford

Lower Kersal

and Chorlton Road, and to the south by Moss Lane West, Moss Lane East, Denmark Road and Burlington Street.

Immediately to the south and west both in Manchester and Stretford are extensive residential areas which are unlikely to be redeveloped for a con­siderable period of time, including parts of Whalley Range and Alexandra Park; the Hulme redevelopment will not be self­contained, and will provide a new community within this wider Moss Side District.

The population of Hulme before clearance was about 28, 000 and the ultimate population will be about 15, 000; the ultimate population of the Moss Side District will be between 50, 000 and 60, 000. This population is comparable to a small new town in size, and the proposals provide for a District Centre with a full range of shopping and community facilities which will be built as part of the immediate redevelopment programme; subsidiary centres on a much smaller scale will be sited appropriately within the residential areas.

5

city

Development Plan + Highway Network

The redevelopment proposals for Hulme are in accordance with the City's Development Plan and this made it necessary to provide for the relocation of existing industry and commercial premises affected by redevelopment. In the 19th Century industrial and commercial premises were interspersed with houses in an unplanned and haphazard way. To have attempted to rebuild the new housing areas amid pockets of old industrial and commercial development would not only have been most unpleasant from a visual point of view, but the con­flicting activities, particularly as regards traffic and servicing, would have made a satisfactory layout im­possible. The proposals are broadly in accordance with standards la id down in the Development Plan; the average net accommodation density of 90 habitable

Planning Principles

Key F I pedestrian ways

lftJ1 high density housing

k·-·J city boundary

b~·11=0i distributor roads

f;;-:·\:J public open space

l\\\\\'j neighbourhood centre

sca le of feet 0 So<> 1000 1 soo 2000

rooms per acre is the basis upon which the detailed proposals have been w:>rked out. The affect of this policy is two-fold:-

i) This density allows for the pr ovision of a variety of dwelling types of differing sizes which relate to the family composition of the future population and also makes it possible for families with children to be generally accommodated in dwellings with either direct access to gardens or ground level.

ii) It is possible to provide one garage or car space for each dwelling unit together with parking to meet the requirements of visitors without detriment to the amenities of the areas.

The Hulme proposals have been drawn up within the context of the proposed primary highway network for the City . The ultimate aim is to achieve maximum segregation of people and traffic and to create an environment that will not be disrupted by the presence of through traffic.

Town Design Principles

The town design for Hulme is not intended as a detailed housing layout; but rather a way of indicating the broad strategy to be following in drawing up detailed layouts and grouping of buildings; above all, the planning brief suggests the scale of the various component parts of the future Hulme.

Pedestrian-Vehicular Separation

The central principle of separating pedestrian and vehicular traffic is adopted throughout, and this more than any other single factor determines the broad disposition of elements .

6 Following on from this, three detailed, but none the less ~ndamental decisions have played a major part in determiningthe overall design framework.

i) Perhaps the most important of these was to plan for the ultimate closing to vehicular traffic, of Stretford Road which runs east-west, linking St. George's and City Road Redevelopment Areas on the west with the Higher Education Precinct to the east of Higher Cambridge Street. Stretford Road is planned to become instead a major pedestrian way which would cross a similar pedestrian way running north to south, linking the City Centre to the north of Mancunian Way, with the proposed District Centre to the south.

ii) The second was to dispose the various schools that are to be built so that pedestrian access in all cases is related to the pedestrian system as a whole avoiding as far a s possible the need for children as well as adults to cross e ven a secondary road.

iii) The third decision was to group as far as possible community and shopping facilities, public houses, old peoples homes, clubs, churches, at nodal points along the primary pedestrian ways; the more people use the pedestrian ways, to reach shops and community buildings, the more important and s ignificant they become and the greater the need for directness and accessibility.

An important corollary is the intention to locate the higher residential densities along the major pedestrian ways and in relation to main community and transport facilities, and in this way to ensure that these areas become the nerve centre of the new community both by day and by night.

HULME COMPREHENSIVE REDEVELOPMENT AREA

Town Design Brief

Pedestrian Movement

The Hulme Library designed by the City Architect for the Libraries Committee is now nearing completion and is sited on Stretford Road at the crossing point of the two principle pedestrian ways. It is envisaged that buildings of suitable scale, around a central paved and planted square would mark this focal point of pedestrian movement; similarly there would be an adjacent local grouping of shops and public buildings, including some which will remain, and the general scale of development in this part of Stretford Road will emphasise its social importance in the overall pattern of redevelopment.

From north to south the pedestrian system will Link St. George's Primary School, St. Wilfred's Church and Roman Catholic School, Mulberry Street Primary School, the South Hulme Secondary School and on towards the District Centre. Similarly, from east to west it will be possible to walk along pedestrian ways linking Cornbrook Primary School through an enlarged St. George's Park, St. Lawrence's Infant School, crossing Chorlton Road Extension at either low or high level, along the pedestrian way which is the line of Stretford Road through the neighbourhood centres and on through a new public park which will link up with the landscaped parkway adjacent to the proposed Princess Road Extension. The east-west pedestrian way will cross the proposed Pr incess Road Extens ion, and near Cavendish Church there will be a small cluster of shops, public buildings, etc., to form what will be known as the Medlock Centre.

In the area of Hulme between Princess Road Extension and Higher Cambridge Street a further north-south pedestrian way links the Medlock Centre with a similar grouping of shops to the south; Embden Street Primary School, St. Philip's Primary School and St. Ignatius Secondary School are all accessible from this pedestrian way.

Apart from the major pedestrian system described above, there will be important subsidiary pedestrian ways leading directly to the various groups of dwellings. Infant play spaces, hard ball areas and adventure playgrounds would be s ited along these pedestrian ways within sight of the dwellings which they serve. Similarly corner shops may be provided at the junction of minor pedestrian ways to serve the day-to -day and occasional needs of people living near -by. 7

Scale + Design The detailed design of the pedestrian

ways, treatment of paving, changes of level, small scale planting and street furniture, kiosks, and where appropriate direction signs are all important elements in the visual scene and need to be carefully cons idered.

A deliberate attempt has been made to create a framework within which a townscape of varied scale, depending upon the proxim ity of dwell ings to centres of community life may be realised. The new Hulme has been del iberately planned to allow the opportunity for as many people as possible to live near and have direct access to the Centres of community life, the shops.clubs, libraries, public houses etc; the movement of people in their daily life along well -defined routes should encourage social contact and contribute to a sense of community.

Apart from the need to landscape the parkways to the primary roads, the public parks and school playing-fields, the planting of a large number of trees will be essential to soften and afford contrast to the groups of buildings. It is hoped that it will be found possible to plant a number of semi-mature trees initially so that before many years have passed a mature landscape is created.

The local vehicular traffic, private and public. is catered for by a secondary sytem of new loop roads, mainly aligned in north -south and east- west directions and are designed so as to discourage traffic taking a short cut through the area . Wherever the main pedestrian routes meet these roads, they will pass under them by means of easy gradient footpath subways; bus-stops will clearly bear a strong relationship to the footpath system where it meets traffic routes.

The local road system has to cross major roads of urban motorway character; Princess Road Extension, Chorlton Road Extension, Higher Cambridge Street (three principal radials serving the City) and the proposed Inner Ring Road to the south; it is envisaged that the local roads will cross at approximately the existing ground level whilst the primary roads will be either depressed or elevated so that free vehicular access between different parts of Hulme and neighbouring districts is made conveniently and directly. Access from the primary road system to the local secondary system is generally by means of slip- roads feeding into the major junctions where they occur.

-

8

An initial working model of the Hulme Redevelopment Area illustrating broad strategy and planning principles.

Model i II ustrati ng the importance and setting the scale of the proposed Moss Side District Centre

District Centre The planning brief s uggests tha t the

important centres of activity should be marked by a greater scale of buildings and by the character of the treatment of the spaces between buildings. The Moss Side District Centre to the south is planned to be of a scale and c haracter appropria te to the needs of a popula tion approaching tha t of a new town; apart .from the areas to which this r e port r efers, this Centre will al so ser ve a large population to the south and wes t of Hulme . Apart from providing ma jor s hopping facilities, it is al so intended to include swimming baths, public hall, a sports centre, public houses, offices and poss ibly certa in selected dis tributive and s tor age buildings. It i s envisaged that res idential accommodation will form an integral part of the design for the Dis trict Centre so that the area will be alive during the day and in the evenings. The Centre is s ited at a key point adjacent to Princess Road Extension and the line of the proposed Inner Ring Road which runs eas t -wes t through Hulme. The s tudies so far undertaken s uggest tha t the centre will probably need to be a multi-level compl ex with servic ing and car parking a t lower l evels and pedestrian movement above. A feature of the centre will undoubtedly be the pr ovision of very consider able parking fac ilities for the shopper and vi s itor .

Progress Report

The New Hulme Library designed by Mr. S. G. Besant-Roberts, City Architect

In consider ing the progress r eached in impl ementing the proposals described it s hould be borne in m ind tha t some pos twar housing redevelopment designed by the Director of Hous ing, has al r eady been carried out in the St. George 's and Medlock ar eas . These exis t ing dwe llings together with certa in other exis ting buildings s uch as the Hul me I lippodrom e,

9 Loreto College, and a number of churches including the Z ion Congregational Church on Stre tford Road have been incorporated in the proposals.

Work on the diversion of services and the ins tallations of local m ains services, the design of new pedestrian ways, distr ic t, local distributor and ser vice roads has alr eady s tarted and work will continue until the whole of t he area has been rebuilt.

The erection of dwellings and other buildings will follow immediately the roads are completed in each area; the present programme envisages the completion by 1969 of the housing development which has been designed by the Director of Housing. The southern part of the St. Geor ge 's area is also under way . This will be followed by the Rutland Street area; the redevelopment of the Medlock a r ea as far south as Burlington Street will then take place closely followed by the Hulme Neighbour­hood, and finally the District Centre.

Work on the final phase of the St. Ignatius R om an Catholic Secondary School, the new South Hulme Secondary and St . George's Primary School began in 1964; cons truction of the new Mulberry Street and Embden Street Primary School is alr eady in progress .

To the north of the area, work is in progress on Mancunian Way, which forms the northern boundary to the Hulme and Medlock Neighbourhoods, which should be comple ted by the end of 1966 . Work on the Chorlton Road Extens ion to the north of Stretford Road and Princess Road Extens ion is due to comm ence shortly and these roads a r e expected to be in operation shortly after the completion of Mancunian Way; the improvement of Cambridge Street and the construction of the Inner Ring Road will take place some -time after 1972 . Certain multi-storey point blocks designed by the Director of Housing and s trategically s ited in various parts of Hulme have now been compl eted ; they will provide immedia te accommodation to meet the City 's pressing housing needs.

Conclusion The factors which have to be

considered in attempting the r enewal of outworn res identia l ar eas on the scale of Hulme ar e ma ny and complex . Above all the process goes far beyond the confines of any s ingle committee and de partment of the Corpor a tion. The town des ign brief for Hulme is the product

of co -opera Lion and com hined te•lln work, both at dcp<irtmen t •rnd inter -de1x1 rtrn ent level: consultations have tal--en pl<tce (in some cases O\'er a period of years) \\ ith people whose interests <ire affected h\' redevelopment and who'->e needs have tr; he catered for within the new 1 lulmc or elsewhere in the City .

The JormuL1tion or sp~ICL' '->tand<trds, the circulation pattern and tl1e overall town desip1 brief has been prim<1ril y the responsibility of the Planning Department in consultation with many other departments. \1essrs \Vil son an~I . \\omersley, 1\rchitects, <.1re des1gn111g in consultation witl1 the Director o( J lousinO" the neighbourhood sub-centre

~· on l'ithcr side of Stretford Road. The Citv ,\rchitect has designed the Stretiord H.o~;d Librarv as well as many of the ~chools and is responsible for the design of the proposed District Centre. The City Engineer is responsible (or the des16ri1 and construction of the important road proposals in this area and the Director of Parks will be responsible for th2 implementation of landsc<.1ping proposals for the whole of the area .

A great deal of detailed work still remains to be done in carrying out the broad framework described. M<.1ny valuable lessons lrnve been learned and the exper ience gained is now being used to crood effect in formulating a strategy

b •

and proposals for the redevelopment ol further areas of the City . Although the task of removing the physical legacy of the Industrial Revolution is immense, :-.Ianchester is able and determined to accept the challenge .

10 Appendix Schedule of Major Land Use Provisions

St. George ' s Neighbourhood (part of this section lws already been developed) 1\rea 52 acres Population . . . . 2, 000 persons Schools 1 Infant School l Primary School

Open Space St. George's Park .. Children's Play Areas

Main Ancillary Uses

10 .30 acres 0 . 5 acres/ 1000 pop

7 shops ( 4 already provided) ..J. Public I-louses (1 medium, 3 small) l Church

I lulme l\eighbourhood (th is section includes the Stretford Road Neighbourhood Centre)

150 acres Area Population .. Schools

8, 300 persons

3 Pr imary Schools 1 Secondary School

Open Space llulme Park Children's Plny Areas

Main Ancillary Uses 30-40 shops 11 Public houses (10 small, 5 Churches (2 existing) Swimming Pool (teaching) Aged Persons Club Health Clinic Hulme Library 3 Social Clubs G . P. O. Sorting Office

Manchester.

_.

7. 5 acr es 0. 5 acres/ 1000 pop .

l medium)

Medlock Neighbourhood (this section includes the Medlock Neighbourhood Centre and a smaller sub-centre)

Area Population Schools

.. 3 Primary Schools 1 Secondary Schools

Open Space Children's Play Areas

Main Ancillary Uses 17 shops 8 small public houses 5 Churches 1 Aged Persons Home 1 Social Club

Summary

90 acres 4, 700 persons

0. 5 acres/ 1000 pop.

TOTAL AREA 350 acres (This includes major roads etc).

POPULATION . . 28, 000 BEFORE persons approx. REDEVELOPMENT

GROSS . . 80 RESIDENTIAL persons/acre DENSITY (This includes open space, schools, community buildings, roads etc.)

POPULATION AFTER 15, 000 REDEVELOPMENT persons approx.

GROSS . . 43 RESIDENTIAL persons/acre

DENSITY (This includes open space, schools, community buildings, roads etc.)

Designed in the City Planning Dept., & Printed in the Stationery Department,

Town Hall, Manchester, 2., England.

Ack now I edgement s

The redevelopment of large areas of an existing city is essentially a team activity requiring the co -operative team -work, the professional skills and exper -tise of many Corporation Departments, statutory undertakers and other organisations.

In particular the City Planning Officer wishes to acknowledge the help of the Director of Housing, Mr. J .Austen Bent, and his staff who have been very closely associated with the Hulme Redevelopment.

The City Planning Officer also wishes to acknowledge the valuable help given by the following Chief Officers and their staffs : -

The Town Clerk Sir Philip B. Dingle, C.B. E.

The City Architect Mr. S.G. Besant Roberts

The City Engineer and Surveyor Mr. J. Hayes

The City Estates and Valuation Officer Mr . F . Longdon

The Chief Education Officer Mr. J. K. Elliot

The Medical Officer of Health Dr. C. Metcalfe Brown

The Director of Parks Mr. R.C. McMillan, M.B.E.

The General Manager, Transport Dept. Mr. R .P. Bennett

The Chief Welfare Officer Mr . C . A. Hilditch

l