How successfully has sustainable
transport been introduced into
the regeneration of Ancoats?
Taimor Alam 16th June 2022
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,Contents
Why I chose this question………………………………………………………………………………………..……………3
Background and Context……………………………………………………………………………………….………………4
Maps of Study Area………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………5
Location of Study & Specification…………………………………………………………………………….……………6
Literature Review……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………7
Aim and Sub Questions…………………………………………………………………………………………..…………….8
Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………10
Risk Assessment……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………21
Data Presentation and Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………….22
i) Land Use Map…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………23
ii) Environmental Quality Survey…………………………………………………………………………………………….25
iii) Pedestrian Count……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………28
iv) Statistical Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………32
v) Traffic count……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….33
vi) Questionnaire…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….36
vii) Census and IMD data………………………………………………………………………………………………………….39
viii) Manchester Traffic Statistics………..…………………………………………………………………………………….41
ix) Instagram Place Activity……………………………………………………………………………………………………..42
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………43
Evaluation……………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………44
Appendices……………………………………………………………………….………………………………………………..48
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………53
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,Why I chose this question
After getting off at the Metrolink stop at New Islington, I arrived in Ancoats and was surprised by how
environmentally aware the newly regenerated region felt compared to the city centre. I noticed a
variety of sustainable schemes being used after only half an hour of walking through the region, as
the massive residential development initiatives by Urban Splash brought a new, rebranded colour to
the industrial suburb. I could see the appeal towards the younger generation that the regeneration
was attempting to provide. From my A level studies, I knew that the success of a regeneration could
be measured by social, economic and environmental factors, the last of which was highly evident from
my own observations. I therefore chose to focus my NEA on one of the aspects of an environmentally
successful urban regeneration scheme. I chose to investigate sustainable transport as I wished to
research further into sustainability, having only a general understanding of it despite knowing how
widely implemented it is into today’s products, businesses and economies.
Sustainable transport is defined as ways of transportation that are sustainable in terms of their social
and environmental impacts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_transport). The overall aim of
sustainability is to allow for the development of society and the economy while equally ensuring that
the environment is not affected by human activity, if so is replenished or compensated for. I will refer
to this aim throughout my NEA to ensure that my overall question is answered. I chose to focus on
sustainable transport as it a developing area of focus, given the significant rise of electric car usage
and the increasing awareness of environmental pollution causing people to want to decrease their
carbon footprint. Transport is a large contributor to most people’s carbon footprint, as the number of
journeys by plane, train and car have drastically increased in recent years.
The Ancoats and New Islington region has undergone drastic changes since the initial regeneration
effort, dating back to 1998, when Ancoats was labelled as a conservation area. Initially, the
regeneration comprised only the conservation of Ancoats, but by 2007 the investment into New
Islington’s greenfield sites produced large, innovative multi-purpose residential, retail, healthcare and
transport facilities within a newly developed New Islington. The surrounding council housing was also
revamped and is in the process of being replaced with more contemporary housing by Urban Splash.
The transport links of Ancoats have also benefitted from the regeneration, as increased access to the
Rochdale Canal, the significant improvement of Great Ancoats Street and the opening of the New
Islington Tram Stop are all beneficiary examples of the greater facilitation of Ancoats and New
Islington for newer, eco-friendly sustainable transport.
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, Background and context
Ancoats originated as a thriving and successful industrial region in 18th century England due to the
sheer concentration of factories, refineries, and resources in this region, which resulted in it being an
extremely populated and busy region of Manchester. As a result, it was also heavily polluted once
the 20th century brought in resource – intensive cars and steam engines required huge amounts of
fossil fuels which, unknown at the time, churned out harmful greenhouse gases at a vast rate. In
Post WW2 England, Ancoats had seen a rapid decline in productivity and popularity due to the end
of the industrial revolution in England. This resulted in the majority of Ancoats’ infrastructure
becoming abandoned, derelict, and unsalvageable, as the area quickly recessed into a spiral of
decline. In the 1990s, Ancoats was rekindled as it was recognised for its heritage and cultural
significance, becoming one of the few remaining industrial remains in England; it received a vast
amount of investment and rebranding to expand the Manchester city centre and market Ancoats as
Manchester’s newest attraction, which was done with extreme success. As of the 21st century
Ancoats is one of Manchester’s most valuable conservation areas, has seen large scale construction
projects centred around its architecture, and the area is branded as multi-purpose, attractive and
culturally significant. This led me to question how successfully modern developments have been
implemented into Ancoats; transport in particular, as given the proximity of Ancoats to the city
centre it would be expected that Manchester’s city centres accessibility and interconnectedness
would branch out towards Ancoats. Furthermore, I wanted to know how sustainability, one of the
governments key goals in the next 25 years, has been incorporated into the regeneration of this
major heritage site.
Figure 1 : Historical image of Ancoats (Source: Ancoats | Manchester
england, Old photos, Salford (pinterest.co.uk))
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