Transition City Manchester 2.10.07

Manchester a Transition City ? Many at the evening I spoke at a few nights ago were not so sure. They can list the discussions and plans for socialist Manchester that go completely in the wrong direction. This old mill town, one of the jewels in the crown of the British industrial age, is rapidly undergoing the sorts of changes that are happening the world round when heavy industry vacates in the globalised march of capitalism, our system, the industrial growth society whatever.

Mill buildings such as these, in the city centre, that have been derelict for decades are now being turned into city centre flats and office buildings. Cranes and building works are happening all over the city such as these and transforming Manchester into a ‘ knowledge economy ' , whatever that means. There are apparently more students per sq mile in Manchester than anywhere else on the planet.

I spoke at the Zion centre, Stretford Road , Hulme, a fantastic old Town hall/ Church (I was given differing explanations of its pedigree). Hulme itself is one of the small towns that have lost their identity and any sense of place and been gobbled up into what is now greater Manchester ; a pattern we are seeing in the several transition cities that are in formation (Nottingham, Bristol , and London ). It ' s a pattern that I am sure most will recognise in our world ' s the large cities. Because a Transition Town thrives on knowing your neighbours, and connection with place, the cities that are transitioning are creating a hub that is the city and most of the work that makes sense to do at a local level, taking part at that local level.

So I expect a T. City Manchester to emerge at some point and the smaller neighbourhoods, like Hulme to be where most of the transition initiative takes place.

I stayed with Tim Hunt whom I met at the Climate Change Camp at Heathrow airport this summer. His house is pleasant 2 up 2 down city centre house, surrounding a central square in the middle. This square could be a marvellous garden and could provide much of the inhabitants ' food, but it is in fact a huge, ugly, and sterile car park. Just another example of how we have acquiesced in the expropriation of our valuable cityscape by the car. Surely this isn ' t right?

We had a very interesting evening, and the audience was made up of people who were mostly involved and trying to build part of the solution. The quality of questions told me that this was a place that is doing something and that something like a transition city was waiting to happen, if only they can find the right place to intervene and capture the imagination and inspire their fellow Mancunions into action. How to make that tenuous and hard to see connection between the malcontent and widespread dissatisfaction that many are feeling and have felt for so long, but without the seeming possibility of doing something about it. I held out the tantalising possibility that something new was about to happen, as evidenced by the ‘meta’ geological, social, and political forces that are facing us.
I am of course talking about Peak oil and our increasingly carbon constrained world for starters. This will certainly drive the process, but to have a chance of success you have to create a vision and a structure to hold the very human aspirations of freedom and creativity, and love and a wish to leave a decent world for our children and grand children to live in.
My sense is my friends in Hulme are ready and indeed they might well act as a catalyst for the whole of Manchester to undertake this transformation for the world that is happening, and happening as fast that it is taking us by surprise. They have called themselves, HIT, Hulme in Transition.
As soon as you can see and understand the forces that are shaping our world, you will understand the need for creating a sustainable town or city, and that is simply what we in the Transition Towns movement are up to. As usual with any act of creation, and to work on a city wide scale is indeed a daunting task, the agents of this creative process are filled with doubts and a wondering what exactly they are up against and will it ever be made to work.

. I have a feeling that this is going to happen in a big way in Manchester . From what I have seen of the friends and people who turned up the other night, I can truly say that is happening in Manchester . We turfed up to Kim by the Sea bar for a quick drink after the event and was treated to the coolest peak oil tee shirt I have yet seen!

Something Tim mentioned the next morning was I think of interest. I noticed a book on his shelf written by Joseph Stiglitz, ‘ Globalism and Its Discontents ' . As I leafed through the book I noticed that Mr Stiglitz has received a Nobel prize for his work and he was also felt that globalisation though problematic in some respects had many benefits. Joseph Stiglitz is head of one of the departments at Manchester Uni. I suggested a high profile debate between the Transition Movement and him on the likely future of globalisation vs re-localisation. It would make an interesting and high profile evening. It ' s the sort of debate the Oxford Union puts on, and I for one would find it hugely enjoyable to take part in. Transition City Manchester is an idea who time has come. Good luck and bon voyage!

Naresh 2.10.07