The future of Manchester
After taking you a long way away, it’s back to my home city of Manchester and right in the backyard.
I’ve lived in the canalside area of Castlefield for three years now, and have been watching huge changes take place.
A cluster of high rise blocks called Deansgate Square has sprung up and dominates the immediate skyline, overlooking the neighbourhood. One of the towers is now the city’s tallest building. On a clear, sunny day I went out to photograph them and the nearby Axis tower, another new addition.
This is the story of Manchester’s city centre, where several skyscrapers are being constructed and planned in an incredible flurry of prestige developments. ‘Manchattan’ here we come!
Click first image to see gallery
A golden dusk settles on the buildings of Castlefield. Deansgate Square, on the right, was not there when I first arrived. Beetham Tower, on the left, was once the area’s only high rise and Manchester’s tallest building. The cranes are the site of another high rise construction, while out of shot another two towers are quickly taking shape. The skyline is undoubtedly changing.
mikeosbornphoto 
Beautiful to see new skylines develop, and there are places nowadays where it seems that you turn your back and the cityscape has changed again. I particularly like your low key take on it in Edging. Lovely work, Mike. :)
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Thank you Richard :) I do love a skyscraper. Don’t know what I was thinking with Edging and Tight Threesome 🤣😈
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HAHAHA!!!
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Excellent photos, certainly not the Manchester I remember from my pre-school days ;-) I read an article in the Guardian a week or so which contained some negative comments implying some of the building was socially divisive – penthouses for the rich, that kind of thing. What’s your view, the local feeling, on that?
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Thanks as always, Andy! Yes, there’s a sense a lot of these developments are aimed at the prestige market and the city centre is heading in that direction. Probably a lot of overseas investment too. Key workers are likely to end up in the suburbs, just like London.
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