Greater Manchester is one of the key metropolitan counties in England, which has always been a popular area among UK citizens. Places for Everyone is a new masterplan for the development of Greater Manchester, which sets out the vision for nine boroughs, including Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Salford, and Wigan, until 2037 (“Places for Everyone,” 2021). Places for Everyone is the successor of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, the work on which started in 2014 (“Places for Everyone: Greater Manchester,” 2021). While the plan has not yet been implemented, it has been approved for publication by the nine districts in 2021 and presents a relevant case for analysis. The plane itself concerns not only the spatial development of Greater Manchester but also the economic growth of the region, which includes the creation of new jobs. Thus, it becomes interesting to conduct a plan review of the Places for Everyone report to assess it from different perspectives.
The Evidence Used to Inform the Plan
Every plan must rely on a solid foundation of reliable data consisting of different sources and forms of research. An evidence-based approach is at the core of modern spatial planning, and it implies collecting as much relevant socio-demographic and economic data about the project’s area (Haughton & Allmendinger, 2018). The final Places for Everyone document contains more than 100 references pertaining to various sources of information, which was used to strengthen the report and the entire project. One of the key plan metrics was the information of the Office for National Statistics on the population estimates for Greater Manchester, which demonstrated an increase of 200 thousand people over the past decade (“Places for Everyone: Joint development plan,” 2021). Additionally, the report utilised information about socio-economic measures for Greater Manchester, including levels of economic activity, qualifications, occupation, household incomes, house prices, which was also produced by the Office for National Statistics (“Places for Everyone: Joint development plan,” 2021). Essentially, the report used data from reliable sources such as government agencies in order to enhance the research.
At the same time, the report did not mention any information about any surveys conducted as part of the research for the project. Surveys constitute an important element of spatial planning projects since they allow to gain an insight into the perspectives and opinions of the people on the prospective plan (Choudhary, 2017). Additionally, the project utilises information from other spatial reports adopted by the districts of Greater Manchester in order to ensure that it corresponds to the already established targets. For instance, the report informs its sustainability section based on the Greater Manchester Spatial Energy Plan (“Places for Everyone: Joint development plan,” 2021). Thus, Places for Everyone can be considered a well-researched initiative which relies on relevant, different, and accurate sources of information.
The Future Trends
The Places for Everyone report takes into consideration the future trends and presents scenarios on how the project will develop depending on certain factors. For instance, the report contains information offered by the Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review on the potential of the North region of England to generate additional growth in the case of undergoing a transformation (“The northern powerhouse,” 2016). Based on such information, the authors of Places for Everyone state that the new spatial plan for Greater Manchester can actually contribute to the transformation and subsequent achievement of better economic performance. Additionally, the report analyses a scenario involving the lack of control over the existing growth of Greater Manchester. The authors come to a conclusion that the unchecked development of the area will lead to greater disparities between the North and South of the region since the majority of economic activity will take place in the South (“Places for Everyone: Joint development plan,” 2021). Essentially, by assessing such a scenario, the authors of the initiative seek to highlight the importance of the new spatial plan for the area, which will be able to fix the existing problems.
The report also analyses the potential trends concerning sustainability and the efforts to achieve carbon neutrality in the area of Greater Manchester by 2038. In order to reach the carbon neutrality targets, the plan offers its energy hierarchy approach. At the same time, according to the report, in a situation when the approach does not yield the expected results, the carbon saving programmes will need to be introduced to offset the remaining carbon emissions (“Places for Everyone: Joint development plan,” 2021). Thus, the plan has an alternative way of meeting all of the sustainability goals in the case of an unfavourable scenario.
The Type of Analysis and Synthesis Techniques Used to Distil Key Findings
The report document itself does not contain any demonstration of analysis and synthesis techniques, yet the supporting papers do. For instance, Multiple Criteria Analysis was used by the authors of the initiative in order to conduct a site selection procedure and determine which areas will be used as part of the Places for Everyone development plan. According to the Site Selection Background Paper, the places were chosen based on six criteria, including choosing the land which has been previously developed and one which can maximise existing economic opportunities (“Site selection,” 2021). The six criteria allowed the authors of the plan to identify the areas with the most potential and choose them to be subject to development as part of Places for Everyone.
The research behind the report also relied on other analysis techniques, which are particularly intended for spatial development plans. For instance, the Three Dragons toolkit was one of the main tools utilised by the authors of the report. The Three Dragons toolkit constitutes an Excel-based model for assessing the economic viability of different spatial development initiatives (Bowie, 2017). The toolkit was used as part of the Places for Everyone research in order to calculate residual values of a set of development typologies, which ranged from 1 to 1000 dwellings (“Strategic viability,” 2020). Thus, the authors were able to assess the viability of the plan and some of the projects which it includes. Local Housing Need (LHN) is another analysis methodology which was used in the report in order to assess the minimum number of homes needed in a given area (“Greater Manchester,” 2021). Basically, the report research included a variety of assessments using different techniques of analysis and synthesis.
The Key Components of the Plan’s Strategy
As mentioned above, Places for Everyone does not focus only on spatial aspects and addresses other factors of Greater Manchester’s growth. There are nine key components: Inclusive Growth, Spatial Strategy, Core Growth Area, Inner Area Regeneration, Boosting Northern Competitiveness, Sustaining Southern Competitiveness, Main Town Centres, Strategic Green Infrastructure, A Sustainable and Integrated Transport Network (“Places for Everyone: Joint development plan,” 2021). Each of the components has a set of underlying objectives and targets which the plan seeks to meet successfully. For instance, the Inclusive Growth component implies addressing disparities by resolving the problem with the uneven pattern of growth across the Greater Manchester region. Additionally, the component involves ensuring efficient use of land resources, for example, by reusing previously-developed land. In a similar way, the Boosting Northern Competitiveness includes a comprehensive account of the activities which will be undertaken in order to make the Northern part of Greater Manchester more developed. Here, the North-East Growth Corridor is the primary initiative which will be used to transform the North of the region.
Thus, the strategy presented in the Places for Everyone report is clearly explained to the reader and covers all of the essential aspects of the development. In other words, the strategy is conveyed in a way which is easy to understand and analyse. Moreover, in addition to the main components of the strategy, the report features strategic objectives such as meeting the housing need which corresponds to them. Overall, the strategy of the report achieves its goal of informing the reader about the key aspects of the Places for Everyone initiative.
Implementation, Monitoring and Review of the Plan
The plan has a clear implementation strategy which stipulates the way how different components of the initiative will operate. First of all, the plan implies working in partnership with different organisations and agencies, including the Environment Agency and Highways England. The implementation also involves the creation of Mayoral Development Corporations and assistance in the preparation of local plans and planning documents to deliver support for site and area-specific projects. The plan describes that the investment in energy and water infrastructure will be funded by providers through user charges. The implementation will also rely on the use of tariff-based systems, including the Community Infrastructure Levy, as well as Government grants. Thus, the plan contains information about the implementation of the key strategic projects, as well as sources of their funding.
There are also monitoring and review sections in the report, which constitute important elements for all spatial development initiatives. Monitoring mechanisms increase the likelihood of successful implementation of plans and help to ensure that all stakeholders are able to collaborate (Hall & Tewdwr-Jones, 2019). The authors of the report state that monitoring will be necessary to assess performance and whether the plan can achieve its strategic objectives. The monitoring process contains KPI targets such as significant growth in employment and housing in the Core Growth Area, which enable the plan authors to track the implementation process (“Places for Everyone: Joint development plan,” 2021). As for the review of the plan, it was approved by all nine districts of Greater Manchester participating in the initiative. Therefore, it is possible to say that the plan was thoroughly reviewed by several committees, all of which agreed upon its high quality.
Approach to Community Involvement
Community is the key element in every spatial development plan, and Places for Everyone focuses on local stakeholders in every aspect of its strategy. Every spatial development plan must take into consideration the values of the local residents and facilitate cooperation of the community with councils (Stein, 2017). The Places for Everyone plan stipulates that consultation with the local community and different stakeholders are always necessary for matters concerning the development of certain sites. At the same time, apart from consultations, the authors of the plan expect the community members to participate in the Places for Everyone initiative by contributing to the economic growth of the region. For instance, the plan states that by creating new businesses and jobs, local residents will promote the economic development of Greater Manchester. The plan will incorporate community led building projects which will be built in order to meet the needs of the residents and thus ensure their participation in the initiative.
Apart from the residents, there are other stakeholders who will engage in the participation in Places for Everyone. For instance, the plan describes the intention to establish cooperation with local developers in order to build high-quality urban green spaces, as well as facilities for sports activities (“Places for Everyone: Joint development plan,” 2021). Such spaces will be used by the residents to grow crops and foster new relations with neighbours, and do physical exercise to stay healthy and fit. The Places for Everyone joint committee offered its recommendation on the community engagement during the plan review stage and encouraged residents to get familiar with the publication and share their perspectives using the Internet (“Places for everyone joint committee,” 2021). Thus, the plan will ensure the highest standards of community engagement during every step of the initiative implementation.
Strategic Environmental Appraisal and other forms of Impact Assessment
The plan also involved prior research in terms of Strategic Environmental Appraisal and Health Impact Assessment which are published in a separate document. Strategic Environmental Appraisal has demonstrated that the area of Greater Manchester was expected to have more severe heatwaves and drier and hotter summers (“Integrated assessment,” 2021). In such a situation, it becomes particularly important to reinforce the commitment to carbon neutrality. According to the assessment, the promotion of low carbon goods and services across Greater Manchester will contribute to emissions reductions (“Integrated assessment,” 2021). The assessment also analysed the biodiversity of the region and found that there were a wide variety of habitats, species of wildlife and designated sites in the area which require protection and enhancement. The findings of the Strategic Environmental Appraisal enabled the authors of the report to incorporate them in their initiative and informed Places for Everyone.
At the same time, the Health Impact Assessment was also conducted as part of the initiative in order to assess the health issues in Greater Manchester. The research discovered that despite the fact that life expectancy and infant mortality have been improving steadily over the past years in Greater Manchester, they are lower than the national average (“Integrated assessment,” 2021). Thus, efforts are needed to address the existing issues and ensure better health outcomes for the population. The assessment authors note that improved education, including the adult one, can fix lifestyle issues, such as obesity, smoking, drug misuse among Greater Manchester residents. The Health Impact Assessment made a considerable contribution to the plan by providing an insight into the health situation in the area.
Overall Assessment of the Plan Preparation Process
The plan preparation process for the Places for Everyone initiative can be considered excellent because it meets all of the requirements. The Plan Preparation Process constitutes an important step in the spatial development plan since it incorporates different areas of expertise and therefore needs to be comprehensive (Morphet, 2018). The Places for Everyone report relies on thorough research performed across different domains, which informs the decision and proposals of the authors of the initiative. Most importantly, the report clearly outlines the strategy, describing in detail every component, as well as establishing objectives. There is also a formal monitoring framework which enables the authors of the plan, as well as other stakeholders, to ensure that all of the targets set as part of the initiative are met.
The plan can be considered of exemplary quality because it does not only provide an account of the spatial changes which will take place in Greater Manchester but also stipulates economic-growth initiatives. Essentially, the plan functions as a guidebook on how to improve both spatial and economic development of region simultaneously and achieve proper inclusion. Finally, the report addresses the factors of sustainability and community involvement which further promote comprehensive development of the area which take into consideration the interests of residents and other stakeholders.
Conclusion
The Places for Everyone plan is a long-term spatial development project developed specifically for the Greater Manchester area, and namely, nine of its districts. The report relies on a diverse range of evidence, which mainly belongs to government agencies such as the Office for National Statistics of the United Kingdom. The research incorporates different future scenarios and trends which can potentially affect both the Greater Manchester area and the implementation of the initiative. The research employs different analysis and synthesis techniques, including the Multiple Criteria Analysis and the Three Dragons toolkit. The plan provides an exhaustive account of all the strategy components, as well as presents strategic objectives and targets. The plan also offers a comprehensive overview of the implementation process and monitoring procedures, which involve clear KPIs and performance targets. The Places for Everyone takes into consideration the needs of the local residents, and during the review stage, community members could participate in the discussion of the project. Places for Everyone has been subjected to Strategic Environmental Appraisal and presents a solid spatial development plan of high quality.
Reference List
Bowie, D. (2017) ‘The mayor’s new approach to affordable housing’, Planning in London, 100, pp. 45–46.
Choudhary, R. (2017) Humane approach to urban planning. Copal Publishing Group.
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Hall, P. & Tewdwr-Jones, M. (2019) Urban and regional planning. Routledge.
Haughton, G., & Allmendinger, P. (2018) Spatial planning and the new localism. Routledge.
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Places for Everyone: Greater Manchester consulted over new homes plan (2021) Web.
Places for Everyone: Joint development plan document (2021) Web.
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Stein, L. (2017) Comparative urban land use planning: best practice. Sydney University Press.
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The northern powerhouse independent economic review (2016) Web.