Town meets gown

Hugh Cannings, Brian Lowe and Frank Woods on Manchester city centre's academic revival. Students' choice of a university is often as much influenced by the "feel of the place" as by academic record. They are not alone in their interest in the quality of the campus environment. It is an issue universities address in building estate plans submitted to the Higher Education Funding Council.

Where two or more universities share boundaries and common city features, there is an opportunity to collaborate to improve the perceived ambience. City centre located university estates are, however, rarely completely private; the quality of their public domains is influenced both by city and university development programmes.

Since city authorities are primarily responsible for the environmental quality of the public domain it follows that the collaboration in Manchester is perhaps to date unique in its efforts to develop town and gown co-operation; it has set up a joint working party which recently published a vision for the future and an action programme outlining the first corporate steps towards its achievement.

The emphasis of this study, by architects and urban designers Austin-Smith:Lord, has been to identify policies which address the Manchester higher education precinct as a totality.

The precinct is a vital concentration of service business for the city and the region. It is also important because of both its relative size and impact on the city centre. The working population will grow to the full-time equivalent of 64,000 by the millenium; currently it contributes a third of the working population in the city centre.

The precinct, compactly developed on 300 urban acres, occupies more than per cent of the city centre local plan area. In 1994 the turnover of the main institutions in the precinct was estimated to be some Pounds 525 million, and the economic multiplier effect on other city business is considerable.

The study stresses that the potential of the precinct would be even greater if its collective academic and business strengths were augmented by physical improvements to its setting. The precinct is well located in relation to the regional and city motorways. A large part is within walking distance of Piccadilly, Manchester's main railway station.

There are good rail and road links to the Manchester International Airport a major asset for competing in the global market for education and research.

The present signage of the precinct and its approaches clearly indicate that its importance (as a regional and city destination) is not yet adequately recognised. A comprehensive system of signage is a priority to aid orientation and to "put the precinct on the map".

The public, as opposed to the academic environment of the precinct, is run down and uninspiring. Ironically, proposed improvements to public transport and cyclist access will only add to the visual inconsistency and unattractiveness of one of its main spine roads - Oxford Road. Two key "place making" or "structure" and "place marking" or "character" strategies must be urgently pursued if the ambience of the precinct is to be improved. Firstly through- traffic servicing and access to car parking must be channelled to the perimeter of the precinct.

If traffic can be significantly reduced then the key main and secondary routes can be turned into safer and more attractive environments. These routes can be developed as "Boulevards" and "Avenues of light and green" and be the backbone of a new vision to improve the quality and ambience of the precinct. Increased levels of lighting together with more integrated security provisions will make the precinct easier to police and more attractive.

The "Boulevards of Light" can incorporate new and attractive "gateways" to mark and improve the entrances to the precinct.

Banners, as part of the new street furnishings, will provide opportunities to announce and celebrate events. While the individual institutional foci are well established there is an opportunity to create a new focus, symbolically underlining the idea of the corporate identity of the precinct.

Proximity to the Royal Northern College of Music, one of Britain's premier music academies, means that it could also symbolise the wider role of the precinct as a centre of excellence for the arts. Concerts and other activities could be held there.

The proposed new Federal Business School, to be located in part of the precinct, is one example of the opportunities the precinct offers for joint ventures.

There are other as yet unexplored opportunities which would take advantage of economies of scale in terms of a precinct-wide provision of key services (security, maintenance and management of the public environment).

The Science Park, together with its research activities, is a main focus for developing links with the business world. However, it is out on a limb and neither forms part of the precinct or city structure.

The precinct is not an island. Improving significantly its attributes and image will be complemented by extensive renewal programmes in the city centre and in adjacent neighbourhoods like Hulme. A programme of action has been recommended by Austin- Smith:Lord for implementation over the next three years covering, car parking, precinct signage and lighting, and improvements to the pedestrian network. The total estimated capital cost is in the range of Pounds 10-12 million, to be expended over an area of some 300 acres.

While the institutions individually and collectively hold the key to delivering excellence in academic services, it is the city which can underline its commitment to the precinct by delivering the two essential supporting access and environmental strategies.

Cities that have a university in their boundaries also have at hand a golden opportunity to ensure that the right conditions are created for the university to prosper and thus help stem the tide of urban decay.

Is the creation of a "Precinct Trust" an unrealistic aim, fittingly representing the synergy of Town and Gown in Manchester?

The authors are partners in architects Austin-Smith:Lord.