Increasingly Manchester is viewed as the capital of the Northern Powerhouse as the concept gains momentum in transforming the economy of Northern England.
As much as anything else, planning the economy of the north as one major urban area with significant economic centres such as Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Sheffield, Leeds and South Yorkshire, as well as the North East exerts its own influence on growth.
To some extent we will see the investment in infrastructure by Network Rail which is improving capacity in a host of relatively modest ways. Transport is surely the key to growth in the region.
Also vital is that the major cities are equipped with modern office and industrial space, which is surely true of Manchester and Leeds.
Elected mayors, such as Andy Burnham in Manchester, are playing a vital political role, also aiding the rebalancing of the UK away from the south.
The developers are playing a significant role in this as we can see with Peel at Liverpool Waters. Whatever is said about property developers, many of them take the long view such as Peel and Michael Ingall’s Allied London at Spinningfields. Before people starting shouting the words “property speculators” they shoud take a look around some of the new areas that have transformed cities in the north (and elsewhere).