An Introduction to Manchester, England

Manchester was the world's first industrial city. Starting out as a small village in Northwest England, Manchester prospered and grew as a result of the industrial revolution in the 19^th century. As it grew from a small village to one of the largest industrial cities of it's time, Manchester also became viewed as an example of the types of changes that occurred in a place alongside the growth and development of industry. Manchester experienced first, and to a great intensity, the social, economic, and political transformations that came to characterize the processes of industrialization and modern urbanization.

Just as Manchester was one of the first major industrial cities in the world, it was also one of the first to experience the effects of deindustrialization. Marked by massive unemployment, social inequality, and the disintegration of urban centers, deindustrialization is a process that has come to affect many parts of the world, including the "rust belt" area of the United States. In my research, I have concentrated on what some of Manchester's civic and government strategies have been in an effort to reposition the city in an international world and in a post - industrial era.