Manchester City Council, England, has begun consultations on regeneration of a former industrial inner city area in the city’s east side. The regeneration of Holt Town, an 18th Century industrial district, will include the use of smart city technologies including traffic management, waste collection, neighbourhood management, health and social care and digital public services.

The council envisages creating a new town within the city. It plans developing 74 acres (30ha) of underused, brownfield land in Holt Town, a formerly industrial area that has the potential to provide thousands of new homes, and new green and commercial spaces.

The regeneration has wider ambitions. Holt Town is bound by the city centre to the west and Sport City and the Manchester United Etihad Campus to the east. The City Council hopes that major investment in this area will create a link between two key economic drivers for Manchester and support the long-term regeneration of Ancoats and New Islington in east Manchester.  

The Council envisages that regeneration of Holt Town will result in:

• Around 4,500 new homes – including affordable housing, with different tenures and housing types to diversify the city’s housing
• 15 acres of new and enhanced public green space – including enhanced and regrown woodland 
• 1km play link for young people to enjoy safe outdoor space all year round 
• New commercial space that could support 1,500 new jobs in the area – as well as new cultural and community spaces 
• A range of low-car principles, including safe walking and cycling routes and new mobility hub. 

“We have big ambitions for Holt Town and it’s not an exaggeration when we say we are creating a new town in our city, transforming an underused part of our city centre to create a new community, thousands of new homes, new commercial space and new jobs – all within a sustainable, green and safe neighbourhood,” Gavin White said, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development.