As MIPIM finally gets underway, it has been interesting to see the opening messages for what looks set to be a landmark year for Manchester investment.
With today's most popular talks at the Manchester at MIPIM stand focusing on the broad themes of investment and strategy, we are still waiting for some detailed insight into the key pillars of Devo Manc, which will determine the city's development for the next year.
In particular, I'm wondering if the major message to come from Manchester at MIPIM this year will be transport? It could be the Second City Crossing or maybe HS2 (again?), perhaps even the perennial Leeds/Manchester debate, as we continue to build the vision for a joined-up north.
Or maybe not. Maybe this year it could be the turn of the unloved bus. Around 70% of Manchester folk use the bus as their public transport choice, which makes it by far the biggest mover of people. It is fair I think to say that bus stations (now the term is transport interchange) have not properly leveraged this major traffic flow.
That's about to change. The £100m Greater Manchester Transport Interchanges Programme will not only see some nice new stations in our town centres, it could also yield opportunities for new town centre living on an unprecedented scale.
Watch out for Transport for Greater Manchester and its new ideas in this space – it's interesting, exciting and has the potential to make a real contribution to the spatial distribution of housing across Greater Manchester. If they can move on to harness it to train stations as well as bus stations – now that would be interesting and a game changer for GM. Something to look forward to.
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