Greater Manchester is not an island. A number of academic and policy studies have highlighted how cities responses to the challenges of sustainability are shaped by a broader set of national-local and city-city relationships.  Since the new Coalition government in the UK in 2010, relationships between national government and cities have been reshaped. What are the consequences of these changes? How important are cities’ broader spatial networked relationships for how they address sustainable urban development (SUD)? What value is there in learning between and across different urban responses to sustainability in 21st Century Britain?

Some of the hottest tickets during this years Manchester International Festival (MIF) have been for events and talks at The Biospheric Project, with 2,500 tickets sold out within 3 hours of being made available. The Project has transformed a 3 storey mill in Salford into a thriving urban research and community food production hub. Once the Festival ends, the work will continue under the direction of Vincent Walsh, who showed Platform’s Debbie Ellen around the building.

How can we create an economy for all? Alex Wharton reports on the CLES Summit 2013.

What can be done to make Greater Manchester more just?  Alex Wharton reports on Manchester: A Just City?, one of a series of Urban Fora organised by cities@manchester.