The Council and democracy State of the city report 2020

A liveable and low carbon city

Manchester continues to try and meet the varied housing needs of all its residents by developing a diverse supply of good-quality housing available to rent and buy that is well designed, energy-efficient and affordable. The city’s approach is guided by its Residential Growth Strategy (2015–2025) and includes a minimum number of affordable new homes that are to be built during this period.

Manchester has set a science-based carbon budget that limits how much carbon dioxide can be emitted in future. Based on emissions for 2018 and projected emissions for 2019, the city is not yet following the recommended pathway, so we need to increase our annual reduction rate to meet our ambitious target of being zero-carbon by 2038 at the latest.

Work continues on the Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy, including examples such as the new park in West Gorton that drinks water to reduce flood risk. Additional new major development schemes, such as Mayfield and the Northern Gateway, both have extensive plans for open spaces to be developed or improved.

One of Manchester’s priorities remains to ensure the city is clean and well maintained; research shows that Manchester is improving through the work with Keep Manchester Tidy, the Great British Spring Clean, new smart litter bins installed in the city centre, and increased investment to target those who persistently fly-tip.

The sports, events and cultural offer provides Manchester with an international profile that attracts an increasing number of visitors to the city. Visits to the city’s parks, libraries, galleries and recreational facilities continue to grow, and our Widening Participation Programme continues to engage more diverse residents in the various programmes. COVID-19 has posed significant challenges to our cultural and leisure offer in the city. Throughout the spring lockdown, sites had to close and libraries and leisure programmes were refocused to be accessed online.

Residents offering their time for free (volunteering) to make a difference where they live, work and play is having a massive impact and going from strength to strength. The expansion of MCRVIP, to cover many more volunteering opportunities at a neighbourhood level, went live in June 2019, making volunteering even easier and improving the quality of lives of residents and communities. The generosity of our residents who stepped up in numerous volunteering roles to support others during the COVID-19 pandemic was truly outstanding.

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