Bruntwood is lending its substantial Manchester office estate to the Eco Cities study

Green Week: Future Case Studies

Green Week on Place North West, published in association with the Environment Agency, Envirolink Northwest and Hill Dickinson

▼Eco Cities

Eco Cities is a joint initiative between the University of Manchester and property company Bruntwood. The project looks at the impacts of climate change and at how we can adapt our cities to the challenges and opportunities that a changing climate presents.

It is an interdisciplinary research project which draws on the expertise of Manchester Architecture Research Centre, Centre for Urban and Regional Ecology, Brooks World Poverty Institute and Manchester Business School.

The core aim of Eco Cities is to create a climate change adaptation blueprint for Greater Manchester, by the end of 2011. The blueprint will be based on leading scientific research, will include an exploration of possible future scenarios for Manchester, and will incorporate case studies at three spatial scales: building, neighbourhood and conurbation. As a decision-aiding tool, it is hoped that the blueprint will become a key resource for planners and other relevant stakeholders in the city region as they seek to adapt to climate change.

Central to all the work of Eco Cities is the concept of 'building adaptive capacity' i.e. helping cities to build the skills, knowledge and expertise necessary to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Eco Cities will not presume to take decisions for stakeholders or look to create a 'one size fits all' adaptation policy. Instead, Eco Cities will seek to visualise possible futures, enable information sharing and work directly with key stakeholders to help them plan and respond locally to the impacts of a changing climate.

Eco Cities also has a strong international dimension and seeks to position Manchester at the centre of a global network of individuals and organisations with an interest in climate change adaptation. This network will help us to share best practice on how cities are designed, built and managed in the face of a changing climate. Manchester will benefit from mutual learning with partner cities including Dhaka, Austin Texas, Nagoya and Singapore.

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