Manchester's Importance & Growth

• Manchester is a major UK city located in the north-west of England. To the west is Liverpool and the Irish Sea. Surrounding the city is the M60 motorway. The rivers Irwell, Medlock and Mersey meet in Manchester whilst the Pennines seperate the city from areas like Sheffield
• Regionally Important (N.W. England)

  • in 2014, BBC and ITV set up MediaCity in Salford Quays to promote the north west
  • Greater Manchester has its own mayor (Andy Burnham)
  • Manchester Ship Canal links to Liverpool and Irish Sea
  • Enclosed by M60 and joins M6, M56 and M62 motorways
• Nationally Important (the UK)

  • Trafford Centre is the 2nd largest UK shopping mall
  • Busiest UK airport outside London (19 million visitors annually)
  • 3rd most visited UK city for tourists
• Internationally Important (around the world)

  • Home to Manchester City and Manchester United football clubs
  • Largest education campus in Europe (>75,000 at UoM and MMU)
  • Hosted the 2002 Commonwealth Games
  • Musically significant for Oasis, the Smiths, the Courteeners
  • Western Europe's most linguistically diverse city (>200 languages spoken)
• International migration is the movement of people from one country to another
• National migration is the movement of people within a country
• Students move to Manchester as lower costs of living (56% lower than London) to continue with higher education and increase job prospects, balancing out the increasingly aged population