'I'm not quite ready for gargantuan buildings to take over my quiet spot in the city centre'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the greatest when it comes to dealing with change. It’s something I’m working on - among other things - but a certain reticence is something that very much exists in me.

So, when I heard about a Manchester city neighbourhood that is set to undergo a huge £1.7 billion revamp, it made my heart go pitter patter (or padam padam, as us cool kids now say) at the thought of such a huge change.

To be known as ID Manchester as part of a joint venture between The University of Manchester and Bruntwood SciTech, some four million square feet of land, which is nestled by the Mancunian Way and Piccadilly Station, will be transformed into an ‘innovation district’ full of homes, bars, shops and educational buildings. Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features. Those behind the project say they hope it will ‘breathe new life into key heritage assets’ on-site, such as the Sackville Street and Renold buildings as well as Vimto Park.

While it’s all very exciting for the city - and images released this week look good - there’s a bit of me that can’t help feeling a little bit disheartened by the news.