Manchester's cotton mills, insurance halls and warehouses have become lofts, restaurants, bars and graphic design HQs. But I have sailed in a narrow boat, heard one of the world's great orchestras playing Stravinsky and drunk the cheapest ale in Britain, although not quite at the same time. BBC2 September 1998. Anthony Wilson says that for a big City, Manchester is just small enough. People know each other, collaborate, cross-pollinate.
Ideas can mix and match.
It's easy to get things moving. But Manchester's size also makes the social processes more visible. Things can't be contained. Even as you stroll round the new urban pleasure zones you can see the collapsed excluded communities. You can see how things are developing.