Abstract

Cities of the North takes an irreverent and often amusing look at the changing townscape, special character, architecture and planning of the great Northern English cities. Lavishly illustrated, it is a companion to Towns in Britain published by Five Leaves in 2014 and it builds on the popular Jones the Planner blog. It explores the process and politics of development and ‘regeneration’ which is reshaping Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Hull and Newcastle amongst others, always focusing on the intrinsic character of place.

Cities of the North reviews both the successes and lost opportunities of recent years and considers the implications of the emerging Northern Powerhouse plans for the conurbations. The book is inspired by and follows in the footsteps of Ian Nairn who opened so many people’s eyes to an appreciation of cities, their often unexpected delights, qualities, possibilitis and potential. Like Nairn, Cities of the North shows a passion and affection for these places and an appreciation of their all too often undervalued qualities.

Adrian Jones is a town planner and urban designer, formerly Director of Planning and Transport for the City of Nottingham and member of CABE’s national Design Review Panel. Chris Matthews is a local historian and lecturer in graphic design at Lincoln University