Greater Manchester launches interactive development map to showcase growth plans

Greater Manchester has launched an interactive map as well as a new Development Forum as the city-region moves ahead with plans for a 10-year pipeline of projects to drive growth.

Earlier this year, Greater Manchester leaders set out a 10-year plan for growth which will target investment at six Growth Locations across the city-region, one of which encompasses an area including Stockport town centre, western parts of the borough and Manchester Airport.

As part of this plan, Greater Manchester is launching a new Development Forum to better engage with key partners across the construction, property, and investment sectors. The Forum will bring together developers, investors, and others across these sectors, helping to provide clarity on long-term plans for growth, and enabling them to find the right solutions that will help deliver new development at pace and scale across the city-region.

Meanwhile, a new tool to help visualise the pipeline of investment has also launched. The MappingGM platform will offer developers, investors, and residents a new interactive way to explore what the integrated pipeline means in practice. By clearly showing land supply, transport infrastructure, and energy networks, it will help to set out the potential for well-connected development across Greater Manchester’s six Growth Locations.

The first version of the map is now available, and will be developed further over the next 18 months.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said:

“Right now, the message coming from across the North is loud and clear: back us to deliver economic growth and unleash the potential of our places. Our future will be built from the bottom up, not the top down.

“In Greater Manchester we’re using our devolved powers to unlock transformative regeneration projects across our city-region. We’ve had a decade of growth above the UK average, and with the right support we can go even further.

“With a clear offer on the table for Government and investors, focused on our Growth Locations, we’re creating a blueprint for building thousands of new homes, creating high-quality jobs, and delivering a decade of prosperity.”

Cllr Bev Craig, Greater Manchester Lead for Economy, Business and Inclusive Growth, said:

“Greater Manchester’s growth has outpaced the rest of the country over the past decade. But the next 10 years could yet be the most exciting in our history, if we can work with Government to unlock major new investment and remove the blockers to future growth.

“Our success has been built on collaboration, innovation, and strong partnerships that get everyone pulling in the same direction. Now, we’re putting in place all of the pieces that will help deliver transformative economic growth for the next generation.”