Authors: Hebbert, Michael; Deas, Iain

Source: Policy & Politics, Volume 28, Number 1, 1 January 2000 , pp. 79-92(14)

Publisher: Policy Press

Abstract:

In 1997-98 the artless slogan 'Great Britain, Greater Manchester ... we're up and going' made its appearance on buses and billboards. Propaganda for metropolitan consciousness in NorthWest England echoed a widely observed contemporary trend towards a strengthening of big-city identity and institutions. The strongest example within the United Kingdom, if not Europe as a whole, was the reinstatement of directly elected London-wide government in the spring of 2000. The prospects for metropolitan governance for England's six other agglomerations are less clear. This article originated in a comparative research project on the spatial politics of European metropolitan areas. It offers a perspective on Greater Manchester, tracking institutional developments at city and regional scale since the abolition of its upper-tier council in 1986, and assessing the prospects of metropolitan renaissance.

En 1997-98, le slogan un peu niais: 'Great Britain, Greater Manchester ... we're up and going' (La Grande-Bretagne, le grand Manchester, on decolle) est paru sur les bus et les panneaux publicitaires. La propagande pour une conscience metropolitaine dans le nord-ouest de l'Angleterre a ete l'echo d'une tendance generale contemporaine: le renforcement de l'identite des grandes villes et de leurs institutions. L'exemple le plus frappant au Royaume-Uni, et meme dans toute l'Europe, en etait la reintroduction d'une administration directement elue pour la region londonienne au printemps 2000. Les prospectives pour les administrations decentralisees des six autres agglomerations anglaises sont moins sures. Cet article a pour origine un projet de recherche comparative de la politique des espaces urbains europeens. L'article se concentre sur la region de Manchester, selon les developpements institutionnels au niveau municipal et regional depuis l'abolition en 1986 de son conseil municipal superieur de l'epoque, et evalue les possibilites de renaissance urbaine.

En 1997-98 hizo su aparicion en autobuses y vallas publicitarias el un tanto simple eslogan *'Great Britain, Greater Manchester ... we're up and going'. La propaganda destinada a incrementar la conciencia metropolitana del Noreste de Inglaterra se hacia eco de la tendencia contemporanea en boga de fortalecer la identidad e instituciones de las grandes ciudades. El ejemplo mas evidente dentro del Reino Unido y quizas de toda Europa fue el restitucion de un gobierno elegido directamente para el area de Londres en la primavera del ano 2000. Las perspectivas de futuros gobiernos metropolitanos para las otras seis aglomeraciones urbanas resultan menos claras. Este articulo surgio a partir de un proyecto de investigacion comparativa entre las politicas territoriales de distintas areas metropolitanas europeas. Ofrece una vision del area metropolitana de Manchester, mostrando su evolucion institucional a escala urbana y regional desde que se abolio su ayuntamiento centralizado en 1986 y al mismo tiempo evalua las perspectivas del renacimiento metropolitano. *Traducido al espanol viene a ser algo asi como 'Gran Bretana, Gran Manchester ... viento en popa toda vela'. Greater Manchester es el termino que se emplea para referirse al area metropolitana de Manchester, pero tambien significa por comparacion con Great Britain, 'mas grande que Gran Bretana'.

Keywords: LOCAL GOVERNMENT; METROPOLITAN AREAS; GOVERNANCE; MANCHESTER

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1332/0305573002500848

Publication date: 2000-01-01

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