Altered places: the impact of the 1996 Manchester bomb

Massey, Joanne (2005) Altered places: the impact of the 1996 Manchester bomb. The International Journal of the Humanities: Annual Review, 2 (1). ISSN 1447-9508

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Abstract

In June 1996 the city centre of Manchester was destroyed by an IRA bomb. Eight years later the landscape has been transformed and a newly regenerated area - the Millennium Quarter - has been created. There is undoubtedly a new sense of place attached to the creation of the Millennium Quarter. This paper will draw on qualitative interview data from users of the area before, during and after the bomb. Important questions are how was a new sense of place created? and How has this impacted on the image of the city? Using the work of Lynch (1960) it will be argued that the image of the city has been transformed, due to the inclusion of new landmarks and monuments in the setting. The work of Tuan (1977) will also be used as an analytical tool to examine how place is defined. It is envisaged that by using data drawn from a sample of various everyday past and present users of the site, that an authentic picture of people's lived experience will be communicated.