An artist has created an image showing what the Manchester skyline could look like in the year 2100.
The image shows a few local landmarks – like Beetham Tower and Manchester Central – suddenly dwarfed by enormous, modern new skyscrapers.
The futuristic image shows a cluster of huge new towers, taller even than the Deansgate Square development.
It’s been created by artist Andrea Astarita as a collaboration with Adobe to celebrate Skyscraper Appreciation Day.
And okay, it’s not exactly been drawn up by architects or been created by trawling through planning documents – rather, artificial intelligence has played a big hand.
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Andrea used the new Photoshop Generative Fill tool, a clever gadget powered by Adobe Firefly, to transform Manchester’s skyline.
He gave the same treatment to other cities around the UK too.
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Some of it might look almost too futuristic, but then if you’d shown 90s Mancs the present day skyline with Deansgate Square looming, they’d have laughed you out of the city.
And just imagine how people would have reacted in the 80s if you’d told them that Ancoats would become one of the coolest neighbourhoods on Earth?!
An aerial view of the new Co-op Live arena in Manchester. Credit: Co-op LiveSome of the developments actually happening in Manchester.
While Andrea’s AI image is entirely the stuff of make-believe at present, there are some city-changing developments on the horizon.
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There is, of course, the looming opening of Aviva Studios, as well as the new Co-op Live, both taking shape on the city’s cultural map.
Then there’s Gary Neville’s £400m St Michael’s project, which will add a 41-storey skyscraper to the city centre.
Plans to build a massive skyscraper dubbed the ‘tombstone’ in Manchester are to go ahead despite objections, too.
Then there are new plans, taking shape right behind Deansgate Square, to build Manchester’s tallest skyscraper yet – with a 71st-floor restaurant.
So maybe Andrea’s AI-boosted impression isn’t such a stretch after all…?
Molly-Mae Hague revisits first Manchester flat, now on the market for £185k
Daisy Jackson
Molly-Mae Hague’s first Manchester flat is now on the market for £185k – and the star herself has paid a visit to her old digs.
Those who have been following Molly-Mae since before she shot to serious fame on Love Island will have recognised the backdrop of her recent TikTok video.
The 27-year-old reality TV star and businesswoman posed around the one-bedroom flat, dancing to Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘House Tour’.
The apartment is where she lived just before entering Love Island, and where she and now-fiance Tommy Fury lived briefly when they left the show.
And now that exact flat where she really launched her social media career has been listed for sale, at £185,000.
The corner apartment stands on the 17th floor of Islington Wharf, overlooking New Islington tram stop and right on the doorstep of Ancoats.
Her former landlord, who arranged for Molly-Mae to have one look around her old flat before it’s sold, said that she was a ‘lovely, polite and down-to-earth young woman, and an excellent tenant who looked after the apartment extremely well.’
The one bedroom apartment has double-aspect floor-to-ceiling windows which look across Manchester on one side, and out towards the Pennines on the other.
It’s listed for sale with no chain and the option to include existing furnishings (which seems to include the same couch Molly-Mae had at the time).
The flat also has a kitchen/living space, a communal garden, superfast broadband, and is within walking distance of Manchester Piccadilly.
New measures announced to tackle ‘rogue’ landlords across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
A cohort of trained enforcement officers are set to hit the streets in all 10 boroughs to help improve the lives of the region’s renters.
Forming part of Greater Manchester‘s commitment to the highest-quality housing standards alongside the Good Landlord Charter, the newly trained enforcement officers will be tasked with protecting tenants, joining Council teams in checking rental properties, bringing enforcement action against bad landlords, and cracking down on illegal practices.
The introduction of the new enforcement officers comes after what has been ‘years of sustained pressure’ on local budgets.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) says it is working with the 10 councils across the region to strengthen local teams, rebuild in-house skills and expertise, and ensure that powers can be applied with consistency in all boroughs.
As mentioned, this is happening alongside the Good Landlord Charter – which is GMCA’s ‘bold approach’ to drive up standards for renters across the region.
Landlords of more than half of rented properties in Greater Manchester have now signed up as supporters of the Charter, and as supporters, they have committed to going above and beyond legal minimums to improve the renting experience for hundreds of thousands of people.
“A safe place to call home is the cornerstone of a happy, healthy life,” explained Mayor Bev Craig. “But for years, people have felt trapped in poor-quality housing, and cash-strapped councils were unable to step in to help. I’m putting an end to that.
“We know there are plenty of good landlords in Greater Manchester, and many of them have already signed up to our Good Landlord Charter, but too many are just not good enough.
“That’s why we’re deploying a new generation of expert housing officers onto the streets of our towns and cities.”
Mayor Bev Craig declared that she ‘won’t stand by and let rogue landlords take advantage of people’.
She continued: “By empowering renters, working with responsible landlords, and using our powers to crack down on the bad ones, I will make sure everyone in Greater Manchester has the foundation for a good life.”
Daisy Jackson -
15th August 2023 
