Crowdfunding helps Manchester to raise regeneration finance

Manchester City Council is transforming the up-and-coming Stevenson Square area into a green cultural hub using an online crowdfunding campaign.

The once vibrant industrial and political hub has been neglected for years despite regeneration plans.

“There has been an appetite to develop Stevenson Square for some time as one of the city’s most historic and underused squares,” said Councillor Pat Karney, Manchester City Council. “The potential to make the area an exciting destination is undeniable–akin to a continental piazza–and we hope the greening scheme will increase footfall to the benefit of the many and varied businesses trading on the square.”

Manchester City Council, together with Salford-based charity Red Rose Forest, has turned to Spacehive.com to raise £39,211 to regenerate the square into an urban nature hub. The plan is to give the area a green makeover include the planting of a number of trees and hanging baskets and the installation of a  ’green roof’ with a fruit and herb garden on top of an abandoned toilet block.

Red Rose Forest, part of a national initiative by the Forestry Commission, believes that Spacehive.com’s online presence will also help raise awareness of the role trees and greenery play in helping cities adapt to climate change.

“Our aim is to make Stevenson Square a more attractive place for people to live, work, shop and do business,” said Pete Stringer, special projects manager at Red Rose Forest. “Planting more trees in urban areas has been shown to bring a range of benefits. They can improve people’s health and well-being and by providing shading and cooling in the summer can help in the battle against climate change. Trees can also reduce the risk of flooding in urban areas by soaking up rainfall.”

Crowdfunding was first launched three years ago by Kickstarter in the US, while London-based Spacehive.com has pioneered a civic crowdfunding platform. It’s the world’s first website to specialise in community projects. These include everything from parks and galleries to community centres, sport facilities or Wi-Fi for town centres.

“Stevenson Square is the perfect example of how civic crowdfunding can fill a funding gap,” said Chris Gourlay, founder of Spacehive. “The area has missed out on regeneration funds over recent years but now enthusiastic locals have used the web to take matters into their own hands and their efforts have made the authorities sit up and take notice.”