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Policy@Manchester Articles: Cities and Environment
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Article image - Woman monitors dark office

A raised platform – regulating the digital economy

Luke Yates author image By Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Cities and Environment, Digital Futures, UK economy, Urban Posted:

Digital economy businesses have grown rapidly in the last 10-15 years, transforming how we work, travel, consume, and contract workers. Some impacts have been problematic, with growth of short-term lettings platforms reducing access to housing, and gig economy platforms increasing the precariousness of work. In this article, Dr Luke Yates outlines research findings on how […]

Green finance article image - trees in Canary Wharf

New governments bring new opportunities: a way forward for green finance?

James Jackson author headshot By Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Cities and Environment, Environment, UK economy Posted:

Following the result of the general election in July 2024, the new Labour government is now responsible for ensuring the UK gets back on track with its Net Zero objectives. Green finance has become a burgeoning area of climate politics and financial markets, raising the question over how the new government might utilise it to […]

New trees planted, reforestation

Rooting for effective reforestation: landscape context and woodland cover

Author headshot Matt Dennis By Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Environment Posted:

Woodland in the UK stands at 14.5% land-cover compared to 40% for Europe as a whole. Government targets aim to reach 17% by 2030 – a huge increase on the ground in a short space of time. In this article, Dr Matthew Dennis demonstrates how the question of where to create new woodland is key […]

two adults standing at the edge of a flooded road in UK countryside.

Climate Just: supporting equitable responses to climate change through social vulnerability maps

Headshot of Professor Sarah Lindley By Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Digital Futures, Environment Posted:

Historical carbon emissions are already locked into the climate system. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that associated impacts now persist, through extreme weather, climate-related events like floods and wildfires, or longer-term changes to the environment and biosphere. We must give urgent attention to tackling current and future emissions, but it is also vital to ensure […]

Battery storage compound within an arid environment in the foreground with an orange sunset in the background.

Energy consumption: solving the storage problem

Robert Dryfe Photograph By Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Energy and Environment, Environment, Renewables, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted:

To combat climate change, all developed economies have set the goal of carbon-neutrality by 2050. This means securing more energy from renewable sources. Achieving a high proportion of renewable energy production in the UK and other developed countries is only possible with suitable energy storage infrastructure, to bridge periods of low or no power generation from […]

The toll of ‘Deaths of Despair’ in England

By and Filed Under: British Politics, Cities and Environment, Health and Care, Health and Social Care, Levelling up, Urban Posted:

In 2015, a phenomenon coined as ‘Deaths of Despair’ (DoD) emerged in the US, highlighting an alarming increase in mortality due to drugs, alcohol, and suicides, particularly among white men without a college education. Here, Christine Camacho and Dr Luke Munford explore the spatial patterning of these deaths in England, where an estimated 46,200 lives […]

Image of a path through a green park with a few people walking and cycling through it.

Charting a path to clean air: A community-centred approach to active travel policy

Sheena Cruickshank By Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Urban Posted:

Greater Manchester has amongst the worst air quality in the UK. Air pollution causes many health problems, as well as worsening pre-existing health conditions. Increasingly, Greater Manchester residents are concerned about poor air quality and want actions to be taken. Yet, budgets that could support change are under more and more constraints. In this article, […]

EV production line - cover image for EV article

Accelerating the electric vehicle transition in the UK     

James Jackson author headshot By Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Cities and Environment, Energy and Environment, Science and Technology, UK economy Posted:

Following the publication of the industrial strategy in 2017, in which Theresa May attempted to envisage a post-Brexit future, electric vehicles (EVs) were identified as an important opportunity for the UK political economy. Yet, despite the almost annual publications that reiterated the need for EVs to become a significant feature of the UK, attempts to […]

Promoting flood protection: setting a target for 10% improved water retention in towns and cities

Iain White By and Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Energy and Environment, Environment Posted:

Every year flooding affects communities around the UK. The Chartered Institute for Water and Environmental Management recently contended that although there has been expert agreement for many years about reforms, policy change has been slow. In part, this is due to the complex governance system within which flooding occurs. In this article, Professor Graham Haughton […]

Article image - young people

Mapping pathways to learning

Claire Forbes author image By Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Cities and Environment, Education, Levelling up Posted:

How to raise educational outcomes and solve the entrenched attainment gaps between more and less affluent young people has long been a policy concern of successive governments. As the current government moves away from place-based approaches and towards curricular reform to address these gaps, Dr Claire Forbes will suggest that more needs to be done […]

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