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E-scooters along wall

Getting around: digital platforms and public transport systems

Headshot of Andy Lockhart By , and Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Urban Posted:

Over the last 15 years, digital mobility platforms for ride hailing like Uber, bike sharing like Beryl, e-scooter rental like Lime and journey planning apps like Citymapper have become common in urban societies. They are often seen as ‘disrupting’ the organisation of existing public transport systems and creating competition. In this article from our On […]

Football on stadium grass

Protecting Premier League football clubs through tighter regulation

Black and white headshot of Prof Nick Lord By and Filed Under: All posts, Urban Posted:

The Football Governance Bill sets out to establish a new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) for English men’s elite football. As these plans for a new regulator continue to unfold, research conducted by the Department of Criminology at The University of Manchester has found that the ownership structures of many English Premier League football clubs share […]

NHS building

The growing infrastructure crisis in English NHS hospitals

By Filed Under: All posts, Health and Care, Health and Social Care, Urban Posted:

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, NHS England remains in crisis. We are now accustomed to ambulances queuing outside accident and emergency departments, bed shortages, growing waiting lists for elective care, and old, crumbling hospital buildings. In this article, from our On Infrastructure publication, Professor Anne Stafford examines the consequences of using private finance to deliver healthcare […]

Industrial chimney pluming out smoke surrounded by an urban landscape of buildings.

Advanced materials addressing health risks from exposure to benzene

Headshot of Martin Schröder.Headshot of Sihai Yang. By and Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Environment, Health and Care, Health and Social Care, Research and development, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology, Urban, Work Posted:

Benzene, a volatile organic compound (VOC) with widespread industrial applications, poses severe health risks to humans even at trace levels. Its genotoxic effects, which involve direct damage to cellular DNA and genetic material leading to mutations, are strongly linked to cancer and blood disorders, making its control a critical priority for workplace safety and environmental […]

A housing construction site, surrounded by rural countryside

Belting up to deliver housing targets – are Grey Belts the answer?

Ian Mell By Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Environment, Growth and Inclusion, Urban Posted:

To meet targets of building 1.5 million homes, the new government launched a consultation on the process for releasing Green Belt land. Proposals include creating a new designation of “Grey Belt” land. But given the contentious nature of Green Belts and the arguments made for and against development in these locations, the addition of this new […]

Birds-eye-view of a motorway with travelling cars

A future for autonomous vehicles in the UK? Lessons from the US

By Filed Under: Digital Futures, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology, Urban Posted:

One of the final bills passed by the outgoing Sunak government was the Automated Vehicles Act (2024), designed to make provisions for the possible rollout of autonomous vehicles in the future. If the new Starmer government is to continue this work, then lessons need to be learnt from the US, where the deployment of autonomous […]

Article image - older couple on a bench in Manchester

Older people have something to say – ensuring voices are heard

Patty Doran author headshotMhorag GoffLinda Naughton author headshotPhilippa Winship author headshot By , , and Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Urban Posted:

The population is ageing. Almost 40% of people in England are currently over 50, and almost 20% are over 65 (Census, 2021). In response to the ageing population, in 2010 the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the global network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. They aspire to be places where people of all ages feel […]

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 […]

Article image - homeless shelter sleeping area

Women’s safety and the housing crisis

Isis Barei Guyot author headshotElizabeth Ackerley author headshot By , and Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Urban Posted:

Austerity measures along with other intersecting crises have resulted in challenges for individuals and organisations supporting the safety of women experiencing homelessness in Manchester and elsewhere. The public funding lost as a result of austerity policies has dealt a severe blow to deprived local authorities in the north of England, resulting in the stripping back […]

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 […]

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Articles give the views of the author, and are not necessarily those of The University of Manchester.

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