The Devolution Project in Greater Manchester: Introduction to the Special Issue

Introduction Embracing the future is second nature in the North West and Greater Manchester in particular is no stranger to innovation and change—as long ago as the 1600s residents were adopting vegetarianism and their own way of doing things. During the industrial revolution Greater Manchester seized the initiative to become the world’s first modern industrial metropolis. It is home to the nation’s first public library, the birthplace of modern chemistry and the professional football league. It is where Dalton developed atomic theory and Rutherford split the atom. Inevitably it is also where the rainproof mackintosh was invented. (Sirotkin 2015) This quote comes from a blog written by Sirotkin (2015), exploring the implications of devolution for Greater Manchester (GM) for public health, but it also serves to illustrate a wider point: devolution is not just being advocated as a pragmatic solution to current problems, but heralded as fulfilment of Manchester’s destiny as a major city, ‘embracing the future’ and, it is implied, returning to the great days of Victorian England. Apart from the obvious issues with this comparison—not least the fact that Manchester’s Victorian greatness was built upon the backs of the poor (see Snow article, this special issue)—it raises interesting questions about the devolution project and its presentation both internally and to the wider world. Whether or not this project succeeds, and in what terms, are, of course, empirical questions which will need academic attention over the coming years. In this special issue, we set the scene for future work, bringing together academics and practitioners from a variety of fields to raise questions and highlight potential areas of interest. This introduction is intended to set the scene and to provide some context for the current ‘Devo Manc’ agenda.