Manchester Urban Institute celebrates first anniversary

This week the Manchester Urban Institute (MUI) celebrates its first anniversary.

MUI is one of the largest urban-focused research institutes of its kind and it makes an important contribution to the University’s commitment to addressing global inequalities – one of the University’s five research beacons of excellence.

The Institute was launched with a series of events which began on 7 February 2017 with a presentation by Professor Michael Keith from the University of Oxford.

This was followed on 9 March with a talk, given by Lord Blunkett on 'Universities post-Brexit, aspiring to remain international but with a mission that is essentially local'.

The rest of 2017 saw a range of academic visitors from Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong and the US visit the Institute, while at the same time Manchester staff gave a series of talks at universities around the world.

Over the last year the MUI has:

• received research grant income of over one and a half million
• published over 200 journal articles and authored and edited over a dozen books
• significantly developed its social media presence through a range of campaigns
• welcomed high-profile academic visitors to Manchester from across the globe for lectures, seminars and workshops
• seen numerous colleagues receive prestigious awards for their research
• worked with local, regional, national and international policymakers to address the economic, environmental, political and social challenges facing cities around the world
• developed their research themes which speak to challenges highlighted by key funding and policy organisations, such as the European Commission, Innovate UK and RCUK.

Professor Kevin Ward, Director of MUI, said: "2017 was a great success.

"The formation of the Manchester Urban Institute built upon the work of previous centres and groups, meaning we hit the ground running.

"We have been able to secure research funding for a wide-range of projects and deliver an impressive number of books, book chapter and journal articles.

"The next year will see the Institute deepen its relationships with a number of other university-based urban research groups and focus its strategy around its key research themes.”

The anniversary was marked by an early evening event on Wednesday 7 February, at which the Institute celebrated the books its members had authored and edited over the course of 2017.

They were published by a range of mainstream and university presses, across a number of areas of research, including architecture, austerity, energy, ethnography, planning, race, and redevelopment.