Public realm and Ancoats Green
The quality of the public Realm has been key to the revitalisation of Ancoats. Award-winning streets and squares, as well as new buildings have all contributed to the liveliness and distinctive character of the area.
Our public realm strategy is vital for the next stage of development and has four key principles:
- Establishing Ancoats Green as a green heart to the neighbourhood: creating a multi-functional space that fosters a sense of community.
- Extend this green character to streets and spaces: Creating a coherent network of streets and public spaces, using green streets to encourage walking, wheeling and cycling and integrate green infrastructure
- Rebalancing movement towards active travel: establishing a new people-focused street network, reducing the dominance of vehicles in the street, including measures to reduce rat running and fly parking.
- Enhance the industrial heritage of the area and the character of the Conservation Area: guiding design that captures, celebrates and compliments the industrial heritage of the area, with consideration for materials, surfaces, and street furniture.
Ancoats Green
Work on the Ancoats Green Project is now complete and will be open to the public from 17 May 2025.
The refurbished and extended Ancoats Green and Jersey Green will be the focal point of the new neighbourhood of up to 1,500 homes.
Delivering an enhanced and more user-friendly green space has been a key objective of the Ancoats Public Realm Strategy and is key in linking the area from Butler Street through to Poland Street and the areas beyond.
The new Ancoats Green enhances the existing green spaces, retaining many of the original trees and introducing some new species of trees to add interest and colour. There is a range of uses within Ancoats Green including both natural and formal play and a multi-functional space that can host community events.
The Green creates a seamless route from our This City affordable housing scheme on Rodney Street (One Ancoats Green) from north Manchester through to the new Mobility Hub, City Centre and beyond.
The design of the green celebrates the history of the area with features that reference the former glass bottle works that was on the site.

Ancoats Green's transformation in numbers
- 1.06ha renewed park space
- 2823m2 of wildflower meadow planting
- 420m2 of new planted areas
- 111% net increase in trees – any trees removed (either due to disease or those with a limited life span) have been replaced at a ratio of 2:1
- A wide variety of trees will also be chosen to add colour and interest through different seasons
Granite paving stones removed from Albert Square (as part of the ongoing Our Town Hall project) have been lovingly reused at Ancoats Green, celebrating the city’s story and reducing the carbon footprint of the development. The benches have been made from reclaimed concrete slabs from the Jersey Street Bridge demolition.
Supporting wildlife has also been a key consideration and so increasing biodiversity to encourage new species to the Green through planting of native and fruit trees – including an avenue of cherry trees – as well as the wildflower and wetland areas.
The wider investment in the green spaces and public realm has been part of the third and final phase of the regeneration of Ancoats, which will also see investment at Jersey Green (to commence 2025) and public realm on Prussia Street (to commence in 2027).
The aim is to create high quality public green spaces that create a strong sense of place and help create a low-traffic, pedestrian first neighbourhood and underpin the development of 1,500 new homes in this part of Ancoats, as well as the creation of a new Mobility Hub.
Homes England has committed £28.1m to the overall project – along with the Mobility Hub - which, combined with the £4.7m allocated by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority through the Brownfield Housing Fund, brings the total budget to £32.7m.