Manchester:
Today:
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British sporting and music
city.
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Nineteenth century:
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main activity was the
textile industry.
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Manchester: the first industrial city
The Industrial Revolution
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The period when manual labour was replaced by
steam-driven factory production, began in Manchester in the eighteenth
century.
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Manchester was a textile city.
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All the textile factories were located close to coal mines. Transport
costs and the location of coal were the main location factors.
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Coal
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Coal was the means of production that was needed to
power the steam engines in the textile factories.
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Labour
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Labour was another important means of production: there was a lot of
knowledge and experience in the region.
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Mass production
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Entrepreneurs started to use new techniques, and the steam engine was the
beginning of mass production.
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Cotton
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Cotton was a raw material that was cheap to import via
the port of Liverpool.
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Crisis and renewal
The location factors have changed since the early days.
The location factors have changed since the early days.
Electricity
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Coal was replaced with electricity, and other countries took the lead
with modern machines.
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Low-wage countries
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The serious crisis that industry experienced after 1970 was mainly due to
cheap labour in low-wage countries.
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Service sector
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Manchester is a modern city again, after developing its service
sector.
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High-tech industry
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Today, the most important fields are high-tech industry and
science.
Also urban renewal.
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High-tech in Manchester
Many high-tech businesses are big, knowledge-intensive
multinationals. They invest a lot in research and development and need
highly qualified employees.
Footloose industry
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High-tech companies are footloose.
They are free to choose their location, because they make products that
have a high value, but not much weight or volume.
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Although high-tech companies are footloose, they locate
themselves close to each other.
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There are a lot of partnerships between the public sector, science and
businesses. This results in economies of agglomeration for
businesses: they benefit from being close to each other because they can
exchange ideas and information.
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Accesibility
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Accessibility (infrastructure) is an important location
factor, because they have many international contacts.
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Scenic landscape
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The residential environment (culture and landscape) is also an important
location factor.
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QUIZLET
