Mayfield's Flavour Factory
Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s arguments in “City Profile: Manchester,” the history of Manchester’s urban development is intrinsically linked to its economy, with infrastructure playing a pivotal role in shaping the city’s growth. However, the city's regeneration strategies have historically been disjointed and failed to adequately respond to the needs of its residents. This lack of cohesion has led to fragmented interventions that overlooked future population growth, leaving the city divided between successful and failed developments.
Areas that once flourished, such as Mayfield, now suffer from neglect. Mayfield’s existing hidden life makes the streets feel disorienting and cold. Where the public realm should be inviting and safe, it is instead dominated by feelings of emptiness and fear, while vibrant activities occur behind closed doors. Mayfield’s character is shaped by small businesses and ventures that supply food to the rest of the city. These activities, being isolated and hidden, impede their potential for growth and hinder the development of a cohesive community and sense of solidarity.
Mayfield’s Flavour Factory aims to bridge these gaps, counteracting the separation and isolation that characterize the community of entrepreneurial ventures. By providing a safe, efficient, and open space for social interactions, the Flavour Factory seeks to nourish business entrepreneurship and support the circular economy. Acknowledging that production methods will evolve, the emphasis is on building for the community itself, prioritizing individual needs over commercial consumption. In a city where, as of January 2021, 3.89% of adults suffered from hunger while accounting for around 5.39% of the country’s total homeless population, we must address food scarcity and homelessness over capitalistic pursuits of wealth accumulation. Consequently, in the Mayfield Flavour Factory, utilitarian production, consumption, and shelter converge to challenge the current cost-of-living crisis affecting the Mayfield community and the wider city. By offering infrastructure that meets both current and future needs, the Factory ensures that access to food and shelter is democratized, creating a mixed-development space where everyone can enjoy equal rights and opportunities.
