Abstract:

This paper looks at the recent history of Hulme, Manchester, which during the 1980s was home to many of the most successful bands of the post-punk era. This flourishing of underground music was not planned, however. It emerged through a complex network of urban forces, some physical, some social. The paper develops the concept of the ‘compost city’, a laissez-faire approach to the management of urban culture which is oppositional to the current vogue for more hands-on cultural industries management.

Author: Greg Keeffe