Connecting the City: Why Cyan Lines Matters for Manchester’s Next Decade

Manchester is a city that has always understood the power of connection, between people, places, businesses and ideas. As the city continues to grow, the challenge is not just how much we grow, but how well that growth connects to people’s everyday experience.

Cyan Lines is an exciting idea that does just that. 

What is the Cyan Lines Project?

At its core, Cyan Lines is about creating a network of connected green and blue spaces across Greater Manchester, linking waterways, parks and neighbourhoods into something coherent, accessible and inviting. It is a vision that speaks to both quality of life and long-term economic resilience.  

Experience-led cities

Across the UK’s regional centres, we are seeing a shift in what makes places successful. Businesses are no longer choosing locations based solely on cost or connectivity, they are choosing places that support talent, wellbeing and identity.

At Bruntwood, where we provide workspace for businesses of all sizes across the UK’s most dynamic cities, we see this every day. The most successful places combine high-quality workspace with vibrant, walkable environments and are places where people want to spend time, not just work.

Enhancing the green spaces, rivers and canals around us is central to that.

Time and again, when people are asked what they want more of from their city, the answer is simple: access to green space and nature. What has become clearer is that it’s not just about creating new spaces, but connecting the ones we already have and making them feel part of a wider network.

A win–win–win

Cyan Lines represents a powerful win–win–win.  One of the key reasons Bruntwood became a founding partner.

• For individuals and communities; it creates more opportunities to access nature, move through the city more easily, and feel connected to place and each other. Cyan Lines brings together and creates ways for people to actively participate in improving the spaces around them.  We know how good that is for wellbeing and sense of belonging.

• For businesses; it enhances the environments in which they operate, supporting productivity, wellbeing and talent attraction. High-quality, connected green space is now part of the offer. It also encourages creative solutions that generate economic value, like using nature based solutions to manage drainage rather.  

• For the city; it strengthens Manchester’s position on the global stage. While Manchester has extraordinary assets, from its canals to its industrial heritage, they are not always well connected or easy to experience. Cyan Lines has the potential to change that. It is a vital part of how we promote the city as a destination to visit or come to set up your business in and it secures a legacy for future generations, building a cleaner, more attractive and more liveable city that stands proudly alongside the very best global peers.

From places to a connected city

We are already seeing what this approach can deliver.

Circle Square, one of Bruntwood’s developments located along a proposed Cyan Line, shows how thoughtful design, green space and connectivity can come together to create a place that is both commercially successful and socially meaningful. It is not simply a destination, but part of a wider urban ecosystem.

We see similar potential at SISTER. As we continue with development here, we want to stitch it into the Cyan Line network, creating seamless links between Oxford Road, Piccadilly, and Ancoats. By linking these hubs, we move beyond isolated pockets of innovation to create a unified corridor where nature and technology coexist, making the journey between our most dynamic workspaces as inspiring as the work happening within them.

This is the opportunity for Manchester: to move from a collection of great places to a truly connected city.

A collaborative future

If Cyan Lines is to succeed, it will do so through collaboration, something Manchester has always done well.

The city has a strong track record of bringing together public, private and community partners to deliver change. Cyan Lines builds on that tradition, requiring shared vision and a willingness to think beyond individual sites.

From my experience working across both sectors over the past two decades, the most successful projects connect the strategic to the everyday, improving how people experience the city in real terms. 

Shaping the next chapter

As Manchester grows, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to shape that growth in a way that is inclusive, sustainable and rooted in quality of life.

Cyan Lines is not just an environmental project. It is a statement about the kind of city Manchester wants to be: connected, liveable and ambitious.

For businesses, communities and future generations, that is an investment worth making.