Migrations: A Winning entry in the International 'Shrinking Cities' Competition by Cathy Hawley and Annalie Riches, published and exhibited in Liepzig, Germany
What we choose to value can change our perception and hence our relationship with city spaces; a future for the city might be found in the minutiae of the present. It was local bird watchers who first noticed peregrines mating on the Sunley tower in Manchester City Centre and evoked the law to prevent construction works. This project links together a human network with a natural one, an aging population with more leisure time has led to an explosion of interest in bird watching. This network of birdwatchers and eco-activists, whose back gardens even are used to support urban wildlife, become key players in the future of the city. The existing biodiversity of the city is currently concentrated on derelict buildings, wastelands and spaces inaccessible to man. The gaps in the city fabric created by human migration appear as uncared for sites of dereliction and decay, however as people leave other species move in to fill the voids. The idea of shrinkage is re-evaluated by counting birds not people, bird boxes and cameras across Manchester construct an alternative city landscape.
