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Long and behold, Time Out’s City Life Index 2018 has just revealed the most exciting cities around the world. Manchester, with a score of 130.9 ranks 7th as one of the most exciting cities in the world. How does being able to live in a well-rounded city sound to you? The index shows what city-dwellers worldwide are eating, doing and thinking, in terms of their city’s culture, friendliness and affordability.

Time Out collaborated with Tapestry Research to survey 32 cities in England, United States, Australia, Germany, Thailand and China. Cities from Europe and America tops the index having Chicago ranking first place with Porto, Melbourne, London, Madrid, Manchester, Lisbon, Philadelphia, and Barcelona following. Beijing, Bangkok and Hong Kong rank 22^nd, 24^th and 26^th respectively.

“Whatever happens, we will continue to power on,” said Manchurians, who are excited to be part of the top 10 in the 2018 index.

Manchester’s development has helped to shape its young vibe and affordability compared to older cities like London. As a young city, it offers job opportunities more than any other UK cities. Manchester ranked first in London’s MoneySupermarket.com as the Best City in the UK for Freelancers, beating other UK sister cities with Brighton and Hove, Edinburg, Belfast and London ranking 2^nd to 5^th.

Manchester actually surpasses in many of its living aspects and for freelancers, this is good news. Freelance employments for commercial projects reached over 1,001 last year which is twice the amount of Brighton and Hove at just 327 projects. Startup companies in London totals to 504 thousand companies, but Manchester totals at 21,815, much more than its sister cities. Freelancers can enjoy the 225 cafes around the city while they take up work.

For housing and rental, affordability plays an important role in Manchester. Housing starts on average at around GBP $180,000 whereas rental is around GBP $949 per month, making living much more affordable than London, and even Brighton and Hove and Edinburg.

Compared to other English cities, Manchester housing prices can be an entry ticket in owning a property for the younger generation. English property market company, Hometrack, announced this January, the market trend of UK’s top 20 cities. Manchester lists 13^th, with an average housing price of GBP $158,800 whereas London still tops 1^st place. Placing second and third are the rivaling university cities of Oxford (GBP $427,700) and Cambridge (GBP $412,000).

Although house prices in Manchester is comparative low, its market is on a steady rise. In January, house prices increased by 1% from the previous three months and is a 6% growth from the same time previous year. Manchester largely benefits from the Northern Powerhouse Initiative, a renewed city development, which will stimulate the economy and increase population growth. Further butterfly effect includes the increasing demand for housing, allowing prices to simultaneously rise.

In 2016, Britain held a referendum to withdraw from the European Union.  Brexit defines the outcome of the referendum, ‘Britain to exit’. Against all voices and tension, the government schedules the withdrawal for March 29th, 2019. Brexit may dramatically alter the course of British economy, but the UK property market has secured a steady rise over the past year.

Before the referendum of Brexit in 2016, the country was exhibiting a slow growth and experiencing a drop in its living standards and losing vital workers to some of its industries as immigration rate declines. The GDP in UK in 2017 was a low 1.8% compared to the average 2.5% in the EU. A more severe prediction is that the country may fall into a recession during the 2-year transition period after 2019.

On the contrary, since the Brexit referendum, the property market continues to rise, even though it has slowed from 6.5% in 2014 to 2.7% in 2017. The weak pound and the decline, however, have made the property market extremely attractive to foreign investors.

The property market of London has suffered from a particularly marked slowdown. The once skyrocketing growth in London is expected to fall 0.5% in 2018 versus the country’s outskirts, where the housing prices in the next top five UK cities will continue to rise in the next 4 years. The United Kingdom is no longer reliant on the property market of London when other smaller cities are expanding their regional businesses hubs under the Northern Powerhouse Initiative. Cities including Birmingham, Manchester, Leicester and Liverpool have a market growing by more than 6% on average annually. A recent Reuters’s poll of UK housing market concluded that the decade-long boom in the UK property market will soon end, but prices will grow at an average 2% nationwide in 2018.

The UK’s future is under murky waters, but numerous research suggest Brexit would result in little impact onto the nation’s economy. Two separate reports were released last week. The first was released by the Mayor of London, a research from analysis of historical data by Cambridge Econometrics. The report predicted a Gross Value Added (GVA) reduction of 0.5%, a low GVA decline which will have little to no impact on the overall economy in the long run. Moreover, the study predicts an unchanged or an even higher living standard, depending on the negotiation terms that the government will undergo with the EU.

The other report, by the Government of Scotland, largely exaggerated the impact of Brexit, focuses mainly on Scotland’s trade businesses as a dependent on UK trades with the EU. “The report focuses on the relationship between trades and productivity only, based on empirical studies, which emerge from developing countries. If using evidence from rich countries like the UK, there is little to no evidence of such link into the productivity of the economy,” said financial analysts on Briefings on Brexit.

During the 2-year transition period, as proposed by the government and the referendum, the baseline forecast is that the GDP by 2030 will be a 1.2% decrease, with an unemployment rate of 3%. However, the predicted GDP per capita will increase by 0.5%: a slow but still a rising number. For the property market, economists predict that it will likely drop to a low 1.5% growth annually beginning in 2018 to 2020 but will again soar to a 5-6% growth by 2021.

Source: The Week, BBC News, CNBC, Briefings for Brexit, Cebrs

With the ambitious ‘Northern Powerhouse’ initiative and the preexisting foundation of a manufacturing industry, Manchester is set to grow faster than anywhere else in Britain in its economy. As the second largest city in the United Kingdom, its property prices are lagging behind compared to sister cities, suggesting a large room for potential growth in the market which has captured the attention of investors worldwide.

Golden Emperor Properties hosted the ‘Insights into Manchester’s Property Market’ seminar over the past weekend, during which also promoted Manchester’s Shopping and CBD residence project ‘Embankment West.’ The seminar received wide participation and support as over 300 investors attended the event and made purchases into the project.

Above: Golden Emperor Properties, Managing Director, Terence Chan, analyzes Manchester’s newest market trend.

Above: The two-consecutive day seminar received wide participation and support.

Higher education plays a vital role in the development of a country on a macro-level and of a city on a micro-level. Manchester, as it skyrockets into a booming economy of Northern England, is currently undergoing a £ 1 billion transformation at the campus of the city’s University of Manchester. The renovation and expansion plan started in as early as 2012, but individual projects are now finalizing their planning stages.

Education provides a foundation and platform for economic development. It is, with today’s leading technology-based lifestyle, to train professionals in all sectors and industries in becoming doctors, teachers, engineers and business leaders, just to name a few. As a research from Elsevier suggests, an individual’s investment in education can provide an increased income, where it allows people and businesses to obtain and provide jobs. The cycle results in developments. As education advances, new technology develops, economy specializes and professions and a highly-skilled work force are further needed.

A country’s development goals in education defines its future success.

The £ 1 billion expansion of University of Manchester is likely to be close to completion in 2023. It will deliver new educational buildings and campus residences. Its aim, is to transform the institution into ‘one of the world’s best campuses.’

The expansion projects include the development of a series of residences in the Fallowfield Campus to deliver high quality units for over 3,000 students. As it completes, it will build a university-based property portfolio and a community for students from across the globe.

Another key project in the expansion is the £ 350 million MECD project. The core of the project is to provide new technology-based research labs for the complementing engineering developments of Manchester. It will be one of the largest projects within the expansion plan. The space will transform the former system of education style in engineering at the university and provide a space for world class research to encourage collaborations and innovative thinking in the field.

One of the next largest projects is the building of the University Library with an estimated cost of £ 36 million. The public space is to provide an improved world class facility offered to its visitors and students. The library will signify the city’s heart of learning, knowledge and research.

Outside the main campus, the Manchester Museum, also owned by the university, is seeking approval for its large-scale multi-million expansion. The proposed expansion hopes to attract a larger crowd and artists worldwide to exhibit their work and broaden its reach to the public by hosting world-class exhibitions.

The University of Manchester has had a long history of over 100 years, granting a dignified education system in the United Kingdom since the late 1800s. It remains to be one of the top post-secondary institutions around the world, ranking 34^th in 2018 and has the highest employer reputation in the annual Quacquarelli Symonds publication. Its expansion resembles the growing population of professionals in the near future in the city.

Source: Built Environment, Elsevier, Blooloop, Top Universities, University of Manchester

Want to strut your stuff in the Year of the Dog?

If you’re in Hong Kong — or Vietnam, South Korea or anywhere else in the world with a Chinese diaspora — it’s time to don that tacky red jacket, gamble until you lose and eat till you burst. Yes, it’s the Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival. It usually lasts for 15 days from the first day of the lunar calendar (February 16 in 2018), and is the time when families get together to ring in the changes.

While most will go to any lengths to get home to see the family, for some it’s a chance to travel — if only to get away from nagging relatives and red packet-hungry colleagues and friends (in China it’s customary to dispense red paper envelopes filled with money at this time of year.)

But traveling doesn’t have to mean forgoing the festivities. Here are 10 destinations where you can celebrate Lunar New Year in your own way.

Quang Ba Flower Market, Hanoi, Vietnam

One essential must-have for Vietnam’s Lunar New Year, or Tet, is a bunch of flowers and Hanoi’s Quang Ba flower market works at a frenetic pace during the festival.
Shoppers seek out the most eye-catching bouquets (usually peach blossom or ochna integerrima, the bright yellow blossom favored during Tet) amid the whirr and screech of the city’s ubiquitous motorcycles, all transporting bright bunches of flowers on their pillions.

The sights and sounds mixed with the fragrance of street food makes for a heady New Year sensual overload.

Quang Ba Flower Market, Au Co Street, Tay H, Hanoi, Vietnam; open daily from about 3 a.m.

Nuanquan Town, Hebei province, China

With a population of less than 20,000 — making it pretty much a tiny hamlet by Chinese standards — Nuanquan usually flies below the tourist radar for most of the year. But on the 15th day of the Spring Festival, the sleepy town literally fires up with a spectacular grassroots “firework” display that has been UNESCO-listed as one of China’s great examples of intangible cultural heritage.

The da shuhua (translated as “beating tree flowers”) tradition is believed to be more than 500 years old and culminates in a jaw-dropping display where the local blacksmith hurls ladles of molten iron at the city gates, producing a shower of sparks.

Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul, South Korea

Dating back to 1395, Gyeongbokgung Palace in the heart of Seoul is the most impressive royal palace in the city — both historically and architecturally.

On the first day of LNY, Gyeongbokgung Palace will hold celebrations that include traditional folk games and performances. Entry is free on that day.

Chinatown, San Francisco

For sure, Chinatown can be a tourist trap most of the time — but what better time to embrace it than at Chinese New Year? As the largest Chinatown outside Asia, and the oldest in the United States, San Francisco’s Chinatown knows how to turn on a show during the buzz of Chinese New Year.

A series of events are lined up for the 15-day festival, including a parade featuring more than a 100 floats and assorted performances including a 28-foot-long Golden Dragon float.

Around the city, Sydney

Home to one of the biggest overseas Chinese populations, Sydney is going all out during Lunar New Year.

Many of the city’s iconic landmarks including the Sydney Harbour Bridge will be illuminated bright red during the festival.

Fireworks will be launched on the first day of the festival. Lunar Lanterns in the shape of the Chinese zodiac signs will be installed around the city.

Central London, London

San Francisco may have the biggest Chinatown outside Asia, but when it comes to doing the festival right, London claims to throw the biggest Chinese New Year party outside Asia.

The day begins with a colorful Chinese parade that winds its way through the streets of the downtown West End district, followed by stage performances in Trafalgar Square. There are traditional dance troupes, acrobats, dragon and flying lion dances, opera and martial arts acts. The grand finale in Trafalgar Square ends with a fireworks spectacular.

Allas Sea Pool, Helsinki

In Chinese culture, the preparations ahead of Lunar New Year are almost as important as the day itself. During this period cleansing is an important ritual. What better way to usher in the Year of the Rooster than a deep cleansing spa and sauna?

Allas Sea Pool is a public Finnish sauna complex offering an amazing view of Helsinki.You can take a dip in one of the sea-facing pools before enjoying a steaming sauna session indoors.
Before taking to the showers, why not get a friend or even a stranger to whip your back with birch twig bundles to get the circulation going.

Maggie Choo’s, Bangkok

Looking for a few digestifs to followup the massive Lunar New Year blowout in Bangkok’s Yaowarat (Chinatown) neighborhood? Maggie Choo’s, a 1930s Shanghai-themed bar in the heart of Bangkok, is a great way to celebrate the Spring Festival in style.

Situated in the basement of Hotel Novotel Bangkok Fenix Silom, the bar — with an understated wooden entrance, private rooms and dim lighting — oozes secrecy and swagger.

Los Glaciares, Patagonia, Argentina

If getting outside your comfort zone is one of your New Year’s resolutions, the Spring Festival is a great time to make the first step. Stamina strengthening can be achieved by trekking the stunning Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina’s Patagonia.

The park is famous for its dramatic landscapes, including 47 large glaciers and three big lakes. January and February lie in the warmer summer months and are considered the ideal time to visit.

Disney California Adventure Park/Universal Studios Hollywood, Los Angeles

Imagine Megatron from “Transformers” greeting you with a cheery “ni hao” (Chinese for “hello”). Or Mickey Mouse fully kitted out in Chinese attire.

No, it’s not one of China’s numerous copycat theme parks. This is how two of Los Angeles’ most famous amusement parks — Universal Studios Hollywood and Disney California Adventure Park — are celebrating the Lunar New Year this year.

Both parks are offering specially themed Lunar New Year activities, including parades, musical performances and special cuisine.

Source: CNN Travel