Manchester named ‘most inspiring’ city in the UK

Manchester has been ranked ‘most inspiring’ city in the UK, in a top 10 list curated by Aura Print.

Garnering 8.33/10 on the company’s “inspiration index”, Manchester’s cultural presence has seen it surpass cities Brighton, Bristol, and London, which secured spots two, three, and four, respectively.

Alongside the number of art galleries and art museums, it is Manchester’s theatre and comedy scene – including the highest number of comedy clubs outside of London – as well as the abundance of creative job opportunities, that it owes its rating to.

Manchester’s street art, much of which can be found in student hubs of Withington and Fallowfield, also caught the attention of Aura Print.

For instance, @withingtonwalls, a community project “using vibrant public art as a catalyst for change”, famously commissioned murals of Marcus Rashford and Margaret Ashton, which can be found among streets of student houses.

Sofia El-Menshawy, a third year sociology student, notes Manchester’s new cultural hubs, having recently started work at Diecast, a factory building-turned-bar specialising in frozen daquiris and pizza.

“It is no wonder Manchester has been crowned most inspiring. My recent job search highlighted to me the variety of entertainment and social spaces throughout the city.”

This is just one of Manchester’s many food and drink scenes, showcased by TikTok accounts like @mcrfinest. The study also took into account Manchester’s 13.1 billion TikTok hashtags.

Northern cities Newcastle, Leeds, and Liverpool are all on the top 10 list, which all rank highly for number of creative art jobs per 100,000.

Fashion management student Grace Allan is testament to this, having landed an internship at a Manchester based swimwear design company for her placement year.

She posits that “London is usually seen as the sole location for creative people to work”, so “it is exciting to see Manchester being viewed as inspiring […] and that creative work is growing up North.”

Manchester houses 2 art and design universities in the top 84 and the University of Manchester offers 47 creative courses.