In June 1996 a bomb exploded in Manchester, devastating the heart of the city and destroying more than 1.5 million square feet of prime retail and office space. Responding to the crisis and recognizing an opportunity, government, business and community leaders came together determined to remake the environment and image of their City Centre. The Manchester Millennium Task Force was created and Urban Strategies was appointed Master Planning Advisor. Our initial responsibility was to manage an international design competition for the reconstruction plan. Our ongoing role included assisting the Task Force in presentations to senior political figures for funding requests, managing and chairing the design juries evaluating each of the individual redevelopment projects and reviewing the on-going public realm projects. The rebuilding of a comprehensively improved City Centre is now substantially complete to universal acclaim. Urban Strategies also assisted the city in re-discovering its lost riverfront and regenerating the edge of centre districts.