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MediaCityUK

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MediaCityUK

MediaCityUK is a 200-acre (81 ha) mixed-use property development on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The project was developed by Peel Media; its principal tenants are media organisations and the Quayside MediaCityUK shopping centre. The land occupied by the development was part of the Port of Manchester and Manchester docks.

The BBC signalled its intention to move jobs to Manchester in 2004, and the Salford Quays site was chosen in 2006. The Peel Group was granted planning permission to develop the site in 2007, and construction of the development, with its own energy generation plant and communications network, began the same year. Based in Quay House, the principal tenant is the BBC, whose move marks a large-scale decentralisation from London. ITV Granada completed the first phase of its move to MediaCityUK on 25 March 2013, followed in two stages by the northern arm of ITV Studios: the second stage involved Coronation Street being moved to a new production facility on Trafford Wharf next to the Imperial War Museum North at the end of 2013. The Studios on Broadway houses seven high-definition studios, claimed to be the largest such facility in Europe.

MediaCityUK was developed in two phases; the 36-acre (15 ha) first phase was completed in 2011, and the second is dependent on its success. The site became Europe's first WiredScore Certified Neighbourhood in 2020, with all commercial buildings achieving either a WiredScore Platinum or Silver rating. Metrolink, Greater Manchester's light-rail system, was extended to MediaCityUK with the opening of the MediaCityUK tram stop on 20 September 2010 and further extensions are planned. Road access was improved by the construction of the Broadway Link Road.

Salford Quays, at the eastern end of the Manchester Ship Canal on the site of the former Manchester Docks, became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom after the closure of the dockyards in 1982. MediacityUK, an area on both banks of the ship canal, is part of a joint tourism initiative between Salford City Council and Trafford Borough Council encompassing The Quays, Trafford Wharf and parts of Old Trafford. The Quays development includes The Lowry Arts Centre and the Imperial War Museum North.

A total of 200 acres (81 ha) of land was earmarked for the development of MediaCityUK. The first phase of its development was primarily focused on a 36-acre (15 ha) site at Pier 9 on Salford Quays. In 2010 it was announced that the ITV production centre would be built on Trafford Wharf in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford.

In 2003, reports emerged that, as part of the plans for the renewal of its royal charter, the BBC was considering moving whole channels or strands of production from London to Manchester and closing Pebble Mill in Birmingham. Early discussions involved a plan whereby the BBC would move to a new media village proposed by Granada Television at its Bonded Warehouse site at Granada Studios in the city.

Proposals to relocate 1,800 jobs to Manchester were unveiled by Director-General of the BBC, Mark Thompson, in December 2004. The BBC's justification for the move was that its spending per head was low in northern England, where it had low approval ratings, and its facilities at New Broadcasting House in Manchester needed replacing. An initial list of 18 sites was narrowed to a short-list of four during 2005, two in Manchester – one at Quay Street, close to Granada Studios, and one on Whitworth Street and two in Salford – one close to the Manchester Arena and one at Pier 9 on Salford Quays. The site at Salford Quays was chosen in June 2006, and the move north was conditional on a satisfactory licence fee settlement from the government.

The chosen site was the last undeveloped site at Manchester Docks, an area that had been subject to considerable investment and was emerging as a tourist destination, residential and commercial centre. The vision of the developers Peel Group, Salford City Council, the Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company and the Northwest Regional Development Agency was to create a significant new media city capable of competing on a global scale with developments in Copenhagen and Singapore.

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