Right. I blame many, but I absolutely include the architects. The architects had very much been a part of the movement, and their previous work included Cumbern

Right. I blame many, but I absolutely include the architects. The architects had very much been a part of the movement, and their previous work included Cumbernauld. New Brutalism was very much the cargo cult of the day. Wasn't just the architects, it was most people involved. That site doesn't show the post war town plan for Hulme. Whilst modern it was still a community with amenities, church and I think swimming pool. The first phases of building were typical 60s semis and maisonettes with 4 stories. Amenities central to the marketing and town plan didn't get built at all, the end result bore no resemblance to the plans. That wasn't unique - it was increasingly common for the amenities to never arrive, or arrive as after thought long after people moved in. That wasn't unique to New Brutalism of course - even Wythenshawe an estate that's far more traditional had issues with inadequate amenities. There was certainly govt pressure, it was one of the reasons my father left local govt in '74 whilst central gov was reorganising for more centralisation. The bidding war for more housing by all post war govts meant less and less was being spent per family unit, and as you point out they got ever more industrial. For the record father was not town planning. :p The design, and specifically streets in the sky, and the very limited number of stairways wasn't shoddy construction. Neither was having to walk 1/4 mile to get from your door to three floors below. Those were designed in. Those weren't uncommon features. Many developments with the new town planning suffered from appalling access, or lots of walking to get a hundred yards. It was a feature not a bug. There's other factors too, like in an age of Police still walking the beat, they never patrolled the decks. They just walked through the middle at ground level. So much for streets in the sky. The Mancunian Way just added to the isolation, yet it would almost be the millenium before a footbridge was built. Fortunately, whoever bore most blame, The Crescents saw off the last of the town planning cargo cult.