53.4667 degrees north, 2.2333 degrees west vs 51.0500 degrees north, 114.0667 degrees west

The city was the wonder of the modern world; a nexus of innovation and commerce; a place that drew engineers, inventors, business people, workers, social commentators, politicians, writers and visitors from all over the world.

The city attracted fortune hunters and financiers.

The city was fascinating because everything about the place was new. It grew from a small town to a world city in a few decades and rapidly built the social infrastructure of a modern city to support its astonishingly successful commercial base.

The city  became the prototype modern city in which half the population derived much of their income from a single source.

The region also developed a highly talented work force. Skilled engineering was crucial. The improved transport infrastructure enabled people to travel easily in search of work, to recruit business partners, to build a quality life style, to obtain the necessary materials and build the required facilities. **

53.4667 degrees north, 2.2333 degrees west and 51.0500 degrees north and 114.0067 degrees west are the geographical coordinates of two cities with similar evolutionary characteristics. Their populations grew quickly both in numbers and  diversity. Their economic, social and cultural evolution have many similar  characteristics. Their growth rate inflicted many like problems.

53.4667 north, 2.233 degrees west is the location of Manchester, U K  which flourished for many decades beginning in the early seventeen hundreds. The economic driver was the cotton industry. 51.0550 north, 114.0067, west is the location of Calgary, Alberta, now undergoing a very similar transition, beginning in the 1940s. The economic driver in this case is fossil fuels.

The major difference is three centuries.

**  Osborne, Roger; Iron, Steam and Money; Random House 2013 pages 215-225

What is not the same are the time lines; differing by three hundred years. One is Manchester in the U K and the second is Calgary, Canada. The Manchester driver was cotton, the Calgary driver is fossil fuels.

As always there is very little new under the sun.

We an thank —–