Herbert Manzoni
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Sir Herbert Manzoni CBE MICE |
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|---|---|
| Born |
21 March 1899 Birkenhead, Merseyside, England |
| Died | 18 November 1972 (aged 73) |
| Nationality | British |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Civil |
| Institutions | Institution of Civil Engineers (president), |
Sir Herbert John Baptista Manzoni CBE MICE (21 March 1899 – 18 November 1972) was a British civil engineer known for holding the position of City Engineer and Surveyor of Birmingham from 1935 until 1963. This position put him in charge of all municipal works and his influence on the city, especially following World War II, completely changed the image of Birmingham.
Manzoni was born in Birkenhead, the son of a Milanese sculptor, and was educated both in Birkenhead and Liverpool. He moved to Birmingham in 1923 and became an engineering assistant in the Sewers and Rivers Department. He became Chief Engineer for the department four years later. Unlike many other cities, planning and architectural issues came largely under the control of the city's Chief Engineer.
In 1935, Herbert Humphries retired from his post as City Surveyor and Manzoni took over the post at the age of 36. In 1941, Manzoni anticipated the damage that would be caused by the Birmingham Blitz and, in October 1941, announced the creation of four advisory panels within the council to focus upon Housing, Traffic, Redevelopment Areas and Limitation of the city. A 1938 report identified that there was a serious housing shortage that still needed to be addressed in Birmingham. Manzoni launched a citywide slum clearance scheme, and replaced the housing with high density schemes consisting of tower blocks. He used the Town and Country Planning Act 1944, which he contributed to, to designate redevelopment areas in Birmingham. Manzoni took advantage of the Housing Act of 1936 to designate 267 acres (1.08 km2) of land in Duddeston and Nechells as a redevelopment area. This was approved in 1950. The first tower blocks to be built in the area were completed in 1954 and the entire scheme was completed in 1972. He also designated a further four in Newtown, Ladywood, Lee Bank, and Highgate, totalling around 1,400 acres (5.7 km2). Together, they contained nearly 250,000 houses that were considered unfit for habitation and they were one half of the entire slum property in the city. The houses were purchased by the council using Compulsory Purchase Orders.
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