Manchester likes to try harder, keenly aware that it disputes with Birmingham its status as England’s second city. Sometimes it tries a little too hard. I treasure a recent statement from City Hall entitled: “Moss Side Becoming a More Popular Place to Live”. But it is one of the few UK cities outside London to maintain a self-sustaining indigenous population of good architects as well as inviting in the famous names. For once, then, this is not a review of a building, but a review of a city in full renewal mode. It’s not all good.

Let’s start with what’s coming up over the next few months: three cultural buildings that each cost £30m, give or take a few millions; a civic-space project; and a sports stadium. First, Sir Michael Hopkins’ extension to what used to be called the Manchester City Art Gallery, but which, now doubled in size, is called simply the Manchester Art Gallery. That opens in May. June sees the launch of the tall iceberg-like form of Ian Simpson’s Urbis building in the remade centre, while a further £12m has been spent on the rest of the area around it, known as the Millennium Quarter.

In July, Daniel Libeskind’s considerably less self-effacing new Imperial War Museum opens, down by the Ship Canal near Old Trafford. Also that month, the £77m Commonwealth Games stadium by Arup Associates will be inaugurated along with the Games. It is an example of the new breed of racy-looking high-design stadia with masts and curves, designed to expand into a soccer stadium later. The Games are the reason why everything is being finished now, so that there’s something else in town for people to look at other than people running round a track and throwing or hitting things.