its housing was privately owned Victorian terraces, most of which were declared unfit and demolished during a rapid slum clearance policy, in Hulme there was resistance to building tower blocks and this led to the building of the mid-rise deck access flats of a "modular" living design. Hulme in the 1960s was an era of "socialist, post-war spirit - reflected across health, education and worker rights". The modernist and brutalist architectural style of the period, as well as practicalities of speed and cost of construction led to building what became known as the "cities in the sky". In Hulme, a new and (at the time) innovative design for deck access and tower living was attempted with four blocks, designed for families. This consisted of curved rows of low-rise flats with deck access far above the streets, known as the Hulme Crescents, designed to house 13,000. In this arrangement, vehicles remained on ground level with pedestrians on concrete walkways overhead, above the smoke and fumes of the street. People living in the new post war council homes were, within a decade treated as second class citizens. High-density housing was balanced with large green spaces and trees below, and the pedestrian had priority on the ground over cars. The 1960s redevelopment of Hulme split the area's new council housing into a number of sections. Hulme 2 was the area between Jackson Crescent and Royce Road. Hulme 3 was between Princess Road and Boundary Road based along the pedestrianised Epping Walk, Hulme 4 was between Princess Road and Royce Road and Hulme 5 - the "Crescents" themselves were between Royce Road and Rolls Crescent. The names of the "Crescents" harked back to the Georgian era, being named after architects of that time: Robert Adam Crescent, Charles Barry Crescent, William Kent Crescent and John Nash Crescent, together with Hawksmoor Close (a small straight block of similar design attached to Charles Barry Crescent). At the time, the "Crescents" won several design awards. They were also popular because they were some of the first council homes in Manchester to have central heating. The development even had some notable first occupants, such as Nico and Alain Delon. However, what eventually turned out to be recognised as poor design, workmanship and maintenance meant that the crescents introduced their own problems. Design flaws and unreliable 'system build' construction methods, as well as the 1970s oil crisis meant that heating