In this series, we explore the City of Sunderland as it adapts to the challenges of the 21st Century.

We'll talk to people who are steering Sunderland's future while preserving its heritage, including politicians, business people, entrepreneurs, civic leaders, and even a celebrity or two.

We want to examine how a city can restore itself found new life and map out a prosperous future.
And we look at the challenges that remain as an old place feels its way into the new century.

This isn't just about a city in the northeast of England. This is about the urban organism.

We'll help you understand what makes it work, what gives it life, how it shapes a sense of itself, and how external factors can starve it of oxygen or breathe new spirits into it.

We'll provide a manual to the human settlement so that you can take it apart piece by piece and put it back together better. Come on a journey with us as we explore Sunderland and go beneath the surface of a city hoping for recovery.