The area suffered accelerating economic decline from the 1930s and depopulation in the years after the Second World War, particularly during the slum clearances of the 1960s.

Since the 1990s, Ancoats' industrial heritage has been recognised and its proximity to the city centre has led to investment and substantial regeneration.

The southern part of the area was branded New Islington by property developers Urban Splash, with redevelopment centred on the Daily Express Building.

[2] For the purpose of local government elections, the area is part of the Ancoats and Beswick ward on Manchester City Council.

The knowledge that its construction would make the transport of raw materials and finished goods more convenient gave industrialists the confidence to build their cotton mills.

Ancoats grew rapidly to become an important industrial centre and as a result it also became a densely populated area.

[7] Cotton was not the only industry in the locality, as foundries and engineering factories were required to produce the machinery needed by the mills.

Eventually the company became known as John Hetherington and Sons Ltd and the principal factory was at Vulcan Works on Pollard Street.

Their speciality was a machine called a Combined Opener and Scutcher that was very effective in the cleaning of most types of cotton without damaging the staple or losing serviceable fibre.

Most of the Italians who arrived in Ancoats were from Liguria, in northwest Italy, and Frosinone and Gaeta, southeast of Rome.

[7] The Methodists were very active in Ancoats at the end of the 19th century – they ran both a men's workhouse and women's night shelter (with coffee tavern).

[10] Given the historically high levels of Irish and Italian immigration, a large proportion of Ancoats' population has been Roman Catholic.

Cotton spinning ceased in Manchester and other textile-related uses were found for the mills: clothes manufacture, machinery repairs and warehouses for imported goods' rag trade.

The 1960s witnessed further decline as, during the mass clearance of the area's terraced homes, the population was re-housed in the north and east of the city.

Despite the clearance of Victorian terraces during the early 1960s and the relocation of most households to overspill estates like Hattersley and Gamesley, many new houses and flats were built in Ancoats by the local council.

Newspaper printing, one of Ancoats' 20th century industries, fell victim to changes in technology, with the Daily Express ceasing to be published from its famous black glass building in 1989.

The closure of Express Printers was also the start of Ancoats' renewal, as the impact of low investment and increasing unemployment became recognised.

A fictional singer, Ann Coates, is credited with backing vocals on the 1986 single "Bigmouth Strikes Again" by the Smiths.

The British trip-hop band The Baby Namboos released a song and album titled Ancoats 2 Zambia in 1999.