Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom

Stoke-on-Trent has an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). It is located between Manchester to the north and Wolverhampton and Birmingham to the south on the M6 corridor in the West Midlands region. It lies on the upper valley of the River Trent at the south-west foothills of the Pennines, near the uplands of the Peak District to the north-east and the lowlands of the Midlands and Cheshire Plain to the south and west. The city ranges from 92 to 250 metres (301 to 820 ft) above sea level.

As well as Newcastle-under-Lyme, which adjoins it to the west, other nearby towns include Crewe, Nantwich, Alsager, Congleton, Biddulph, Kidsgrove, Stafford, Uttoxeter, Eccleshall, Cheadle, Stone and Leek.

Stoke-on-Trent is often known as "the city of five towns", the name given to it by local novelist Arnold Bennett, and is the only polycentric city in the UK. In his novels, Bennett used mostly recognisable aliases for five of the six towns, although he called Stoke "Knype". Bennett said that he believed "Five Towns" was more euphonious than "Six Towns", so he omitted Fenton, now sometimes referred to as "the forgotten town." As it is a city made up of multiple towns, the city forms a conurbation. In this case, the conurbation is bigger than Stoke itself, because the urban area of Stoke is contiguous with that of administratively separate Newcastle.

Stoke-on-Trent was a world centre for fine ceramics; a skilled design trade has existed in the area since at least the 12th century. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Stoke-on-Trent was hit hard by the general decline in the British manufacturing sector. Numerous factories, steelworks, collieries and potteries were closed, including the renowned Shelton Bar steelworks. This resulted in a sharp rise in unemployment in the 'high-skilled but low-paid' workforce.

The pottery firm Wedgwood and its subsidiary Royal Doulton are based nearby Barlaston, although much production now takes place in the firm's Indonesian factory. Portmeirion is based in Stoke town, and now owns the Spode and Royal Worcester ceramics brands. Ceramics firm Emma Bridgewater is based in Hanley. Burleigh Pottery is in Middleport. Wade Ceramics is in Etruria.

Moorcroft and Royal Stafford are based in Burslem. Aynsley China is in Longton and is one of the last remaining manufacturers of bone china in the city. Fine china manufacturer Dudson have premises in Hanley and Burslem. Churchill China have their main factory in Tunstall. Hotelware manufacturer Steelite is based in Middleport at the former Dunn Bennett site.

The architecture of North Staffordshire has a history expressive of locally acquired or manufactured building materials, including: quarried stone, coal and clay for brick and tile-making, ash, sand gravel and cement for concrete; and also cast iron steel and timber. Examples include:

The 18th-century canal-side Wedgwood estate of Etruria Works, one of the hubs of the Industrial Revolution

The expansion and renewal of industrial, civic and amenity buildings, including the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery.

Stoke-on-Trent's architecture is tied closely to the industrial heritage of the city. Bottle ovens (used for early pottery manufacture), canal-side and railway-related mill, factory or warehouse buildings evolved – within the tightly knit street pattern of each of the six townships – from transport links and adjacency to local generationally skilled labour. Post-WWII pottery factories developed a style typified by open-plan manufacturing areas, surrounded by wide expanses of window-walling from floor to ceiling, allowing good daylighting for intricate tasks such as lithography, fettling and decoration.

There are four further and higher education institutions in the local area, the two further education colleges being City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College and Stoke-on-Trent College. Formerly of Fenton, now located in a newly built structure on Leek Road, the Sixth Form College provides A Level teaching for around 1,800 students. Stoke-on-Trent College is much larger and less specialised, offering apprenticeships and adult education; it has a main campus (Cauldon Campus) in Shelton and a secondary campus in Burslem.

The city is home to University of Staffordshire, formerly North Staffordshire Polytechnic, with its main site in Shelton, near Stoke-on-Trent railway station. It gained its university status in 1992 as one of the post-1992 universities. Keele University School of Medicine uses facilities at the Royal Stoke University Hospital in Hartshill. Keele University was founded as the University College of North Staffordshire in 1949 with major involvement by Stoke-on-Trent City Council. It is located in the nearby village of Keele.