Standing behind the counter of the corner shop he's owned since 1990, Kaleem Ahmed remembers what Beswick was like, before the Commonwealth Games changed this corner of east Manchester forever. "When I first bought this shop the News of the World did a story about 'The worst street in Britain'," he says.
"It was about a five-minute walk away and, you know what, they had it spot on. This was a crime-ridden, forgotten part of Manchester.
"The old Grey Mare Lane police station was next door, but they paid that no regard at all. Being a shopkeeper here was a case of 'See no evil, hear no evil'. That was the only way to survive."
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Costing £330m, Manchester 2002 was the largest Commonwealth Games in history. It's come to be regarded as a turning point in Manchester's history, building on the transformation kickstarted by the 1996 IRA bomb by bringing back to life deprived districts and regenerating vast parts of the city.
It saw the construction of several state-of-the art sporting facilities in east Manchester - including the velodrome, tennis centre and the City of Manchester Stadium. Following the games 20 years ago, the stadium became Manchester City's new home.
And, without that, it's hard to imagine the Abu Dhabi takeover and the billions of pounds of investment that followed, catapulting City to the highest echelons of world football. But nowhere saw the impact more than the estates around what would come to be known as Eastlands. Since 2002, more than 10,000 new homes have been built in the wider area and its population has doubled.
New businesses, schools, a college, a leisure centre and a Metrolink line have also brought jobs and opportunities. The new £365m Co-op Live arena, due to open in December next year, is the latest high profile development.
And Kaleem, for one, is in no doubt the Commonwealth Games and the regeneration that followed was a positive thing. "The Commonwealth Games put east Manchester on the map," he says.
"Before, if I told people where the shop was they didn't have a clue, now, everyone automatically knows where I'm talking about. The stadium really made a difference. It brought in investment and then, when Sheikh Mansour took over City, the money really started pouring in.
"Before you could buy a terrace house for £4,000-5,000 - no-one wanted to move here. Now they're going for £150,000 and new builds are £250,000. It's brought more professional people here.
"It's a place people want to live now. I wouldn't use the word desirable, but it's getting that way. And you can see with the development in Ancoats that the city centre is coming further out this way."
It's a view shared by Liam Brady, 70, who has lived in the area for most of his life. His house was compulsory purchased during the demolitions that made way for the games. He used the money to buy a flat and says that since then the area has been transformed beyond recognition.
"It was really run down round here, it was in a bad way. There was nothing. But it [The Commonwealth Games and subsequent regeneration] brought a lot of employment for people.
"The only thing is house prices have gone through the roof now. Twenty years ago you couldn't sell a house round here it was so run down, now it's hard to buy one."
But not everyone sees it that way. Tom Quaye is sitting outside East Manchester Leisure Centre, having just been for a swim. He welcomes much of the regeneration, but has concerns about the close links between Manchester council and the Abu Dhabi United Group Investment fund 's Manchester Life property deal, which is behind much of the recent development in the area.
"It was pretty bleak and desolate round here before, so I'm happy with all the regeneration," said Tom. "But I do have concerns about where the money came from. We live in a capitalist society, so I know compromises have to be made, but I don't think enough due diligence was done."
We've reported on every stage of east Manchester's regeneration journey through the decades. Take a trip through changing times here:
- On the empty streets of Manchester's ghost town
- How the B of the Bang ended with a whimper
- The huge impact of Manchester City's Abu Dhabi revolution on Manchester - what we have won, and lost
- We live in the shadow of the gasholders by the Etihad. What do we get now they're going?
He's not alone. Human rights campaigners have criticised the fund's links to what Amnesty International has described as a government which 'commits serious human rights violations'.
The United Arab Emirates say they are committed to safeguarding human rights, last year launching a National Human Rights Institution in Abu Dhabi, which they say will follow the 'Paris Principles' adopted by the UN General Assembly, for the 'protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms'.
Approving the formation of the body in a 2020 meeting attended by Sheikh Mansour, UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: "Women, children, labourers, the elderly, people of determination and the vulnerable have rights that must be safeguarded. The authority will advance our country’s efforts in protecting human rights."
The UAE's human rights record is not the only concern about Manchester's relationship with Emirati investors, however. A recent report by university academics has raised concerns about what it calls the 'transparency, value for money and ethics' of the Manchester Life deal, claiming the council could have got more money for the land.
To date, says the University of Sheffield's report, the joint venture has built 1,468 private apartments, mainly for rent, in 'rapidly gentrifying' Ancoats.
Many more units are said to be planned. But the report argues that under the terms of the deal, the council allowed the group to hold all land leaseholds, property assets and income rights through subsidiaries registered in Jersey, leading to questions around tax.
Investment from Abu Dhabi is said to have been a major source of financing for Manchester's sports and real estate assets, And that relationship is said to have 'deepened in recent years' with other ventures involving other Abu Dhabi investors.
The 'Manchester Off-shored' report claims the Manchester Life deal appears to be lop-sided in the favour of Sheikh Mansour. "Our assessment of the Manchester Life development is that Manchester City Council 'sold the family silver too cheap' - it represents a transfer of public wealth to private hands that is difficult to justify as prudent," say the authors.
It's a claim Manchester council firmly rejects. The town hall says it got the best deal it could at a time when there was little interest in the area, a deal which has seen it transform 'from somewhere few people wanted to be to an internationally-recognised success story.'
Nonetheless, local councillor Majid Dar has mixed feelings about the legacy of the games that led to that transformation.
"The investment, the facilities, bringing sport to our city and having the spotlight on east Manchester, that side of it was amazing, but what it left behind wasn't enough," he said.
"It's the local residents who were left to pick up the pieces - all the litter, the thousands of people coming into the area, traffic, parking.
"If it were to happen again I would like to do things slightly differently. Even now there's not enough for the young kids to do, I would have liked them to have been more involved so there could feel a part of it and have the facilities left behind after for them to use."
And while much has changed for the better in the area - child poverty in the Ancoats and Beswick ward as a whole is falling, down from 27 per cent in 2018 to 23.2 per cent last year - some problems still remain. It remains one of the poorest parts of Manchester and in 2019 parts of Beswick were among the top two percent of the most deprived areas in England.
Mazhar Hashmi, 67, who has run a newsagents on Newcombe Close on the Grey Mare Lane estate opposite the Etihad since 1989, says things aren't changing fast enough. "In a way things have improved, but it's taking far too long," he said.
"This place was supposed to be knocked down and I was supposed to be moving, but that's all been put back two years now, so we'll just have to wait and see if it happens. There's still a lot of crime, a lot of drug dealing and the traffic now is a nightmare, especially on match days.
"There's been a lot of investment, a lot of money, but things like the Metrolink doesn't make any difference to me. I don't get any trade from the college or the new businesses. If anything I've lost trade to the new Tesco."
But it's not just local residents that have seen vast upheavals over the last two decades. City fans have also witnessed major changes since the club moved to the stadium left by the games - then the City of Manchester Stadium, now the Etihad - in August 2003.
Kevin Parker is secretary of the Manchester City Official Supporters Club. He said: "I think at the time many City fans were unhappy at the idea of moving from their spiritual home at Maine Road, but it was almost a fait accompli anyway - as supporters we had no control over the move.
"The area around the stadium was pretty run down back then. There hadn't been a great deal of money spent there for a long time.
"But I think in many ways the move benefited both Eastlands and Moss Side, if you look at the improvements that have been made to both areas since then.
"I started watching City at Maine Road back in 1973, but I have always been glad of the move to the new stadium. It's safer, it's newer, the views are better and, of course, all the success we've had here."
In response to the criticisms raised in the 'Manchester Off-shored' report, a Manchester council spokesman said: "We reject any suggestion that the sale of the sites involved in the Manchester Life joint venture was not a good deal for the council and the city. Land was valued by independent experts, using the nationally accepted 'red book' valuation benchmark, and we got the best overall deal we could for each site at a time when there was very little market interest in the area.
"The value of that deal includes not just the initial receipt for the land but also site-specific overage arrangements, and profit sharing payments. These were always envisaged as longer-term arrangements – the council is due to several million pounds in this financial year through the first such payments.
"On top of this, the 1,500 new homes and the new businesses which the Manchester Life developments have made possible are generating significantly more in extra council tax and business rates income. This report does not reflect what Manchester Life has achieved.
"Through concentrating £250m of private investment, at speed and scale into Ancoats and New Islington, it has acted as a catalyst creating confidence and attracting further investment into the area. The area has gone from somewhere few people wanted to be to an internationally-recognised success story.
"Its significance should not be understated but nor should it be overstated – it is only part of a much wider picture of growth and investment in Manchester."
Read more of today's top stories here
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