The City Is Ours was created after an idea in a pub in Bury. Carl Entwistle the creator was turning in a feature film called Blackpool Lights, created by Patrick Hollis staring Corinne Potter who plays Corinne 'Red' Newman in The City Is Ours. Carl Entwistle said to Patrick Hollis we should start using A.I more and demonstrated that if you have an idea, AI can help you write it. Carl came up with the idea of a crime drama starring Patrick Hollis as the lead. The idea was pitched to Corinne and she was on board with the project, she wanted to play one of the gangsters. The names, the fictional city came into place and The City Is Ours started Pre-Production in January 2023, Finished Production in May 2024 and finally finished Post Production in April 2025.
Zain Ali who played Tariq Akhan and served as a producer for the show, suggested to Carl Entiwstle that the Akhan family dynamics would be more interesting if MK, the middle brother, was changed into a female character. Thus MK Akhan became Mariam Kauser Akhan and was subsequently played by Leyla Barakat.