Vanishing Skyline
By 2054, East Manchester is projected to face extreme levels of air pollution, putting the city at risk of becoming unlivable. Without immediate intervention, continued urban growth, rising transport emissions, and ineffective environmental policies will further deteriorate air quality, leading to widespread health impacts and confining residents indoors. Recognising the urgency of this trajectory, this project proposes a preventative design response, rethinking the relationship between urban form and pollution to avoid such a future.
This thesis reimagines East Manchester through a generative urban design framework aimed at reducing pollution exposure and improving pollutant dispersion. A custom computational tool was developed to generate and evaluate hundreds of urban form iterations using key performance metrics, guiding the creation of a high-performing urban framework that balances livability with environmental resilience, integrating new building typologies that align architectural form with environmental goals. To make the methodology and findings accessible to a broad range of users, an interactive app was developed to support informed decision-making by enabling comparisons across different urban design iterations.
This project addresses the urban implications of air pollution by exploring how spatial design influences both pollutant dispersion and human exposure. Through the refinement of block geometry, building height variation, street networks, and building typologies, the proposal aims to improve accessibility, enhance air circulation, and reduce future pollution risk.
