The city’s growth has been driven by new developments and opportunities for investment that increase the monetary value of properties. Although those who are able to invest in the city can greatly benefit from the increase in the value of their assets, the rise in prices has led to many members of the city excluded from the conventions of contemporary urban life. As over 60% of properties are not owner occupied, most people are vulnerable to gentrification through the forces of rising prices and no longer being able to choose where they belong within the city.
My thesis aims to explore how affordable housing in the city could be made possible within the context of contemporary urban growth and give more opportunities to the disregarded people of the city to benefit from the conventions of urban life.
The focus of my thesis starts by reimagining how luxury apartments around Manchester can be transformed so that the average Mancunian can afford a home within the city. To do so, I have taken Deansgate Square as my case study to find what an affordable home in the middle of the city would look like if the brief was different. To achieve affordability, several aspects of the project is revised from sellable floor area, specifications and construction to show what a feasible project that fulfils the affordable housing brief for developers. The next step of my thesis the expansion of the affordable housing network that targets soon to be gentrified areas of greater Manchester so that people outside of the city do not get displaced as well. This is achieved through research of demographics and social dynamics to develop metrics to predict vulnerable areas of Greater Manchester and protect people from displacement, giving them the ability to have greater command over their city.
