This is what Manchester will look like in 2123 – according to AI

People’s Postcode Lottery recruited artificial intelligence experts to use Midjourney to envision Manchester’s future. Architects and urban designers have not been impressed.

“The vision here is pretty underwhelming,” said Danny Crump, director of urbanism at Broadway Malyan.

The next hundred years should see Manchester with more biodiversity, more sustainable urban drainage systems, and trees, he said. He also expected to see a more inclusive environment with a pedestrian-first mentality.

“I believe a future Manchester will be best conceived by communities, and not by 1s and 0s,” Crump concluded.

Laura Sherliker, director at The Fairhursts Design Group, was of a similar mind.

“The images shown of Manchester 100 years from now still don’t seem to be innovative enough and fail to take into consideration the needs of the people and businesses based here,” she said.

“As exciting as it is to be offered a look at the future, if it is to carry any weight it needs to illustrate an understanding of the real-life challenges we face as a city and provide tangible design solutions to address them,” she continued.

“In my opinion, this can only be achieved through the intelligence-based vision and creativity of a human designer.”

People’s Postcode Lottery had Midjourney imagine Manchester’s city centre in 2123. Credit: Midjourney

Stephen Hodder of Hodder + Partners acknowledged that predicting what 2123 may look like is a difficult task.

“Predicting the townscape of the future is challenging because, although constantly changing, the development of our cities is a much more evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, process,” he said. “Witness Los Angeles as we know it compared with the dystopian vision in Bladerunner in 2019.

“Although new technologies may give rise to new building forms, I believe the imperatives of climate change and heritage protection, together for concerns for people and places, will see much more subtle interventions than these visions for Manchester in 100 years,” he continued.

“The vision for relatively car-free streets is more of a reality.”

Ernst ter Horst, an associate at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, was more generous in his feedback.

“Biodome in Piccadilly Gardens could be fun,” he mused. “By a wealth donor, perhaps – or indeed, several wealthy donors who have appeared to have created a neo-classical, amorphic glass futuristic mash-up!”

While the architects that Place North West contacted were dismissive of the vision, the People’s Postcode Lottery recruited Chris Lawson, owner of CK Architectural to share his insights. He was much more kind.

He commented: “The construction in Manchester city centre gives a great modern feature to any street/square. With a good vertical emphasis, it can add retail space, a great outlook for the future, and not rely on larger floor areas.

“Introducing a section of greenery could give a level of decarbonisation and biodiversity too. This is something that I am a firm believer will have to lead future architecture in cityscapes just like this one, so I do understand the AI inspiration here.”

Regarding the Oxford Road image, Lawson noted that the glass and mirrored buildings had a futuristic feel.

“The curved mirrors would help bring sunlight and energy to typically shaded places in cities, allowing energy capture and more growth to become intertwined into city life,” he said. “This is of course not to forget reflecting and enhancing the exciting historic buildings that make the fabric of this city. Creating a solid harmony of modern and traditional architecture will be the future of most major UK cities.”

What do you make of the AI creations? Let us know in the comments. If the future is what intrigues you, don’t miss our Innovation in Property event on Thursday at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. Book your ticket now.