Connection
Manchester School of Architecture
Militsa Clerides, Ana de Miguel, Neeladit Nandi, Olga Vlasova, Lanshan Ye
Our proposal looks to connect people in cities literally, figuratively and environmentally through reinforced public transport links that encourage them to engage with one another and improve their overall wellbeing.
The scheme places social hubs called ‘connectors’ at bus, metro and tram stops around the city of the immediate future. We have developed five programme prototypes, each one feeding into the other. Between them they include water recycling units, educational areas, productive gardening and markets, all aimed at engaging people in collective activity while also improving the economy of the local community and reducing its carbon emissions. As people engage with the connectors, they build up credits that allow them to ‘pay’ for their transport.
In time, we hope public transport will replace most private car ownership and, in turn, minimise road use. We imagine roads being partially transformed into green corridors by 2050, and have designed the connectors to link into these, creating even more connections between people, nature and the city.
