John van Aitken is a cultural worker exploring urban gentrification through the dynamics of creative destruction. His current practice-based PhD is centred on the transformation of Salford’s landscapes through housing-led redevelopment. It explores how expanded photographic practices can visualise new ways to open up debate about the consequences of such changes. Co-founder of the Institute of Urban Dreaming with Jane Brake (MMU), their recent publication explores the use of atmospheres and sensory spaces in the marketing of new vertical apartments (Being vertical: staging the vertical subject on the Manchester Salford border). He currently works as a Principal Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire.
