In 1931, Wythenshawe was incorporated into Manchester City, which was the last major change in terms of Manchester’s city limits. Manchester’s economy came to incorporate the electrical and engineering industries in the early 1900s. Trafford Park, the first industrial park in the world, opened in 1910. Two leading U.S. businesses, the Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Ford Motor Company, opened their branches in Manchester during this period as well. The city's industrial manufacturing facilities played a key role in the Second World War, which included the Avro aircraft factory. But Manchester’s wartime efforts resulted in excessive bomb damage during the Nazi ‘Blitz’ attack on Britain.

The city’s population of 766,311 in 1931 began to decline, as well as their textile production, which was largely a consequence of the Great Depression. The commercial activity of the Royal Exchange ceased in 1968, and in 1974 the Manchester Airport became part of the city under the Local Government Act.

However, Manchester had other industries to fall back on. It became a centre of research and development, making significant contributions to the computer revolution. Alan Turing, the father of ‘modern computing’, worked at Manchester University, whose ideas resulted in the first stored-program computer that could run programmes, namely the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine. The Manchester Mark I followed in 1949. These inventions became part of the first commercially available computers named Ferranti Star.
 
The Manchester United football club, founded in 1878, earned international fame in the 20th Century as one of the best-known football clubs, even to this day. The city underwent extensive redevelopments in the 1950s and 60s, with old housing replaced by high-rise apartment buildings. The building of the Manchester Arndale Shopping Centre was also a milestone for the city.
   
Thatcherism in Manchester marked the 1980s, with a restructuring process leading to the demise of many traditional industries. However, the city began to recuperate toward the end of the decade, thanks to the rising prosperity of the UK and its creative music industry, including the new music venue Fac 51 Hacienda (The Haçienda) and the record label Factory Records.