Based on the CFD technique, fifteen cases were evaluated for the airflows and pollutant dispersions inside urban street canyons formed by slanted roof buildings. The simulated wind fields and concentration contours show that W/H, W/h and h/H (where W is the street width, and H and h are the heights of buildings at the leeward and windward sides of the street, respectively) are the crucial factors in determining the vortex structure and pollutant distribution within a canyon. It is concluded that (1) in a symmetrical canyon, at W/H =0.5 two vortices (an upper clockwise vortex between the slanted roofs and a lower counter-clockwise one) are developed and pollutants accumulate on the windward side of the street, whereas at W/H=2.0 only one clockwise vortex is generated and thus pollution piles up on the leeward side, (2) in a step-up canyon with W/H =0.5 to 2.0 (at h/H =1.5 to 2.0)and a step-down canyon with W/h=1.0 (at h/H =0.5 to 0.667), the pollution level close to the lower building is higher than that close to the taller building since a clockwise vortex is generated in the step-up canyon and a counter-clockwise one in the step-down canyon, (3) in a narrow step-down canyon with W/h=0.5 (at h/H =0.667) very poor ventilation properties is detected, and inside a wider step-down canyon with W/h=2.0 the vortex structure and consequently pollutant distribution varies greatly with h/H.