Glasgow – A large urban concentration
Site Location:
The site of Glasgow
Present day Glasgow is a large urban settlement. The
site has grown since it was first settled thousands of
years ago. This is due to the following site advantages.
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Map showing location of
Glasgow within Scotland
River Clyde provided water for power, fishing and
drinking
Relief of land next to the Clyde is flat which allows
crops to be grown and easier to build on.
Original site grew up near the Molendinar burn a
stream near Glasgow cathedral. This area was
useful as it was above the area of flood risk.
Surrounding hills (Kilpatrick hills and Renfrewshire
heights) provided defense.
Natural fording point where people could cross the
river, this meant that many people would pass this
way increasing trade in the area. This also
provided a natural area for salmon fishing.
Historical Advantages:
Throughout time Glasgow’s main functions have changed. The site has been settled to some extent
since pre-historic times, however it did not become an important settlement till about the 10th and 11th
century.
12th century - Religious function
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Reorganized by King David I of Scotland and John, Bishop of Glasgow.
The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing
wealth and status to the town
Somewhere between 1175 and 1178 this position was strengthened even further when Bishop
Jocelin obtained for the episcopal settlement the status of burgh from King William the Lion,
allowing the settlement to expand with the benefits of trading monopolies and other legal
guarantees.
Sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which
survives to this day as the Glasgow Fair.
15th century – Educational and religious function
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Founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451
Elevation of the bishopric to an archbishopric in 1492 increasing the town's religious and
educational status.
18th century – trading function
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After the Acts of Union in 1707, Scotland gained trading access to the vast markets of the
British Empire
Many of Glasgow's streets, including Glassford Street and Buchanan Street, are named after
local tobacco traders
19th century – industrial function
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The opening of the Monkland Canal in 1791, facilitated access to the Iron-ore and Coal mines
in Lanarkshire.
. By the end of the 19th century the city was known as the "Second City of the Empire" and was
producing most of the ships and locomotives in the world.
Present day functions can be seen in the second part of the case study.
Zoning
Commercial
Buchanan street, argyle street and Sauchiehall street are
three of the main streets in Glasgow’s CBD. This area is
made up of shops and offices.
Recent changes in the CBD
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Pedestrianisation – Parts of Buchanan street, Argyle street and Sauchiehall street have been
pedestrianised since the 1970s, this was done to increase
pedestrian safety, discourages through traffic, makes shopping more pleasant
Road networks were altered to include one-way systems/bus/taxi lanes and cycle lanes this leads to
smoother traffic flow and may encourage commuters to use public transport
Modernised city centre shops, including new shopping malls (Buchanan galleries, St Enoch centre),
makes shopping more comfortable and counters the shift of shopping trends to out-of-town centres
New offices, apartments and hotels and conference centres raises the status of CBD for business,
generates high quality residences and encourages tourists to remain near the city centre
Renovated tourist facilities and cultural attractions encourages tourists to visit and stay in the city centre,
develops short city-break holidays. In Glasgow examples would be
.
Multi-storey car parks adjacent to shopping malls such as Buchanan galleries makes shopping more
convenient and attractive in the city centre
Residential
Inner city
After World War 2 Glasgow was faced with major housing shortage so in the late 1940s Glasgow adopted the
policy of replacing the ‘slum’ tenements with high rise flats. e.g Gorbals As high rises went up tenements came
down (slum clearances). High rise developments quickly deteriorated in to dingy, ill kept dwellings with resulting
problems of social exclusion and despair for the occupants because communities were dispersed by population
moves in to post war housing schemes such as Easterhouse and overspill towns like East Kilbride.
The Gorbals new town of the 1960s and 70s was an eyesore for miles around until demolition in the 1990s. By
the 1980s policies changed so that Glasgow tenements were refurbished in to highly desirable accommodation
and high rises have been replaced by low rises.
Gear project
Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal project (GEAR) was set up in 1976 to tackle problems of economic decline. The
east end of Glasgow had experienced plant closures and the loss of skilled and semi-skilled workers. The
population that was left in the east end after 1976 was disproportionately elderly, disabled, on low income and
suffering from ill health and high mortality rates.
Impacts:
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By 1986 two thirds of the population were living in new or modernized housing
Gear created over 2000 additional jobs between 1976 and 1985.
By 1987 the Scottish development agency had assembled 190 ha of industrial land, industrial units were
provided to attract industry.
However despite all of the efforts between 1976 – 1985 16,000 jobs were lost through economic decline.
Recent changes
East end of Glasgow will see the development of a athletes village as part of the 2014 commonwealth games.
Some of the housing will become social housing while some will be for sale. The aim is to improve the area.
Building of Glasgow harbour is turning old industrial areas (Brownfield sites) in to new modern housing with more
attractive environments.
Twentieth century housing
This is a new development with the building of new housing estates on the edges of towns in areas of cheaper
land. These areas have cul de sacs and no main passing through as well as garden areas. Examples in Glasgow
would be
.
Industrial
Many of the old industrial areas along the riverside such as the princes docks were old Brownfield sites that have
been redeveloped to form modernised areas that will attract more people , tourists and bring jobs and money
back to the area.
Changes include:
Princes dock (now pacific quay) is now the site of:
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BBCs new offices
Science centre ( Glasgow is now Britain’s third science city, making it a leading location for hi-tech
industries and biotechnology)
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Queens dock became:
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SECC
Eliphinstone sustainable village is planned. The 20-acre mixed residential neighbourhood is part of the
Queen's Dock 2 project and will be located to the west of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
It will comprise up to 1600 homes, community facilities including a nursery school, a healthcare surgery, a
restaurant and bar, a local supermarket and shops.
There has been the development of out of town industrial estates such as hillington and out of town shopping
centres such as Braehead. These areas have greater access and free parking, But they are still close to labour,
markets, good transport links.