\n \u2018People Make Glasgow\u2019 is a genius marketing slogan, only because it is true. Glasgow is a city that blends its strong personal identity with a welcoming attitude. If the most important role for any city is to become a place with community, a place where people from different backgrounds can live in supportive environments, then Glasgow is off to a good start. You only have to remember the actions of protesters in Pollockshields as evidence, as they surrounded a UK Border Agency van shouting ‘These are our neighbours, let them go.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n As we try to increase city centre populations the city must provide space for the individual, for the family, and spaces for community. Development of its residential precincts should empower, not displace, it must avoid the siloed communities that leads to ghettoisation. New developments should encourage multigenerational, mixed and resilient communities. Development should happen with Glasgow\u2019s communities, not to Glasgow\u2019s communities.\n<\/p>\n
\n Humans are social animals. A city that brings its people together is one that embraces places and spaces for culture and the arts. This is something Glasgow already does brilliantly with world class venues such as the SSE Hydro and its (free) museums including the Riverside Museum and Kelvingrove Art<\/a> Gallery and Museum and recent investment in the Citizen\u2019s Theatre<\/a>. Venues like SWG3<\/a> and St Lukes show us that culture can colonise found spaces too, connecting past and future.\n<\/p>\n \n \n Access and movement is crucial to the \u2018Good City\u2019. We have all seen the diagrams that poke fun at the simplicity of Glasgow\u2019s \u2018clockwork orange\u2019 subway. But the Glasgow subway is a beautifully simple backbone to its public transport infrastructure, connecting deprived areas with the city\u2019s commercial core and its west end, and providing a simple solution for the travellers\u2019 \u2018final mile\u2019.\n<\/p>\n \n SPT is currently endeavouring to improve accessibility to the subway. Projects such as the Clyde Metro, misunderstood by some as being focussed on an airport link, are driven by the desire to further connect communities, tackle social exclusion and improve access to amenities in underserved areas. When we do invest in new low carbon public transport infrastructure, we need to celebrate the passengers\u2019 transport choice with architecture that celebrates both movement and place: a key quality of the design of Glasgow\u2019s Queen Street Station.\n<\/p>\n \n A visit to Europe\u2019s best cities, such as Copenhagen and Paris, will tell you that Glasgow is lagging behind in the transition to active travel. Despite investment in the Avenues programme, cycling remains niche in the city and many urban and suburban streets remain the territory of the bus and car.\u00a0 More needs to be done to aid a cultural shift to walking and cycling as they are the cheapest and most equitable transport modes. As well as investing in infrastructure, the answer is to focus on creating beautiful streets and places that make walking the natural choice.\n<\/p>\n \n Glasgow\u2019s birthday year saw the release of the city\u2019s tall building guidance. A key attribute of The Good City is Transit Oriented Development (TOD), and I hope that we see taller buildings clustering around existing transport hubs, such as those promised at Charing Cross station, delivered in a way that promotes the integration of their new communities with the city\u2019s existing populations and infrastructure.\n<\/p>\n \n The Covid- pandemic reminded us, somewhat brutally, that the buildings that form our urban infrastructure need to be able to respond to the changing needs of society. But changes to Glasgow\u2019s buildings is nothing new. The building that is home to GOMA today for example, started life as a Tobacco Lord\u2019s house before becoming the Royal Bank of Scotland\u2019s Royal Exchange, and then home to the Stirling<\/a>\u2019s Library collection, before becoming the Gallery of Modern Art. I\u2019m certain it will have other uses in the future.\n<\/p>\nEdward Dymock(Image: BDP)\n<\/p>\n