RETHINKING? REVAMPING? REGENERATING? REMODELLING? REUSING? RECREATING?…PÚBLIC REALM

I copied below a fragment of a brochure selling Gasking View Project in Glasgow…I’m sure you’ve seen the advertising campaign for the builders (the sweeties one). Well, not sure I’m going to earn any points telling this in open but I have no problem at all as I’m not compiting either expecting to earn anything and if someone thinks  I’m an obnoxious mature catalan women, I will tell that yes, probably I am, but also a committed citizen and a committed artist starting to get fed up of nonsense.

I arrived to Glasgow in 1998, in the first month I had a crash course about which places I could go, not go, fly over, forget about…not that I try to be mean but normally I’m deaf to the sort of statements made for tourists and to the urban reputations. Not sure what the people mean about “conflictive districts” as most of the times what I see is a continuous shift of policies downsizing the real demands of the communities in favour of dissappearance of common goods.  I’m proud to say I know very well Glasgow as I ‘d been roaming around all areas, talking to lots of people, sharing tables and being a committed citizen along the years. Drumchapel has been one of these places nobody marked in my map at the beginning but now is one of my second homes.

So, …and apologies for my tortured english…why this long introduction ? just because I want the reader to note that if I talk about Drumchapel (G15 in the postal code) no hell is opening under my feet and no stigma appears in my face, on the contrary I smile of happiness thinking I’ll be soon around the place. And also because I would like to question everybody about an issue…Why a new development plan for a community renames the area ? sorry if I mistaken but I’d been looking around the new map for Gaskin view and I had problems to locate any mention to Drumchapel. Because YES, Gaskin View area is a piece of Drumchapel.

Regenerating? Revamping? Renaming? DECONSTRUCTING? FRAGMENTING?

However, this sort of thing is not exclusive for Glasgow, I have the “luck” to be born in an area which shows the most bizarre examples  of lands especulation. No kidding. And we mantein the top of the pops in renaming unwelcomed and conflictive plans.

Some links ( in catalan but some have part in english)

http://www.moviments.net/noalplacaufec/

http://www.pangea.org/ccqc/cinturo.htm

http://www.coordinadoraraval.org

http://labarcelonetaambelaiguaalcoll.blogspot.com/

http://www.sitesize.net/repensarbarcelona/index.htm

AND THE BROCHURE TEXT (I mean no offense)

A new generation of homes is forming the future of the West of Glasgow at Gaskin View.
Situated a short distance away from Goals Academy Glasgow West, the exciting residential development is minutes from Glasgow City Centre and features a selection of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom homes.
Gaskin View is the first of eight areas undergoing transformation in the area by housing developers NCV (New City Vision); a major new force in housebuilding.
The location boasts easy access to the city centre while enjoying more peaceful surroundings.

Extract of Glasgow’s City Plan

City Plan – Part 1 – Development Strategy – Areas of Focus – Drumchapel

The Way Forward

The Council will prepare a Local Development Strategy for the whole area to address the complexity of issues in Drumchapel and co-ordinate regeneration and investment. The Local Development Strategy will assist Drumchapel by dovetailing the anticipated physical change, including work on the New Neighbourhood, with the social and economic change generated by the SIP strategies that tackle housing, health, education and economic development.

The Local Development Strategy will address the following key issues:

population retention;
housing choice;
shortage of employment opportunities;
management and maintenance of green space;
safe and attractive living environment;
improved accessibility; and
town Centre renewal.

PEOPLE
The Glasgow Alliance is developing a New Neighbourhood in Drumchapel, covering the area between Kendoon and Broadholm-Waverley. The Town Centre and Drumchapel Business Village also feature in the New Neighbourhood, which will create about 1,000 residential units. The Local Development Strategy will not only reflect this proposal, but look to integrate land uses to achieve a holistically planned New Neighbourhood.

Under New Housing Partnerships, development proposals for Cleddans Court, Merryton Avenue and Linkwood Drive have been established to assist delivery of the New Neighbourhood proposals. A number of other neighbourhoods within Drumchapel, including Kingsridge, Cleddans, Kendoon, Cairnsmore and Pinewood also contain housing sites. In addition to preparing a Local Development Strategy for Drumchapel, the Council will prepare Development Briefs for these sites. The site west of the Antonine Way adjacent to the City boundary has been allocated for around 70 owner occupied housing as part of the Greenfield Release Programme pre 2006.

JOBS

The main centres of employment within Drumchapel are the Eddrington Group’s Clyde Bonding and Bottling Plant, the industrial and business units at Dalsetter Avenue and the Great Western Retail and Leisure Park. The redevelopment of the former Dalsetter pitches (6) to create the Drumchapel Business Village aims to provide around 16,000m2 of industrial and business floorspace and will improve the economic competitiveness of Drumchapel and provide further local employment opportunities. The Qualpac unit on Duntreath Avenue formed the first phase of this development creating 27 jobs, with potential increases of up to 120 in the future. Drumchapel Community Business has expanded and let accommodation to small businesses and community organisations. The Great Western Retail and Leisure Park has created over 900 jobs as well as a community resource and has potential for a further 5,000m2 of non-food retail floorspace.

Retail and Leisure

The Local Development Strategy will seek to safeguard the existing business infrastructure and identify further opportunities for new business development on vacant land. The Council will also prepare a Planning Study to investigate the potential of Garscadden Burn Park for employment, training and recreation.

INFRASTRUCTURE

To realise its potential, Drumchapel requires good local roads and good access to the wider road network. The recently completed Antonine Way has opened up sites for new housing. Although Drumchapel generally enjoys high accessibility to public transport and will benefit from the creation of a Quality Bus Corridor along the A82, Great Western Road to the City Centre, some areas, for example, Cleddans and Broadholm, would benefit from improved bus and rail links. The Local Development Strategy will address these transport issues and consider the feasibility of new distributor roads from Antonine Way to Linkwood Drive and Peel Glen Road to Kinfauns Drive .

The new housing areas, the sports and leisure development at Garscadden Burn Park and the Business Village at Dalsetter Avenue have had a very positive impact on Drumchapel. The Local Development Strategy will investigate the potential to refocus the Town Centre on a new Drumchapel Cross and integrate this with new community facilities and housing areas. In addition, the Council will produce a Town Centre Action Plan based on an audit of the vitality and viability of the Centre. The potential relocation of Drumchapel Station, to better serve the community, will also be investigated in discussion with Strathclyde Passenger Transport.

ENVIRONMENT
The Local Development Strategy will determine the future of the major vacant sites with development potential, that have largely been created through the housing demolition programme. It will seek to integrate new development with an improved greenspace network comprising open space, countryside and parkland and exploit opportunities for recreation in the Garscadden Burn Park. The City Council will take steps to declare Garscadden Wood (SINC) a Local Nature Reserve.