CITY CENTRE STRATEGY Families can bring new life to heart of Glasgow
Political Correspondent EXPANDING the city centre and attracting more people to live in the heart of Glasgow is the key focus of future council regeneration plans.
The traditional city centre model of somewhere where people come to work, shop and enjoy a night out is being challenged with the ambition to create more residential communities.
Developments to the north, south and east of the traditional city centre are planned to create thousands more homes and new communities.
Council leader Susan Aitken said connecting these places with the city centre though better pedestrian and public transport is crucial for the strategy’s success.
All around the city, new developments are planned or underway with the focus on housing across a range of sectors, social, mid-market rented and private developments.
Ms Aitken referred to developments at Sighthill to the north, already underway but with hundreds more homes planned on the site of demolished tower blocks in what is believed to be the largest regeneration programme in the country.
The regeneration of Gorbals moving west into Laurieston just across the River Clyde from the heart of the city centre is also taking place.
The council leader said plans to transform Tradeston, shelved after the financial crash of 2008, are back on the agenda, turning the area from a collection of gap sites and empty warehouses into a new Glasgow south bank community.
And new plans for more than 700 homes for rent at High Street should be submitted early in 2018.
The proposals from developers Get Living, who re-developed the Athletes Village at the Olympic Park in London after the 2012 games into E20 Village is targeted at workers at the Royal Infirmary, Strathclyde University and city centre businesses.
Get Living has also successfully developed brownfield sites in Shoreditch in the east end of London
The firm said it wants to be part of efforts to encourage people to live in the city by building family homes.
The High Street plan will be the first time it has ventured outside London and it said was attracted by Glasgow city centre’s potential.
Rick De Blaby, Get Living, Exec- utive Deputy Chairman, said: “We carefully examined the city’s economic strength and its prospects for increased growth.
“Glasgow’s vibrant retail performance, strong hi-tech company growth and burgeoning further education sector are all reasons why we’re extremely confident about creating a cohesive and inclusive neighbourhood, which will enhance the city’s economy for decades to come.”
Business leaders in the city are supportive of efforts to encourage more people to livin in the centre like in other major UK cities.
Stuart Patrick, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief executive, said: “We have long spoken of the need for more people to be living in our city centre, bringing life and vibrancy to the heart of Glasgow.
“We have seen the success of this in cities like Manchester, which has a substantially greater number of city centre residents.
“The business community applauds Susan Aitken’s vision, and welcomes family-friendly developments such as that planned by Get Living.”
Ms Aitken also spoke at the State of the City Economy conference about the need to transform the city centre into a place people see themselves living in long term.
The council leader, who also writes exclusively in today’s Evening Times, said that the existing and new communities on the “fringes” of the city centre need to be con- nected and brought into an expanded centre.
She said: “There have been longheld aspirations to make the city centre a desirable place to live, not simply for young professionals and students but as a realistic choice for families too.
“We’ve commissioned a report, which will be complete in the early part of next year, to give us recommendations and options on how to make this aspiration a reality and these will inform our city centre residential strategy.
“I want a measure of Glasgow’s vibrancy to be sustainable, balanced and inclusive communities, and that includes the City Centre.”