A traffic expert got the picture in the Gorbals

WHEN Professor Sir Colin Buchanan died, aged 94, in December 2001, his obituaries all spoke of his highly influential 1963 report, Traffic in Towns.

One obituary said the report had ensured him a place in the history of town planning in Britain and, indeed, worldwide, saying its “vision and sweep ... very much Buchanan’s personal achievement, remain undiminished, and its thinking completely up-to-date for the current debates on transport and our urban environment.

“For the first time, it presented, in an accessible, readable and intelligent way, the whole picture of how transport and cities were inter-related, and what options could be pursued to accommodate economic growth, as well as individuals’ aspirations to greater mobility”.

In March 1964, Professor Buchanan visited Glasgow at the invitation of Lord Provost Peter Meldrum. In the Gorbals (above) he photographed the changes being made in the district. Later, in a speech at the city’s Royal College of Science and Technology, he said the need for pedestrians to be separated from traffic in town centres was being constantly demonstrated by evidence coming in from all over the world.

He said that everyone who had seen the new town of Stevenage saw that separation worked, and that he was always prepared to argue with traders who doubted its value.

He added that he had been quoted as saying that London’s Oxford Street was the most uncivilised street in the world, and continued: “You might like to think how Sauchiehall Street stands in relation to this”.

He praised Glasgow for the way it was approaching the issue.

The car was, of course, here to stay, he added. The report had calculated that there would be 40 million of them by century’s end. It was vital to consider what traffic capacity any environment should have, because to put more in it than it should have would make it a slum, and many areas were already in real danger of becoming urban slums.