Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow Andrea Botti MSc Advanced Sustainable Design, year 2011/2012 Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture University of Edinburgh

Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

1

Introduction “Sustainable communities are places where people want to live and work, now and in the future. They meet the diverse needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment, and contribute to a high quality of life. They are safe and inclusive, well planned, built and run, and offer equality of opportunity and good services for all” (OPDM, 2005, p.6).

Significant examples of present redevelopment strategies show integration of sustainability policies into gentrification processes; governments are conducting urban intensification policies at different levels, often relying on the implementation led by the private sector to create new sustainable communities. (Bunce, 2009) This paper aims to evaluate and reflect upon the potential benefits of gentrification at urban and neighbourhood scales, as a means for key players involved in the planning process to bring revitalization and urban renewal in a post-industrial scenario. It takes its cue from Duany, Plater-Zyberk and Speck’s assertion (2000, p.356) that “at the microscopic level of the neighbourhood, fighting gentrification is tantamount to fighting improvement; revitalization will not occur without it”.

The essay is divided into two main sections: the first provides an overview of the concept of gentrification and its variety of connotations in past and recent literature, with special attention given to linkages with sustainable development. The second provides a brief case-study analysis based in Glasgow, Scotland as an archetypical postindustrial city facing urban redevelopment challenges. The focus is on the district of Govanhill, a working-class neighbourhood prone to socio-economic decline, as the ‘specimen’ for potential gentrification outcomes.

University of Edinburgh

MSc Advanced Sustainable Design, year 2011/2012

Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

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Different forms of gentrification In the first instance it is important to identify and define the phenomenon of gentrification. Originally coined with critical intent by sociologist Ruth Glass (1964), the term has over the years encapsulated a fairly wide range of meaning and nuances.

From a review of the relevant literature, gentrification is generally taken to refer to “the process by which higher income households displace lower income residents of a neighborhood, changing the essential character and flavor of that neighborhood” (Kennedy and Leonard, 2001).

Gentrification has historically been viewed as a negative and regressive process, due mostly to its disruptive effect on lower income residents (Atkinson, 2002).

However, contemporary social examples of gentrification are in many ways different to gentrification seen in the 1970s and late 1980s to early 1990s (Lees, 2000).

Crucial factors such as geographical scale, contextual differences and temporality are encompassed in what Lees (2000) refers to as ‘geography of gentrification’.

A more recent concept was introduced by Hackworth and Smith (2001), who referred to ‘third-wave gentrification’ as the process urged by public and private sectors, with the scope of creating better conditions for private investment in urban land development.

A similar theme has been expressed by McIntyre (2008), who defines ‘Mediated Gentrification’ as a form of gentrification that, facilitated by policy makers, aims specifically to provide improvement in physical environment and social status in an area that would not otherwise go through positive transformation as effectively.

University of Edinburgh

MSc Advanced Sustainable Design, year 2011/2012

Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

3

Gentrification and sustainable development At the present time, with policy makers, planners and administrators at any level and scale engaging with the sustainable agenda, gentrification can be comprehended in the light of a new hierarchy of values and priorities.

The largely consensual sustainable development goals, generally summed up as the three Es: environment, economy and equity (Berke, 2002) were found inherently contradictory when turned into practice (Owens and Cowell, 2002). Some studies (e.g.

Campbell, 1996) went as far as highlighting the arising tensions, or ‘conflicts', by graphically illustrating them as axes of a triangle, the vertexes of which are the three Es (see figure 1).

A recent study (Godschalk, 2004, p.8) has introduced the concept of livability in the equation, moving to a three-dimensional model: the ‘sustainability/livability prism’.

In the prism, value conflicts between livability and sustainability visions arise on each new axis. The “gentrification conflict”, according to Godschalk (ibid) can be seen ergo as a tension arising “from competing beliefs in preservation of poorer urban neighborboods for the benefit of their present populations versus their redevelopment and upgrading in order to attract middle- and upper-class populations back to the central city.”

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Conflicts among sustainable development goals (adapted from Campbell, 1996, pp.4–7); when property is claimed to serve both as a private resource and public good a “property conflict” will arise.

The sustainability/livability prism, with the “gentrification conflict” (adapted from Godschalk, 2004, p.9)

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MSc Advanced Sustainable Design, year 2011/2012

Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

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Gentrification in Glasgow Starting from the mid 1960s, Glasgow endured a rapid and prolonged decline in its manufacturing employment. The city centre experienced a sharper downfall, suffering from a shift of population (see figure 3) and employment to peripheral parts -or ‘new towns’- outside the city boundary where vast numbers of people were moved out from overcrowded city slums during post-war reconstruction (MacInnes, 1995).

1.200.000

population

1.000.000 800.000 600.000 400.000 200.000 0 Area (ha)

1951

1961

1981

1991

2001

2008

16.077

16.077

20.235

20.267

17.730

17.639

774.068

688.600

578.710

584.240

Population 1.089.55 1.055.01

Figure 3.

Glasgow population 1951-2008 (Source Glasgow City Council)

In 1976 the Glasgow East Area Renewal (GEAR) scheme was founded. This ambitious large scale partnership urban regeneration project - Europe's largest at the time - put the emphasis on core areas in the east end of Glasgow, recognising their needs and appreciating their development potential. That reflected a shift in interest from ‘overspill’ and new towns to inner cities issues, consistently with national policy agenda.

Hitherto, housing has played a central role in the city’s recovery and regeneration. The City Council policies took two main approaches: offer a broader choice of housing type and tenure; and endow its tenants with more diversified management and ownership opportunities for its public sector housing (McIntyre and McKee, 2008).

Recent projections show that the City’s population and the number of households are expected to rise (see figure 4).

University of Edinburgh

MSc Advanced Sustainable Design, year 2011/2012

Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

5

650.000 600.000 550.000 Axis Title

500.000 450.000 400.000 350.000 300.000 250.000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Population 584.2 586.0 587.8 589.6 591.4 593.2 595.0 596.8 598.6 600.4 602.2 Households 284.0 287.1 290.2 293.3 296.4 299.5 302.6 305.7 308.8 311.9 315.0

Figure 4.

Glasgow current projections 2008-2018 (source Glasgow City Council)

From large-scale municipal housing, tenement, flatted properties and peripheral estates, legacy of the economic and social decline, the Council is focusing on promoting owner occupation, especially in disadvantaged areas, by means of homes for the 'Middle Market'.

An increase in housing provision would densify central urban areas, thus constituting an effective approach to counter urban sprawl and suburbanization (Trancik, 1986).

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MSc Advanced Sustainable Design, year 2011/2012

Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

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Govanhill The analysis focuses on the city of Glasgow’s district of Govanhill, located south of the River Clyde, between the Gorbals, Mount Florida and Queen's Park.

Figure 5.

Govanhill map (adapted from Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland)

The history of the area is strongly linked to the Dixon family. A prominent miner and ironworker, William Dixon opened Govan Ironworks in 1842, bringing jobs to the area.

By 1877 it became a burgh (borough) and by 1891 it was eventually absorbed into the city of Glasgow.

After a dramatic decline in housing standard after the Second World War, to prevent the demolition of houses and the displacement of its residents to peripheral estates, Govanhill Housing Association was established by council initiative. Although some improvements were achieved, the area still suffers from disadvantage.

Govanhill presents a higher unemployment rate than the Glasgow average and more than a fifth of the population is economically inactive. Furthermore, the community suffers from severe drug and crime problems (Alexander, 2008).

A survey carried out by Govanhill Housing Association and Glasgow City Council has exposed the extent of the difficulties caused by slum housing over the last few years. It

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Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

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emerged that housing in the area is in a very poor state of repair and requires substantial investment to be brought back up to an acceptable standard (Harris, 2008).

According to a report (Poole and Adamson, 2008) in 2007 Govanhill accommodated an estimated Roma population of 2000-3000 individuals, increasing to over 4000 in 2010.

They are seemingly concentrated in 4-5 streets of the neighbourhood and have to deal with major obstacles to their inclusion, particularly regarding employment and decent housing.

With a further diversification of the local population within the community there is an increasing demand for investment in services, both existing ones and those coming on stream. The report suggests they would hardly be fully satisfied in a context of limited resources.

It can be argued that an improvement of the overall quality of the neighbourhood is unlikely to happen without new residents bringing with them wealth and investments, thus providing a stronger tax base and sustaining new economic activity. As it has been remarked by Duany (2000, p.356) “cities, after all, cannot flourish without taxpaying residents�.

As a consequence, availabilities of quality housing, healthy and diverse food choices, transportation, good schools, bicycle and walking paths, communal facilities and social networks are likely to improve promptly.

There are opportunities for evaluating the architecture potential of the high volume of tenement housing from the Victorian era, particularly since Govanhill remains the most architecturally intact of all of Glasgow's suburbs. The borough is home to some buildings of historical value and architectural prestige, e.g. the renowned Victorian-built Baths, which are the object of a very popular saving campaign since their controversial closure in 2001 (Harris, 2008).

Figure 6.

Govanhill Baths (Kirkham, 2010) Š All rights reserved

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Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

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As it has been observed by Griffiths (1996) among others, gentrification has the power to change sharply the character of a decaying working-class area, turning it into a prosperous neighbourhood with great rapidity.

Furthermore, some recent literature points out that lower-income or local residents can benefit from positive changes brought into their neighbourhood by gentrification. This has been the case in Leith, Edinburgh where, as a direct consequence of gentrification, areas previously considered 'derelict' have become “desirable places to live�, according to many residents (Doucet, 2009).

Negative perceptions of gentrification among lower-income residents have been generated from their feeling of exclusion from the housing and commercial flourishing brought about by wealthy gentrifiers (Doucet, 2009).

If the local government are willing to address gentrification together with the community and from the early stages, they can effectively preserve and implement highquality affordable housing provision, promote economic stability and avoid loss of diversity. Together with social cohesion, equality and neighbourhood satisfaction those are indeed key elements of a sustainable community.

University of Edinburgh

MSc Advanced Sustainable Design, year 2011/2012

Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

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Conclusion A brief excursus on the evolution of gentrification in literature and in practice over the last few decades has indicated that in many cases gentrification has mostly benefitted private developers and investors, at the expense of the low-income residents of the area, who endured displacement and very poor alternative housing arrangement. This is the reason why, among researchers as well as among communities, gentrification has been considered to have an overall negative impact on the neighbourhoods it affects (Atkinson, 2002).

However, it has been represented that recent trends have explored new forms of gentrification and that academic literature appears now to be more conciliating towards it (Lees 2000; Hackworth & Smith 2001; McIntyre 2008; Bunce 2009). Some practices have suggested that gentrification can also form part of a sustainable development agenda within redevelopment projects (Bunce, 2009).

Glasgow is rapidly recovering from the socio-economic decline endured during the second half of the past century. Outstanding financial and technical resources have been spent by the City Council in order to improve the image of the city, through redevelopment policies. Several central areas have hence undergone gentrification.

This paper has tried to provide a reflection on the opportunities of urban renewal in a formed city; with this scope, it examined the case study of Govanhill, a district on the south-side of the city centre that is suffering from economic decline and social decay. By exploring the benefits of a “policy-led” gentrification, i.e. the dynamic pulse brought about by new affluent residents and economic activity, it has been suggested that the neighbourhood could benefit from such flourishing.

However, as it is largely acknowledged that social and economic diversity are key ingredients for sustainable and liveable urban neighbourhoods, the process of gentrification should not simply substitute rich residents for poor. Therefore it appears that, as recent best practises and academic research suggests, a balanced mix of new and existing residents - not necessarily equivalent to a mathematical mean - is of fundamental importance.

Glasgow City Council’s intention to create “sustainable communities at the heart of the Community Planning Process” (GEF 2003, p.23) can translate into gentrification

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Making a sustainable neighbourhood: gentrification and urban regeneration in Glasgow

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processes of depressed urban districts, such as Govanhill; provided that the redevelopment does not rely on simply creating a wealthier neighbourhood but aims to preserve the community’s social and economic multiculturalism. In other words, a neighbourhood that is richer in diversity.

As Jacobs (1961) stated “The more successfully a city mingles everyday diversity of uses and users in its everyday streets, the more successfully, casually (and economically) its people thereby enliven and support well-located parks that can thus give back grace and delight to their neighbourhoods instead of vacuity.� (p.111)

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Kennedy, M. & Leonard, P., 2001. Dealing with neighborhood change: A primer on gentrification and policy choices, Brookings Institution Washington, DC. Available at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/reports/2001/04metropolitanpol icy_maureen%20kennedy%20and%20paul%20leonard/gentrification.pdf.

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