The Shrinking City
Dundee Derive Routes
Although the world has gone through a period of unprecedented urbanisation, there are hundreds of cities around the world that are losing population.
Within a group, which was tasked at analysising Dundee on an intimate scale, I undertook a series of five ‘urban drifts’ (walks) through the city.
Three out of the five cities in Scotland are experiencing a decline in population, Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow.
From these ‘urban drifts’ we produced a range of photographs, drawings, maps, montages, models and some written pieces documenting different aspect of each derive.
The thesis, uses city wide architectural projects, situated in the shrinking city of Dundee, as a vehicle to explore how architects and planners may be able to engage with the phenonema of urban shrinkage in a positive way.
These led us to begin to understand the city as a networked organisime of disparate and differing community. On the street we witnessed how the city is divided by as series of heavy infrastructure and the topology and size of the law hill.
Dundee 1870-2010 This map of Dundee compares the footprint of the city in the years 1870 and 2010, these dates were chosen as both footprints represent the same population level. This clearly shows that Dundee density has reduced dramtically.
Dundee Edges
Dundee and Strip
Dundee Strip Study
We graphed a strip based on the accumulation of drift “routes” extending from the river Tay to Bridge foot, a village beyond the edge of the city. Following this we examined the strip in detail, examining the relationships between infrastructures, land use and development typologies. We examined the extent of this strip using the ‘top down’ method of mapping urban relationships egde, large tracts of vacant land surrounding institutions, Brownfield and Greenfield sites, and infrastructural arteries.
Disconnect
Green + Brown Field
Infrastructure
Urban Interface Matrix
Duntropolis factory vacating site to redeveloped on cities edge
Current negative response to vacant sites in Dundee
The artificial turf factory program may have to leave the site as they require a larger area to remain competitive. The building must expand, change its use or be redeveloped.
‘claim a plot’
ruin
suburb
Vacant buildings are often left empty and fall into decay.
Suburban typologies are leading to ever decreasing density
allotment
wall The small towns and villages of Dun-tropolis depend on the city, Dundee is central, the main hub of the network, it dominates the region. As Dundee shrinks in population the surrounding towns and villages continue to grow, despite the fact that the majority of the economic drivers in the region are within the city; the jobs, the shops, the universities, leisure and tourism. 31% of the cities work force migrates in to Dundee from outside its city limits on a daily basis. If the current developments typologies in Dundee do not change or vacant buildings left to decay this will reinforce the problems ascoiated with a shrinking population and Dundee will continue to expand in size while the population, ‘street life’ and density continue to drop.
optimal site developments sites in Dundee
Positive transition developments options for a shrinking city
factory expansion accomodated on site
Expanding the factory on site would ensure that the local would not suffer and the factory could remain a central part of the community. It may be possible to expand without the problems associated with the deep plan typology highlighted in the urban interface matrix.
Open it up to charities and community If the site is cleared, instead of allowing If alloments or park us not applicable, groups. Tennants maintain the building, the site to turn into wasteland change wall off the site so the waste land does not infect local area the site into a allotment or park. while prevent decay.
KWDCW
medium density - mixed used development
Transition developments srt up the site for positive redevelopment. Instead of building suburban tpyopologies, medium density mixed use developments would be preferable, creating an active street life.
The defunct low density housing north of the Kingsway can be redeveloped in the urban core of Dundee, repopulating and increasing density the city. Brown field and derelict sites exist in even the most prosperous and popular areas of Dundee, if these sites were redeleveloped as part of the KWDCW concept (for low and middle income families), it would lead to a more financially diverse neighbourhoods. The KWDCW concept would invigorate the inner city with both program and housing, make use of derelict and brown field sites that currently blot the city and help accommodate the shrinking population, while retaining a degree of density in both the urban core and any new development in the north of the city. This approach would not create the archetypal ‘compact city’, just a ‘more compact’ Dundee that addressed the problems that the city currently has with population loss and density.