Milton Booklet No.6
Stage
Package
Strategy
Breaching Barriers
Prepared by Martina Verenesi, Poppea Daniel, Tea Tvrdeic, Luca Tucci, Yaz Elawad, Taina Lund-Ricard Urban Design Studies Unit, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, October - December 2016
Booklet No.6
Strategy
Breaching Barriers
Introduction Like countless other places on the urban periphery, Milton has been forgotten for too long, and continues to suffer today from decisions made by planners more than half a century ago. In this booklet, we synthesis analysis done in the first phase of this project to identify key areas of action for Milton (Chapter 1). We then formulate a strategy for addressing them (Chapter 2). Finally, we produce a concept plan which maps in detail proposed changes to densities, centres, streets and transport, zooming out to a wider study area (Chapter 3). This whole booklet is a case study for the failed urban periphery. Lessons learned can be applicable to similar places.
Authors Taina Lund-Ricard
Architecture, University of Strathclyde
Yaz Elawad
Urban Design MSc, University of Strathclyde
Poppea Daniel
Urban Design MSc, University of Strathclyde
Martina Verenesi
Architecture, University IUAV of Venice
Tea Tvrdeic
Urban Design MSc, University of Strathclyde
Luca Tucci
Architectural Engineering, University of Brescia
Contents Introduction Contents
2 3
1. Identified Issues
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Clusters of Shops and Services Nodes and Density Road Network Barriers Public Transport Green Corridors Flooding
7 8 14 18 22 28 30
2. Strategies
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Overall Strategy S1: Green Urban Edge S1: Green Networks S1: Flooding S2: Cradle to Cradle S3: Make it Urban Strengthening Nodes Connectivity Education Community
44 46 48 50 60 68 70 76 80 82
3. Concept Plan
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Proposal Nodes and Densities Street Network Public Transport Green Corridors and Biking
86 88 90 96 98
4. Reality Check
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Evolving Urban Form What’s In Play Open Call to the City of Glasgow
106 108 110
5. Conclusion
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6. Bibliography
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Figure References
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Booklet No.6
Strategy
Identified Issues
1. Identified Issues Milton lacks opportunity, be it employment, skills and training, health, or simply some place for kids to play. Many of Milton’s issues can and should be partly addressed through social policy levers. But these issues don’t just exist in some abstract space: they manifest themselves spatially and physically. Milton’s disconnection from the city and its consequence on opportunity is felt in trying to reach it and in walking its streets. Synthesising analysis done in the first phase of this project, in the next section we identify some of Milton’s key physical, social and economic issues. Issues have been simplified in their distinction but they are of course deeply interconnected (and the selection in this chapter is by no means exhaustive!). None of these issues exist or can be solved in isolation. Milton’s regeneration must consider every issue holistically if it wishes to truly improve the area and ultimately the whole north of Glasgow. In conceiving our strategy for Milton (next chapter), we have always kept in mind the ways in which these issues overlap. We might affect mental health as a result of creating job opportunities, which might come as result of changing the street network. We might address food poverty issues whilst trying to deal with mental health, while also creating jobs. And so on. In all of this, it would be easy to get lost in Milton’s problems, and neglect something fundamental: Milton’s strongest asset is its people. It is ‘home’ for many, and comes with a sense of belonging and comfort (LoveMilton, 2016). In identifying issues which need tackling, and possible solutions, we keep this always at the front of our minds: a strong community exists in Milton, and this sense of community and belonging enhances people’s lives. A huge amount of good is already being done in Milton and all our work seeks to empower and enable the community to do even more.
Fig. 1 : Venn diagram showing the way in which issues overlap
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Identified Issues
Clusters of Shops & Services Aggregations of four or more shops and services were mapped in the surroundings of Milton in an effort to visualise the location of dominant urban nodes. We define an urban node as an aggregation of services and shops at the ground floor that serve the local community and wider metropolitan population. Their catchment area is indicated in pink and highlights the distance (400 m) which the average person is comfortable walking to reach shops and services. It is apparent on this map that there are large areas which are not within walking distance of shops. What these catchment do not illustrate however is the diversity and number of shops and services offered within the node. In the case of Milton, although most of the neighbourhood is supposedly within walking distance of a node, the reality is quite different. Indeed, the winding road network makes it considerably harder to quickly get from one point to another. The existing nodes also offer a very poor quality of shops and services with no pub, no community centre, no supermarket and no specialised food shops (aside from two butchers). In the bottom left corner we see the start of Byre’s Road linear node which is the only node sufficiently strong to be considered a district node. Glasgow’s West End has a strong identity with neighbourhood nodes gravitating towards Byres Road. A district node for the north of Glasgow will need to be identified, towards which neighbourhood nodes will be able to gravitate.
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Fig. 2 : Existing clusters of shops and services, with 400m radius indicating theoretical area served
400m radius around identified clusters
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Existing strong nodes Existing clusters of shops
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Detailed Study Four main nodes were identified and studied to understand the strengths and diversity of available services in the area. Services have been defined as local if they cater to the immediate local population (and are ideally within walking distance) and as global if they are special enough to attract visitors from further afield. Maryhill Road (Node number 1) was identified as a linear node with a fairly high diversity of services, both global and local. These include a police station, post office, library and job centre. Possilpark (Node number 2) was the strongest of nodes studied with the highest diversity of local and global services. It has a police station, post office, library and two job centres. It holds a higher percentage of health services including a circumcision clinic, a dental clinic and a health and care centre. It is also the only node to hold services of high cultural value such as a National Theater of Scotland and Glasgow’s Sculpture Studio. It has two train stations within its 400 m radius. Although Springburn (Node number 3) also has a train station, most of its shops and services are located in a large mall, considerably reducing its beneficial impact on the area. Bishopbriggs (Node number 4) feels very distinctive to the rest of the studied area. It is separated from Milton by railway tracks and a lack of direct road connections but also by the increased wealth of its inhabitants. Although connected to the railway, it offers the smallest amount of shops and services.
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3 Fig. 3 : Existing significant clusters of goods and services, analysed in detail p10-11 400m radius around identified clusters
“[We need] More investment. No money goes to Milton – it all goes to... 8
Existing shops and services
...Maryhill, Possil and Springburn.” - Milton Talks Report 9
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Detailed Study Existing shops and services were grouped and specified as local (blue) and global (red) to simplify the information collected and allow a quick comparison between identified nodes.
Local services
Fast food
Bank
Train station
Job Centre
Theatre
Global services
Bars, Pubs, Restaurants..
Newsagent
Library
Gym
Arts
Food store
Health services
Leisure
Post Office
Police Station
Specialist shops
Fig. 4 :Detailed analysis of shops and services in 4 identified areas of existing activity
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Maryhill Road
Possilpark 10
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Springburn
Bishopbriggs
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Booklet No.6
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Nodes and Density We have made a crude calculation of density (units/ha) for built-up areas in Milton and its surroundings. Result are grouped into bands according to the legend. This is a study of the ordinary urban fabric. We exclude prominent areas which are characterised by a single non-residential function - such as industrial areas, hospitals and large parks. We identify a small number of key typologies in the study area which essentially dictate densities. There are of course variations, but the key typologies can be boiled down to: 2 story, single family homes with generous private gardens: whether semi-detached or in small terraces, areas like this are characterised by long blocks and a large amount of private space, making densities low. The vast majority of Milton looks like this (Fig. 6). Towers in the park: of varying heights, these areas are characterised by large expanses of no-man’s land surrounding a series of tall tower blocks. Although tall, the amount of surrounding empty space means built-area density is not nearly as high as it might appear, being above or below the average density of a traditional 3 or 4 story tenement block depending on the number of floors. Towers in the park can be found dotted across the study area, and rarely coincides with the presence of everyday shops and services (Fig. 7). Traditional tenements: 3-4 story sandstone tenements, built in the 19th and 20th century, are found at the perimeter of compact urban blocks, sometimes with shops and services lining the ground floor. Densities are much higher than 2-story sprawl, and often higher than much taller ‘towers in the park’. Some traditional tenement areas remain in Possilpark, directly south of Milton, and dominate in the West End (which begins in the south-west corner of our study area) (Fig. 8). In mapping the ordinary urban fabric we have simultaneously highlighted its counterpart: areas which are specialist or undeveloped appear as large white expanses, pockmarks on the urban landscape giving an impression of fragmentation. 1 : 17 500
Fig. 5 : Map of existing built-area density
Low density
High density 15-30 units/ha
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150+ units/ha
Existing strong nodes Existing clusters of shops
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Springburn
Maryhill Road
4.
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2.
Nodes and Density In the four existing studied nodes, it becomes apparent that housing density is not supporting the nodes. A lot of specialised areas (with no housing represented in white on the map) leads to very low densities right by the identified linear nodes.
Fig. 6 : 2 story, single family homes
Possil Park has a relatively good gridded street network and plenty of vacant and derelict space to allow the development of new high density housing (such as tenements). It has a better diversity of shops and services than other studied nodes. The increased density would strengthen existing shops and allow new businesses to develop. For this reason and for its central location in the north of Glasgow we have identified it as a future district node. Strong connections to this area will be necessary to allow residents of the north of Glasgow to access global services.
Fig. 7 : “Towers in the park�
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Possilpark
Bishopbriggs
3.
4
1.
Low density
High density
Fig. 8 : Traditional tenements
Fig. 9 :Densities at 4 identified existing centres of activity
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Fig. 11 : Milton’s shops and services and built-area density
Milton’s Shops & Services The studied land is approximately 150 ha total and the industrial zone 20 ha. The population of 6600 is spread thin over 125 ha leading to an average density of around 50 pp/ha which is much lower than the ideal. Milton’s shops and services are dispersed across the neighbourhood. Their location does not coincide with the few areas of Milton where reasonably high densities can be found. The lack of main street means navigating the area to find their location can be difficult. A larger number of shops and services are gathered along Liddesdale Road but the lack of west/east connections means they are essentially located in a dead end, preventing the amount of footfall needed to create a vibrant and diverse environment. Shops are gathered in the four areas photographed bellow. The diversity of shops is limited with newsagents, fast food and beauty shops being most numerous. Fresh food is almost entirely absent in Milton’s shops, a contributing factor to poor health in the area (Booklet 03). Many of these shops are struggling from the interaction of three key factors: the concentration of poverty among residents, the lack of density around shops creating sufficient footfall, and the lack of passing traffic.
Low density
High density
Existing Services Existing Shops Existing Community Spaces
Fig. 10 : Photographs of Milton’s Shops and Services
B U S
S C A R A W A Y
W E S T R A Y
T E R M I N U S
S T R E E T
C I R C U S L I D D E S D A L E S Q U A R E
“[I would like] A local cafe or pub, where people could meet friends.” 16
E G I L S A Y
M I L T O N
T E R R A C E
L I B R A R Y
“...Something to do for locals.” - Milton Talks Report 17
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Identified Issues
Road Network As detailed in Booklet 03, Milton is effectively an island, disconnected from the rest of Glasgow through a road network that bypasses it entirely. The consequences of this are dramatic as it removes any opportunity for accidental shopping. A vibrant neighbourhood will be sustained both by its residents but also by visitors travelling through the area and stopping spontaneously to enjoy the offered services. This lack of through-traffic increases the isolation of the area and the economic difficulties faced by Milton’s shops. The existing road network prevents Milton from being a central place. Finding simple solutions to correct this will be necessary for Milton’s regeneration.
Fig. 12 : Lack of clarity in east-west routes
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Fig. 13 : Existing road hierarchy, with existing clusters of activity highlighted
Arterial routes
Existing strong nodes
Urban main streets
Existing clusters of shops
Local main streets
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Liddesdale Road As detailed in Booklet 03, the traditional city has always organised itself along its main axes of travel, with street crossings the most desirable places for businesses. Residential streets then spanned in between this criss crossing of social, cultural, economical and educational activity to allow a more peaceful environment for residents without losing direct access to these services.
Fig. 16 : Planner’s vision for Milton
Modernist principles rejected the traditional city. The streets were dirty and dangerous places which should exclusively belong to the car. Places of life had to be clustered and moved to calmer and off centred areas. This transformation has been illustrated through the two following diagrams. The neighbourhood (pink) is mostly residential within 400m (average walkable distance) from nodes. The urban node (red) is the centre of diverse local services.
Fig. 14 : Traditional road and nodes layout with places of life placed along the main axes of travel
The environmental area (dashed green) is local streets. The main street (thick solid black) and local streets network (thin dashed black).
Fig. 17 : Today’s consequences of a weakened centre
Back in the 40s, as planners laid out Milton, it is very probable that they had the first model in mind, which would explain why they purposefully interrupted the historical main street (Liddesdale Road) to redirect traffic at the outskirts of the development. Unfortunately centres of activity cannot be sustained without increased traffic and footfall (residents and visitors). For that reason, smaller failing nodes of activity have formed along the main axis of travel. They are not located at crossings and their lack of interconnection weakens them and explains in part the lack of success for new businesses. These nodes have not been represented as identical to those in the first two diagrams, as they offer very little diversity in services and for that reason lack the pull needed to attract people. The transformation of Milton should aspire to return towards a traditional layout with the re-establishment of the connection that made the historical main street, in fact, a main street and the creation of new clusters of shops and services.
Fig. 15 : Modernist road layout with places of life removed from main axes of travel Fig. 18 : Possible scenario with Liddesdale Road reconnected and a strong neighbourhood node
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Block Form A study of urban blocks can teach us a lot about Milton’s urban form and its failings. Urban blocks were defined by the layout of streets and not by the buildings they may or may not contain. This is important to specify because many of the urban blocks highlighted in Milton are currently derelict plots of land and do not hold any built infrastructure. Interestingly and perhaps surprisingly, Milton’s size is very similar to Glasgow’s city centre, however its number of blocks is considerably smaller. Its road layout is also much less legible and straightforward than the city centre’s strict grid pattern. It is however unfair to compare Milton to the city centre since their roles are very different.
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block number:
Fig. 21 : Kelvingrove’s urban block form
Comparing Milton to other residential districts in Glasgow creates a fairer understanding of the block form and pattern the regeneration should aim for. That aim is clear: reducing block size and simplifying the street network to encourage straightness and four way intersections.
Fig. 19 : Milton’s urban block form
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block number:
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Fig. 20 : Glasgow City Centre’s urban block form
196 block number:
56
block number:
74
Fig. 22 : Gorbals’ urban block form
block number:
Fig. 23 : Maryhill’s urban block form
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Fig. 24 : Identified Barriers
Barriers: Natural & Man-made Milton is isolated from the rest of the city by natural barriers. To the North is the city edge and green belt which is hardly accessible due to a number of fences. To the west is the Forth and Clyde Canal with the nearest available bridge outside of the site boundary. Along with geographical isolation, man made barriers have been erected around and in the site. The road network (as detailed previously) bypasses Milton and the amount of entrances into the area are very limited. The original main street Liddesdale Road has been disrupted during the early planning of the area and prevents easy west-east movement through the site. The area is also disconnected by a railway line wrapping around it. Within the site are a number of vast derelict and vacant plots of land which prevent safe and accessible through-movement. The industrial zone to the west is physically and emotionally disconnected from the rest of Milton and prevents access to the canal. Block sizes are extremely long and make it difficult for pedestrians to move through the area.
Land barriers Man-made barriers
Speed Bumps Milton has speed bumps on nearly all of its streets. At first glance, speed bumps may seem an insignificant issue to highlight. However, it is symptomatic of and relates to several important issues. First, it emphasises again the absence of a coherent road hierarchy, and the absence of anything you might call a ‘main street’. Each street receives equal treatment in terms of traffic calming. Traffic calming is not a bad thing per say and by criticising it we are not advocating high-speed roads in Milton - but it would not be suitable on a main street, if one existed, if we want to encourage through traffic. If traffic, public or private, is hindered along a main street, it may well look elsewhere, taking footfall away from the area and reducing its potential to be vibrant. Traffic calming might well be appropriate on smaller residential streets. But speed bumps are a mean, cheap solution to a problem which do nothing for the pleasantness of a street. Traffic calming could be achieved as cheaply, for example, simply by allowing parking on both sides of a reasonably narrow street, forcing drivers to look out and slow down for oncoming traffic, stopping to let them pass. A little more thought and investment could see traffic calming measures easily integrated in a way which enhances public amenity.
Speed bumps Fig. 25 : Map of existing speed bumps in Milton
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Fig. 27 : Deprivation in the north of Glasgow , Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2012
Deprivation & Derelict Land Mapping deprivation in the studied area makes very clear the separation of Milton from Bishopbriggs. In the south western corner, we approach Byres Road in the West End which is also much wealthier. The greatest concentration of derelict land is found in Milton and in South Possil. Some of a limited amount of positive impact with the nearby residents using them for dog walking and meeting, but most act as vast physical barriers preventing through movement. These spaces almost always lack a clear ownership leading to an accumulation of litter and canine excrement. No derelict land was mapped around the River Kelvin or in Bishopbriggs. The two maps show a strong correlation between areas of greater deprivation and the greatest concentration of derelict land.
Most deprived 10%
Least deprived 10%
The Derelict Land, Deprivation, and Health Inequality in Glasgow, Scotland: The Collapse of Place has found “that populations in High Deprivation DZs are much more likely to be hospitalized for respiratory disease (5.5 times more likely) or cancer (30% more likely).� The concentration of derelict land in these high deprivation areas may also suggest a that derelict land may have a contributing role to play in the health of residents. Glasgow has to cater for its growing need for new housing in brown field sites around the city. Milton needs to increased population density to sustain existing and new shops and services. Developing Liddlesdale Road, the Industrial zone as well as other locations in Milton, will considerably reduce the derelict land in Milton. Moreover the improved transport links between districts like Possilpark, Maryhill, Milton, Bishopbriggs can spur development within the local economy and help reduce derelict land and thus reduce deprivation.
Fig. 26 : Vacant land in Milton
Vacant / derelict land Fig. 28 : Vacant and derelict land in the north of Glasgow, Understanding Glasgow 2012
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Public Transport Milton is at the end of a bus route connecting it to the city centre (First bus 75). This is another way Milton is isolated from its immediate context. Because the bus terminates in the neighbourhood, there are no members of the public with no business in Milton who move through the area. This is to the detriment of local businesses and residents. The main bus route follows the southern and eastern edge of Milton, considerably reducing accessibility to public transport links for the majority of residents. The train tracks that wrap around the area, further disconnecting Milton, offers no near by train station (Possil Park being the nearest). The proposed public transport infrastructure will need to improve Milton’s connections to the city centre but also to its immediate context. Possil Park presents itself as a strong candidate for a new district node so simplified connections to the area will be needed.
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Fig. 29 : Existing public transport network
Detail: Bus no.75
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Bus routes
District nodes
Railways and stations
Neighbourhood nodes
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Identified Issues
Green Corridors & Bicycle Networks The north of Glasgow is not short of green spaces. However, they are not used to their potential, for two key reasons: Firstly, existing green space is downgraded by the overwhelming presence of derelict and vacant land which is in great need of being developed. Secondly, there are no connections made between green areas, leaving a patchwork of green largely inaccessible beyond a very localised level. There are no ‘green corridors’ through north Glasgow to make a more coherent network of green spaces. The absence of green routes permeating into the surrounding countryside prevent the establishment of a positive relationship between urban and rural realms. Efforts to improve Glasgow’s cycling network have not yet reached north Glasgow, where they are sorely needed. The network as it is does nothing to encourage anyone but the most confident cyclists to get around by bike. The only designated, maintained cycle paths (shown in green) in the study area are the routes along the towpath on the canal’s left edge. These routes are part of a national cycle network, meeting the Clyde and routes up to Loch Lomond in the west, heading south into the city centre, and heading north east along the canal to Grangemouth and Edinburgh on the east coast. A cycle path is signposted along the right bank of the canal by Milton but is not paved or maintained, making it impassable in wet weather. Sustrans, a national charity working to enable people to walk, bike and use public transport, have identified two other informal elements of the network on their cycle map of Glasgow. Bus lanes (shown in brown) can be shared by bikes and depending on traffic may offer some improvement in safety, although buses present their own challenges to cyclists. Quiet through routes (shown in yellow) currently link up some parts of the fragmented cycle network, but routes are rarely signposted and no road markings are present to indicate that cyclists might be sharing the road with other vehicles.
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Fig. 30 : Map of existing fragmated ecological network and cycle network
Cycling: bus lanes
Cemeteries
Public amenity
Cycling: through-roads
Cycling: dedicated
Private amenity
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Booklet No.6
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Identified Issues
Flooding As detailed in Booklet 03, the City Development Plan Proposal’s Natural Environmental Policy, has selected the area of Milton as a location for future flood risk management. Flooding has here been mapped by combining geological indicators of flooding as well as data from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Flooding is proving to be a regular issue in the area with the existing drainage systems being deficient. The layout of housing follows existing contour lines acting as a barrier for the natural flow of water and leading to various issues. Streets laid out in the low points of the area accumulate water. Key areas that need tackling include the north of the site which brings water into the boundary and the south eastern and south western edges which currently hold playing fields. Flooding is also an issue in the industrial zone and should be considered in parallel to the transformation of the canal.
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Fig. 31 : Map showing flood-prone areas in and around Milton, plus the topology of the area (higher areas in pink)
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Strategies
2. Strategic Approach Our vision sees Milton thriving on its relationship with the waterways and the countryside, supported by its urban context in the north of Glasgow. We aim for climate-focused place-making across the city which reduces social and economic inequalities and physical isolation. Town and country should relate symbiotically, expressing a respect for both. Local opportunities should be exploited to respond to local challenges. Transforming Milton means building on what’s already there and already good. This vision has been tailored to Milton, but the over-arching principles can be applied to other failed peripheral urban spaces. It’s aim is to create resilient, green, distinctive, accessible places. The strategy focuses on walking and cycling, and on transport networks which work for the people who need them, reduces car dependency and the exclusion associated with not being able to afford one. Walkable neighbourhoods improve access to vital services, including health, social care, schools and banking services. Vibrant neighbourhoods and new way of thinking about industry generate jobs for local people. Expansion of community initiatives increases access to fresh food, social interaction, new skills, and better health. Communities and institutions work together exploiting initiatives which already exist to tackle the negative impact of vast expanses of vacant and derelict land. A new relationship with the surrounding countryside provides education, play and leisure opportunities. To simplify the interrelated strategic moves, these have been subdivided into three parts which will be explained in the following chapter. We aim to create the urban form conducive to increased opportunities. We take this further by imagining what could be created out of those opportunities.
S1 Green Urban Edge: recast Milton as a stepping stone to the country (p38) S2 Cradle to Cradle Industry: find opportunity in waste (p60) S3 Make it Urban: reintegrate Milton into its urban surroundings (p70)
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We identify existing clusters of activity, shops and services, and conceive of a hierarchy of neighbourhoods and districts (S3). We build up higher densities around these centres of activity, and that way enable north Glasgow to support the shops and services it needs (S3). We support Possilpark to become a key district centre, with global services including a new secondary school for north Glasgow (S3). We alter and repair the street network out and in Milton, to enhance legibility, proximity and accessibility (S3). We alter the bus network to enhance legibility, proximity and accessibility (S3). We build water management systems which prioritise sustainability and public amenity, and create green routes which travel up through the city, into the country (S1).
Fig. 32 : Milton re-imagined
We create cycle friendly routes through the city and along the strengthened green routes into the country (S3). We build on the work of local organisations to address skills shortages and a lack of fresh food (S1, S3). We transform the canal into a local leisure destination and give it back life as a trading route (S1, S2). We redevelop the industrial area to support local skills, training and jobs (S2). We close as many loops in the industrial process as possible, reusing waste water and waste heat to benefit the local community (S2).
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Breaching Barriers
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Strategy
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Fig. 33 : Overall strategy map
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Green urban edge Forgotten hinterland?
Strategy 1 aims to recast Milton as a stepping stone to the open country. The ecological network of north Glasgow’s urban surroundings are repaired and Milton’s position on the city edge is intelligently exploited and improved for all. Milton has an incredible resource in the countryside which is not exploited. The countryside begins where the tower blocks end, the Campsie Fells a way behind, with no effort made to integrate the two. The canal is trapped behind a single-use industrial district with no crossing points north of Lambhill. None of the mental and physical health benefits of good access to green space and open country are realised, despite the proximity.
Issues addressed
Enhancing Opportunities
Stakeholders
Poor mental health
The green city edge will encourage people in and around Milton to use, appreciate, and contribute to conserving the incredible natural resource opportunity which is already on their doorstep. It will create employment, volunteering, therapeutic and play opportunities based around environmental conservation, woodlands, outdoor physical activity and small scale community farming. Allotments will replace underused carparks around the tower blocks, easing the transition from urban to rural and encouraging others to the area.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of stakeholders we believe it is important to engage to help this strategy become a reality
Poor physical health Lack of employment, skills and training opportunities Lack of children and young peoples’ play and activity opportunities Identified flood risk
Reducing Threats Milton has been identified as an area of Glasgow particularly prone to flooding, likely to become more at risk as a result of climate change. Turned on its head, this threat presents an opportunity for sustainable floodproofing solutions which enhance the natural and urban environment and increase opportunities for learning and employment.
Repairing Faults
Fig. 34 : Existing green edge to Milton
“I would like to be a part of change. But nothing will happen, because... 38
Balmore Industrial Estate currently hugs the canal in the west of Milton, hiding opportunities for interaction with the canal. The regeneration of the industrial area into a mixed use, food and waste focussed industry and business zone will allow Milton to ‘claim back’ the canal’s edge, strengthening links to nature while returning to the waterway’s historical role as an important trading route. Additionally, the urban ecological networks around Milton are generally fragmented. Green routes through north Glasgow will be repaired, improving walkability and encourage cycling among non- cyclists. This will go some way to tackling car dependency and the inequalities that reinforces.
Role to play in promoting new green spaces, encourage people to use and care from them.
Key in making a bridge over the canal happen and extending training and skills opportunities to residents; plus playing a general community advocacy role.
Important to promote community growing and allotment initiatives which reduce food poverty and help well-being.
Important role to play in creating cycle networks and encouraging more people to use them.
...Milton is like no man’s land.” - Milton Talks Report
In charge of the Forth and Clyde Canal, key stakeholders in canalside regeneration and a new bridge over canal.
Key in developing canalbased projects which will get people active and improve mental well-being.
A strategic parntership of organisations involved in water management and drainage in Glasgow, necessary to realise SUDs ambitions.
Key partners in expanding allotment provision and canalbased activities.
Important to maximise use of vacant and derelict land for community benefit in the meantime.
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S1
Poundbury, Dorset
Green Urban Edge Urban Transect Reflecting on the strategic approach for the urban edge led us to two precedents. Duany’s Transect approach is a matter of finding an appropriate spatial allocation of the elements that make up the human habitat. Rural elements should be located in rural locations, while urban elements should be located in more urban locations. The Transect approach also controls the geographic extent of zones, disallowing the creation of large monocultures of any one particular type of Transect Zone (DPZ Partners, 2016). While the urban transect is very useful tool in thinking about green city edges, the tower blocks sitting on Milton’s edge give our site an inescapably urban flavour, and what its residents need most is urbanity (see Strategy 2: Make it Urban!). Rather than casting Milton as a suburban zone in the transect, easing the transition to rural, we prefer to reintegrate Milton as something closer to the ‘general urban’ T4 in the transect, using other tools to soften the edge between urban and country.
Fig. 35 : The Urban Transect, conceptualised by DPZ partners
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Poundbury is an urban extension to the market town of Dorchester. It is not suburban in character and has been specifically designed so that there is no suburban transition between the urban form and surrounding natural land, all of which is freely accessible by the public. ‘Urban fringe’ development has that way been avoided. To define positive boundaries and enhance the relationship between the urban area and the surrounding open land, outward-facing development has been built. Instead of ‘private backs’ of gardens facing the urban edge, ‘public fronts’ of buildings face the open country. This reduces the risk of the urban edge becoming a general dumping ground or no-mans land and the natural surveillance provided by the overlooking buildings increases the feeling of safety. The treatment of each urban edges responds to its particular context. On edges visible from higher areas in Dorchester, the ‘hard edge’ of Poundbury is softened by extensive tree planting around the perimeter, on either side of the perimeter walkway. This reduces the impact of the development on the landscape while keeping the urban character and well-defined edge. On edges which are much more rural, more informal tree and shrub planting is used (West Dorset County Council, 2006). Milton’s edge (Glasgow’s edge) is primarily rural in character. Currently it is a no-man’s land, with tower block car parks backing on to it and metal fences separating the two worlds. Infill perimeter development around the tower blocks will be outward facing (as is the nature of a perimeter block), providing natural surveillance of the open country, which is made accessible through a SUDs walkway/cycleway, with access points throughout the north of Milton, linking up with canal to the west and Bishopbriggs to the east. Woodland will soften the urban edge at the Bishopbriggs end, reducing the impact of the tower blocks on the landscape.
Fig. 36 : Poundbury, outward-facing development
Fig. 37 : Poundbury, aerial view showing urban edges
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Booklet No.6
Green Urban Edge
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S1 1 : 15 000
Fig. 38 : Strategy map (S1): Green urban edge
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Mental Health
Agrarian Urbanism
Natural England’s report on nature-based interventions for mental health care (Natural England, 2016) makes very clear the benefits of outdoor activities. Various different interventions exist, but the benefits to mental well-being derived by participants basically come from a combination of three components: the natural environment, meaningful activities and the social context.
Agrarian Urbanism is the creation of a community with the commitment to ‘hand tended agriculture’ which forms part of a legally binding agreement with landlords or homeowners’ association. It recognises the potential of landscape for local food production, proposing a sustainable community where agricultural activity intensifies across the Transect from the urban core to rural surroundings. From window-boxes, balconies and roof gardens in the city centre and higher density areas, to progressively larger community gardens, front gardens, community farms as you get further towards the city edge (DPZ Partners, 2016).
Identified benefits include: reduction in depression, anxiety and stress; improved self-esteem, confidence and mood; improved happiness, satisfaction and quality of life; sense of peace, calm or relaxation; feelings of safety and security; feeling of inclusion and sense of belonging; increase in work skills and personal achievement.
Fig. 39 : Wildflower Meadow planting party in Alexandra Park Food Forest
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Fig. 43 : Residents enjoying tea and biscuits in the community garden
This has environmental benefits, reducing miles travelled from farm to shops and shops to homes, and closing loops in waste disposal and fertilisation. It can help build a local economy around food production and ensure food independence to residents as well as capturing the social benefits of engaging in a community activity (shared endeavour).
Wild-flower Meadows
Specific efficiencies might include: Urban wild-flower meadows are an easy way to inject life and colour as well as improve soil on the short term. Glasgow’s Stalled Spaces initiative has previously supported wild-flower meadow planting. Milton has much vacant land which could easily be transformed while waiting for development. The planting of wild-flower meadows is an activity the community can easily achieve, together.
Fig. 40 : Wildflower planting
Allotments
Fig. 41 : Garden therapy
Concrete Garden, Possilpark The aim of the project is to bring derelict and vacant land into interim use for food growing. A modular infrastructure system which can be assembled and easily demounted on each site has been created to give a strong sense of place in what are often incoherent environments. The modular system is fabricated from waste timber by Glasgow Wood Recycling, a community training agency.
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Fig. 44 : Existing Community Garden
Food poverty, and access to fresh food in particular, is a big issue for many of Milton’s residents. The benefits of community gardening as a shared endeavour both to produce food and as a sociable and therapeutic activity has already been recognised in NGCFI’s Milton Community Garden project. They’ve received land and the go-ahead from the council to expand into adjacent vacant land. This is something that should be encouraged.
Allotments will be used to soften the urban edge and create an active edge to the country side. Educational measures will be first implemented in the existing urban garden to empower and encourage residents to develop their own allotment and that way supply fresh food to their families and friends.
This project is close to Milton and shows the benefits of transforming derelict land into temporary places with a strong identity where the community can gather.
Water collection, filtration and storage in reservoirs which also enhance public amenity Energy - less driving to buy food, and to get food to shops. Jobs are created on site. Food is close Food is better - we’re closer to the closed nutrient cycle, have better control of the supply, over additives, over animal treatment Waste - composting, public and private, becomes part of daily life, as does recycling.
Fig. 42 : Concrete Garden, Possilpark
Food production can be slotted into all areas of Milton, public and private. Higher density development along Liddesdale Road can incorporate growing on balconies and on communal or private roof spaces, orientated to maximise solar gain. Larger growing areas could be located in communal or public areas behind perimeter blocks. Allotments along the city edge could also provide extensive growing space, and the potential for small scale chicken farming.
Fig. 45 : Jean Pain Water Heat Compost System
This urban farming can also close several more loops. Industrial waste water, filtered by filtration beds in the industrial area, can provide water to support this farming activity. Food waste from households and business could be collected and used to produce compost. Not only can this compost be used to sow and fertilise crops, but the heat generated by organisms using nutrients in the compost as an energy source can be harnessed as energy to heat water or generate electricity. Milton’s new compact urban form means this energy can be transported easily to nearby homes, business and community facilities.
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Community Woodlands
Wildlife
Malls Mire is an area of mixed woodland and wetland habitat situated between Toryglen and Rutherglen. People from the surrounding communities have been working with Urban Roots to manage the woodland since 2009, improving its value for wildlife and working on the paths so that more people can get in and enjoy it. Malls Mire is currently the only Community Woodland in Glasgow.
Possil Marsh and the green belt offer a strong biodiversity in both fauna and flaura. Improved connections to these area should be coupled with educational information. A new information centre on Milton’s edge of the canal, working in parallel to the existing Lambhill Stables, could act as an entrance point into the Marsh and the green belt beyond. Animal sightings can be a successful way to draw the attention of the younger population.
We suggest creating another community woodland for Glasgow at the north of Milton within the green belt. This area has been identified by the Clydebank Forestry and Woodland Strategy as an area for potential woodlands. This would have a beneficial impact on the land and the biodiversity of the area. Initiatives could include tree planting, educational measures and wooden pathways protecting the ground (and the shoes of visitors). New trees could also eventually hide the substation from view to improve the perceive edge of the site.
Fig. 46 : Malls Mire wetland preparation
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Fig. 49 : Wildlife in Possil Marsh
Woodland and Wetland Pathways Pathways into the woods and marshy areas are a great way to get closer to the fauna and flora without disturbing the soil and plant life. Clear pathways also improve the legibility of the area and will fit nicely into Greater Glasgow’s many outdoor trails.
Fig. 47 : Child and parent playing
Fig. 50 : Duke’s Pass, Trossachs
Woodlands Natural Play Initiatives Woodlands and green spaces provide incredible opportunities for outdoor adventure play, both as a site for formal play equipment, and as totally natural, informal playgrounds. By putting Milton back in touch with its nearby countryside, we can open up all sorts of low-cost opportunities for educational and purely adventurous play. The community can also get involved in the construction of play equipment as a way to boost skills and provide meaningful activity. Fig. 51 : Kids enjoying themselves at Kelburn Adventure Park
Cycling and Walking Improving connections to Milton’s surroundings, both natural and urban is key to tackle the neighbourhood’s isolation. Improved cycling and walking corridors means the newly established canal edge and its corresponding activities as well Possil Marsh and the green belt can become part of greater Glasgow.
Urban
Sensitive
Potential
Preferred
Disused railway lines are an excellent place to start. In Edinburgh, a whole series of disused railway lines have been stitched together to form an integral part of a green, pleasant and comprehensive cycle network.
Existing
Fig. 52 : Glenesk Pathway, Edinburgh
Fig. 48 : Clydeplan Forestry and Woodland Strategy Diagram
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Lambhill Outdoor Activity Centre
GalGael Navigate Life Programme
Lambhill & District Community Council is a voluntary, non-political organisation near by Milton area. Lambhill Stables was set up in 2007, with the aim of providing recreational, occupational, training and employment opportunities for the residents of Lambhill and district. They are the only provider of appropriate space for such activities in the immediate area.
The GalGael Navigate Life Programme is a twelve week programme aimed at people with a background in addiction and complex forms of exclusion to improve physical and emotional health and to increase resilience to sustain this transformation and move on in life with purpose. GalGael’s core purpose is “to initiate social, cultural and ecological renewal projects, re-visioning inclusive forms of peoplehood, establish an identity that builds resilience and embodies shared values, and community in modern Scotland”. The community provides a place to work, attitudinal and practical tools and basic respect for others delivered through the medium of traditional crafts including wood working.
Allotments are one of the most interesting activities offered. Lambhill Stables has reclaimed 9 acres of former derelict land at King’s Place in Lambhill, which was previously a “no-go area” due to criminal and anti-social behaviour. A lease was obtained on the land and 40 allotment plots have been created which are now being tended by local residents and community groups.
Fig. 53 : Lambhill Stables by canal
Fig. 56 : GalGael hand-crafter boat Fig. 54 : Union Canal, Stirling
“We need more jobs for young people. I left school early because of... 48
Fig. 55 : GalGael workshop
Milton could be a great place to develop this kind of program. The proximity of the canal and LoveMilton’s aspirations to build a training center to offer new skills to unemployed residents work hand in hand for a similar project to GalGael. More needs to be done for the residents suffering from addiction, and there are many in Milton. Creating community driven innitiatives with connections to the country side and improved manual skills is a great way to offer positive activities to those who need them the most.
Rowing, Boating, Paddling Taking back the canal edge from the industrial zone means creating a pleasant edge where residents and visitors can enjoy the canal. The Forth and Clyde canal starting in Milton goes all the way to Edinburgh. Leisure boating along it could attract visitors, contribute to the mix-use transformation of the industrial zone and generally improve the lives of residents.
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...gangs and need more experience to get work.” - Milton Talks Report 49
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Booklet No.6
TOWARDS AN URBAN RENAISSANCE
Strategy
S1
Figure 2.4: Cities and towns should be designed as networks that link together residential areas to public open spaces and natural green corridors with direct access to the countryside
Green Networks Towards an Urban Renaissance (The Urban Task Force, 1999) specifies identifying green public spaces as well as forgotten connectors and SLOAP (Space Left Over After Planning) in the existing urban realm and connecting them to create legible and pleasant routes through the city for pedestrians and other non motorised travellers. This echoes Glasgow City Council’s Core Paths Plan who’s aim is “to ensure that important paths and routes are recorded and promoted, helping to achieve a “connected Glasgow” where residents and visitors can move easily around the path network on foot, by bike, by horse or any other non-motorised means - including ‘water paths’ for rowers, canoeists and other non-motorised water users.” Existing green infrastructure such as the Milton Park, the green belt to the north, the playing fields and the canal should be connected and transformed to better serve visitors and residents. The canal acts as a strong connector to other parts of the city and for that reason the paths on either bank should be improved to increase carrying capacity for cycles. This has a direct linking ability to the Forth and Clyde Canal Action Plan.
(Andrew Wright Associates) Fig. 58 : Disconnected ecological network (left), reconnected, cohderent ecological network (right). (The Urban Task Force, 1999)
Towards a public realm strategy
To create a public realm with positive amenity value requires a comprehensive approach to planning, urban design and management which gets over the current fragmentation of statutory roles and responsibilities. A Public Realm Strategy, which requires local authorities to plan comprehensively for all aspects of the public realm, should either form part of the Local Plan or should have a clear relationship with it, possibly in the form of Supplementary Planning Guidance. The strategy should specify a clear network and hierarchy of open space provision based on a combination of nationally agreed standards and guidance and a careful interpretation of local need. Recommendations:
Fig. 57 : Milton’s corner of a neglected north Glasgow ecological network
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Booklet No.6
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S1 A
Flooding Glasgow’s City Plan 2 has identified Milton as a future Flood Risk Management Area. The plan’s strategic aim is to combine the sustainable management of rainwater and drainage within the city with new developments providing appropriate sustainable drainage systems (GCC, 2009, CP2 . p.57) (booklet 03). The topology of the area is pronounced with steep hills abundant. This leads to rain water run-offs accumulating in dips and valleys. Milton’s regeneration should aim to integrate this run off water into the design of its urban realm. These initiatives should be integrated at all levels and all scales into Milton’s urban and natural landscape. To the north of Milton, where flooding is most prominent, a sustainable urban drainage system acting as a pleasant promenade should connect Milton (and Bishopbriggs) to the canal. This will soften the connection to the city edge and encourage residents and visitors to access the countryside whilst protecting the city edge from water ingress.
B Fig. 59 : Flood risk and Milton’s topology
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Fig. 60 : Flood risk and ideas to alleviate it
1 : 10 000 Community orchard
Community woodland
SUDs on streets
Wildflower meadow
Allotments
SUDs water tunnels
Wildlife reserve
SUDs walkway
SUDs water storage
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Flooding Milton acts as Glasgow’s edge to the countryside. Celebrating this connection by bringing nature and water into the urban realm will not only improve the well being of residents but also help tackle problematic flooding. Policy CDP 8 (GCC, 2015, GCDP. p.49) states that all development proposals will be required to make satisfactory provision for Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) that should be designed to deliver enhancements for ecology, people and to integrate with the green infrastructure network. We aim to do exactly this. The vision fits comfortably within Glasgow’s existing development vision. Streets likely to be flooded should have integrated open-air drainage channels to absorb excess water. These should be directed to man-made ponds placed in appropriate public areas where the water can be filtered by plants before being diverted to the canal. This has been successfully implemented in cities such as Malmo in Sweeden and Freiburg in Germany (detailed in the following pages).
A
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Fig. 61 : Milton’s current wet-weather look Fig. 62 : (Below) Section AB through Milton: how Milton could turn flood risk into opportunity
B
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Commonwealth Village SUDs
Middelfart, Denmark
The Commonwealth SUDS basin is an example of Glasgow’s existing interest in changing how rainfall is managed by helping to reduce flood risk while enhancing the city environment. Put simply, the aim is to keep water on the surface rather than channelling it through the waste water network. Surface water does not have to be the problem it is regularly reduced to be. It is actually an asset which can be harnessed.
Middelfart is a small harbour city which suffers from frequent flooding during cloud-bursts. The city has been looking for innovative and sustainable alternatives to dumping the excess rain water into the city’s sewage system. The solutions found integrate rainproof measures, the urban context and community involvement (De Urbanisten, 2016).
A SUDs basin or canal is designed to retain a minimum level of water, and has the capacity to store rainwater during heavy rainfall. In the Commonwealth basis, water is then discharged to the river Clyde, at a rate which reduces flood risk and improves water quality. It’s also an attractive feature, encourages biodiversity, and reduces flows to local sewers.
Milton’s regeneration should aim for the same integration. Excess water can be transformed into pleasant public spaces. Fig. 63 : Commonwealth SUDS basin
Fig. 68 : Water square at the waterside in Middlefart
Glasgow has shown it is invested in managing rainfall in new ways which also improve the quality of the public realm. Water management and green infrastructure are particularly interesting to inter-relate. Blue-green corridors consist of recreating natural water cycles whilst making places better. Milton which has been identified as a high risk flood zone can integrate this kind of thinking into its urban realm.
Freiburg, Germany The Freiburg Bächle are small water-filled runnels in the German city of Freiburg. They are one of the city’s most famous landmarks and are supplied with water by the Dreisam. They can be seen along most streets and alleyways in the old city. They allow rain water to be quickly removed from surfaces and are part of self-regenerative cleaning process for the city. These fingers stretch out into many parts of the city
BO 01, Malmo, Sweeden
Fig. 67 : Illustration of how Middelfart’s streets are designed to cope with extreme storm-bursts
Fig. 64 : Water tunnels in Freiburg, Germany
Bo01 is a district of Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest city. Realised on a former industrial estate/port where the ground was polluted, Bo01 is an example for sustainable urban renewal Europe-wide. Particular attention is paid to the use of recycled water, raw materials, waste and natural resources such as sun and energy. The rainwater drainage system has been designed to be aesthetically pleasing, with various elements used to buffer and purify water. Topography was in this case designed especially to allow for natural run down to the sea or the central canal. Green roofs reduce the amount of drainage needed, and each building is surrounded by a rainwater gutter which is an integral part of the public space.
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Fig. 65 : An example of beautiful and sustainable urban drainage in Malmo
Fig. 66 : Illustration of how water runs downhill to Fisherman’s Square from urban Middlefart
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Cradle to Cradle Finding opportunity in waste
Strategy 2 aims to redevelop the Industrial Estate at the west of Milton to transform it into a mixed-use business centre, supporting existing businesses, building new facilities, as well as workshops which can be used by the community. Working in parallel to strategy one, it aims to create an attractive and pleasant environment used as a place of employment, training and recreation for the local community, connecting the neighbourhood to the canal. The industrial zone is in poor shape with aged buildings, many of which are struggling to find tenants. City Plan 2 states that much of the existing industrial and business space in the city is poor or obsolete, and over 20 years old (CP2, p.21, pp.4.12). This reflects Milton’s industrial zone. In policy terms, future development of the site will be required to provide business or industry space which fulfils the vision of the Plan, if the existing site of industry and business is to be reused it will be required to provide modern, sustainable and attractive business space.
Issues addressed
Enhancing Opportunities
Stakeholders
Lack of employment, skills and training opportunities
The Forth and Clyde canal will be redeveloped at the industrial site so that it can become part of a collaborative system linking different industries along the canal with the aim of reducing waste and improving sustainability.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of stakeholders we believe it is important to engage to help this strategy become a reality
Facilities in the industrial zone need regenerating Isolation of MIlton from the industrial zone and the canal Lack of recreational facilities Growing need for sustainability
Milton has a near non existent relationship with the industrial zone. Aside from the delicious smells of the bakery wafting over to the residential areas on windy days, it receives little benefits from its relationship to the site. The canal is trapped behind the single-use industrial district with no crossing points north of Lambhill.
Reducing Threats The industrial zone holds many disused industrial buildings which contribute to the lack of appeal for the area. The clearing of some these buildings will be necessary to allow for the extension of the west end of Liddlesdale Road and for the widening of the Forth and Clyde canal. During the process of the industrial zone’s regeneration, some of the disused buildings can be used to as temporary recreational facilities.
There is dramatic lack of employment opportunities in Milton. 57% of residents are at least in income deprivation if not unemployed. The industrial site currently mostly employs individuals from Maryhill, Springburn, as well as Milton. Increasing the activity of the site and transforming the canal into a vessel of sustainable trade will create greater employment opportunities for residents. The idea of a circular economy, and of cradle to cradle industry specifically is key to our vision for Milton’s industrial area: this is human industry is modelled on nature’s processes, seeing materials as nutrients circulating within healthy, safe systems. These nutrients can be biological (in which case we compost or consume them) or technical (in which case we recycle or reuse them with no loss of quality).
The re-development of the canal at the industrial site will include an education and recreation centre that will provide residents with the opportunity to develop new skills within a community environment. Skills could include metal work and wood work. Milton’s Industrial Zone should become a hub of activity along the canal.
Repairing Faults
Fig. 69 : Closed-loop production and consumption
Scotland’s main economic development agency, key in regeneration the industrial area to create new jobs and economic opportunity.
In charge of the Forth and Clyde Canal, key stakeholders in creating a basin at the industrial edge and reintroducing freight traffic.
Important existing industrial tenant, important to work with them in regeneration
Umbrella includes SEPA, key in intergrating sustainable drainage, filtering beds and wastewater recovery systems into industrial area.
The industrial zone is physically disconnected from the rest of Milton through its road network which offers only one connection between the two areas within the studied boundary. Extending Liddesdale Road west and east so that it runs through the industrial zone, through Milton and towards Bishopbriggs and Springburn will help connect the zone to the neighbourhood and allow employees to be part of Milton’s liveliness.
Industry need not be dirty. There is a growing need for more sustainable production and consumption in the world, and there is room for Milton to play its own innovative role in achieving this which can benefit Milton’s community too.
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Cradle to Cradle
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S2 1 : 15 000
Fig. 70 : Strategy map S2 Cradle to Cradle
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Joining Milton to the Industrial Zone
Torrent Estadella, Barcelona
There is currently only one access road to the industrial zone from within the studied boundary. Liddesdale Road, which currently folds 90 degrees to avoid entering the industrial zone, should be extended to join an existing dead end and create a new west-east connection. The improved straightness of the road will natural transform Liddesdale Road as a new through route and will bring employees and visitors into the neighbourhood.
It is a project commissioned by the municipality of Barcellona to provide a vision for the future of the inner city industrial area of Torrent Estadella, keeping its current industrial use. Torrent Estadella, a centrally located but sprawling and disconnected industrial area, provides a unique opportunity for a new green urban industry to crucially contribute to the city’s economic, environmental and social resilience.
Existing streets should be extended to include the industrial zone and new connections should be implemented. Traffic, both motorised, non-motorised and pedestrian should easily flow in and out of the zone, connected visually to Milton. Streets should extend to the canal to simplify access and improve usability of the site.
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Fig. 74 : The logic behind reintegrating the industrial into the urban
In order to relink the area with its surroundings the historical barriers, the railway and the river, that cut off the site from the city, are turning into metropolitan parks. The streets and free spaces of the area will become a truly Green Infrastructure, energetically self-sufficient and able to close the water cycle on site. The development of green industries can realized by means of the intensive implementation of sustainable policies and strategies. The term New Urban Fabrik proposes to merge two words that have been at odds for too long: “fabrik”, understood as factory, and “fabric”, the urban tissue of the city. This merger is possible thanks to the appearance of new urban manufacturing activities that are clean, sustainable, intensive in added value, largely contribute to the city’s gross domestic product and are perfectly compatible with all the other uses of the city.
Fig. 71 : Existing looped road system
One of the focuses at the heart of Torrent Estadella’s regeneration is the idea of moving from an open-loop industrial system, where waste is waste, to a closed-loop industrial system, where waste is opportunity. Industrial symbiosis is the closing of as many material and energy cycles as possible (Balcells, 2014). The idea is for businesses on the industrial site to get to know each other’s activities, and with this knowledge think about how to share resources and use by-products and waste. What can’t be used within the site should be recycled, further processed, or sold to other business elsewhere in the city. The landscape also forms a crucial part of this closing of cycles: for example, waste water produced by industries can be filtered on site in green filtering beds, then reused.
Fig. 72 : Proposed road system with blocks
Community Workshops
In Milton the industrial area, which is disconnected from the residential part and adjoining with the river, should be re-linked and re-qualified by means of a new green urban system. The river becomes crucial in this project because it is one of the main green arteries in the city. Furthermore, it allows the easy shipment of all waste products coming from the industrial installations to the recycling plants in other areas.
The re-development of the canal at the industrial site will include an education and recreation centre that will provide residents with the opportunity to develop new skills within a community environment. Skills could include metal work and wood work. Items such as scrap metal and wood can be provided to recreation centres in Milton via the canal. Local schools should collaborate with this centre to run community beautifying projects. On Great Western Road, local children used scrap tiles to decorate bollards. Small projects like these should not be underestimated. They contribute greatly to the identity of a space and can empower residents. Milton’s Industrial Zone should become a hub of activity along the canal.
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Fig. 76 : Reintegration of large industrial area into Barcelona’s urban and ecological fabric
This project aims to restore the sense of belonging to citizenship with regard to an area which was never considered as part of everyday life.
Fig. 73 : Mosaic bollards on Great Western Road
Fig. 75 : From cradle-to-grave to cradle-tocradle: industrial symbiosis built into Torrent Estadella’s regeneration
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S2
Case study: recycling yeast Fig. 77 : A selection of existing industrial areas along the Forth and Clyde Canal and River Kelvin
Bakeries generally produce a large amount of waste in the form of excess yeast. The excess yeast produced does not need to be wasted and could be delivered via the canal to a distillery or micro-brewery. The brewing process involves fermenting malted barley to produce beer. The main inputs are barley, water and yeast. The process comprises several stages depending on the type of beer being produced. The stages are: Malting: the barley is germinated and heat treated. Malting produces ‘malt culms’ (the broken off rootlets from the germinated grains) as well as barley screenings and dust as by products. Mashing: the milled malt is mixed with hot water to convert the starches into simpler sugars. The resulting mixture is then strained to remove the spent grains and leaving the liquid wort. Boiling: the wort produced from mashing is then boiled with hops, after which spent hobs are removed Fermentation: the cooled liquid is fermented with yeast, to produce the beer. This is when excess yeast from Allied Bakery will be used. This stage also produces excess spent yeast. The beer is then matured. Filtration: the beer is filtered, often using a fine texture mineral called kieselguhr. Spent kieselguhr is a by-product produced from this stage. Upon completion of brewing, the spent yeast can be transported back towards Milton along the canal. The community garden and allotments can use spent yeast as a fertiliser for composting, increasing moisture and nutrient retention in garden soil. It can also be added to the compost pile to speed up decomposition and increase heat. Adding yeast to wormeries (which produce compost) can increase worm growth and the quantity and quality of worm compost. Moreover, snails love beer and the spent yeast in the compost will attract them to the pile, helping to accelerate compost decomposition.
Collaborative industries
Fig. 79 : Making waste go further
Fig. 80 : Spent yeast - a byproduct of the fermentation process which can be further recycled into food products
This is one example of the kind of sustainable and cyclical thinking that Milton can be a part of and which is the future of Glasgow’s economy. Trade (specifically sustainable exchanges) along the canal should be encouraged. Using the canal as a transport route has numerous benefits: less congestion on roads, more activity along the canal and making new connections in the city. Connecting loops of waste between industries is key to create a more sustainable future for the city. Milton has an opportunity to be an area of experimentation with these processes.
Capturing heat waste for the community Manufacturing produces a huge amount of waste and excess heat: in chimneys but also in the offices and data centres of factories (due to computers and servers).
Allied Bakeries is the major tenant currently operating in Balmore industrial estate. There are opportunities for them to link to a proposed micro-brewery (see next page). Two other food based businesses are also currently tenants - PakPoultry Products and PJ Food Product Suppliers. PJ Food makes sandwiches and distribute them to supermarkets and caterers. Immediately down canal of Milton is the Guinea Environmental Plant. Currently a tire recycling facility, it could be expanded to incorporate a wide range of environmental waste disposal and recycling services. This will allow Milton Industries to environmentally dispose of their waste.
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Fig. 81 : London Fields Lido, Hackney, in the winter, providing a valuable yearround leisure space
Fig. 78 : Freight pulled by a barge on the River Trent
Waste heat from the industrial zone could be captured to heat an openair pool, heated year long, improving sustainability and giving Milton new community facilities (which do not require huge amounts of energy from the grid). A heat recovery unit will be located near to the site of a swimming pool. As the hot gas flows around the pipes water is heated so that when the water leaves the heat exchange it will be adequately warm for swimming. This cycle continues. Additional heat exchangers should be used at the industrial site so that nearby houses can benefit from central heat provided by waste industrial heat as the source, reducing the cost of central heating for those residents.
Fig. 82 : A typical waste heat recovery system
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S3
Make it urban! Reintegrating Milton into its urban surroundings Strategy 3 aims to reintegrate Milton into its greater context by improving connections inside and outside of the boundary and improving the neighbourhood’s built form.
Issues addressed
Enhancing Opportunities
Stakeholders
Milton is effectively an island, disconnected from its surroundings. There are no reasons for non residents to enter the neighbourhood boundary. This considerably impacts the economic viability of businesses as well as Milton’s liveliness. The 1940s development was planned around general car use. Not only is this unsustainable, but the majority of residents do not own or have access to a car. Moving through the area on foot is difficult, with areas disconnected from one another. Health issues are exasperated from a lack of physical activity. Blocks are oversized and sprawling road networks make orientation difficult. Residents complain of the difficulty in accessing the city centre and surrounding areas.
Movement prevented to and from Milton
Improving public transport access, which should follow from improving the street network, will improve job opportunities, and general access to facilities and schools. Improving cycling and pedestrian routes will facilitate movement as well as encourage physical activity (and improve health).
Below is a non-exhaustive list of stakeholders we believe it is important to engage to help this strategy become a reality
Re-instating a main street along Liddesdale Road connecting the neighbourhood to Kelvindale to the west and Maryhill, Bishopbriggs and Springburn to the east will bring in new customers from beyond, strengthening the economic viability of new shops. This will act as a clear new centre for Milton. Access routes to the main street must be created to diminish block sizes and increase accessibility and walkability. These new access routes must take into account the steepness of the site.
Lack of economic footfall Poor walkability >> poor accessibility and reduced physical activity>> poor health
Reducing Threats
Lack of employment opportunities Lack of children and young people’s play opportunities Disconnection between Milton and the industrial zone
The overwhelming majority of 3 way streets and cul-de-sacs create a disconnected and illegible urban environment. New connections should be created to reduce the overall sizes of blocks, encourage straightness and improve the legibility of the urban environment.
Specifically important for getting new roads created, and important landowner to have on board.
Key stakeholders in development of new train station on main line at Liddesdale Road.
Important stakeholders in creating an integrated, accessible, affordable transport system.
Key to promoting integrated public transport systems and creating integrated, accessible cycling networks.
Important in retrofitting existing streets with SUDs systems.
Repairing Faults
Disconnection between Milton and the canal Disconnection between Milton and neighbours
Milton has been physically disconnected from its context. Clear gateways into the boundary should be emphasised to attract visitors and celebrate Milton’s identity. Students in Milton have to travel far and wide to get an education, new facilities are required both in the boundary and out. New community facilities catering from the very young to the very old and everyone in between are needed and will be sustained by an increased density and resolved connections. Speed bumps have been used all over Milton as a way to tackle speeding issues in the area. They are the cheapest and least sophisticated method and are a hindrance to vehicular movement. Traffic slowing methods which improve the urban realm should replace them, especially on the main axes of travel.
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Land owners and social landlord, important to engage in building higher density, more adaptable developments.
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Fig. 83 : Strategy S3 Make it Urban
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Strengthening Nodes In a well-designed, flexible and connected city, nodes are essential in forming a connection between communities, amenities, districts and providing a clear passage between public spaces. Strong nodes help enable a compact layout with a clear urban edge, preventing urban sprawl (The Urban Task Force, 1999). Moreover, strong nodes help create a local hubs within neighbourhoods and districts. They also help ensure that every part of the city is within walking distance of basic transport and social amenities. Ideally, to create a sustainable city, the district, neighbourhood and local community nodes should be well connected via a network of public transport. Such a city would prevent a dependency on cars from developing. New strong nodes in Milton are important to eradicate the disconnected isolation that the neighbourhood has to the neighbouring regions and districts. Furthermore, Milton’s current design is dominated by car dependency. This is a problem as many local residents cannot financially afford their own car. Indeed, 64% of Milton’s residents do not have access to a car (Booklet 03). By strengthening the nodes within Milton and in regions around Milton, an improved public transport network will begin to shift the car use within Milton and make the neighbourhood more pedestrian and cyclist friendly. Our strategy is to identify existing fairly strong nodes and build up density around them to support even more shops and services. These nodes would serve as district centres. Then, we identify gaps in the urban fabric not served by any shops and services and encourage increases in density in these locations and other poorly served areas to support a diversity of everyday shops and services within walking distance for everyone.
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Fig. 84 : Urban Task Force Diagram of Interconnecting Nodes
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Sprawl Repair
Increasing Density
Milton’s housing layout sprawls. It’s not quite as problematic as suburban layouts but its blocks are oversized and street layouts complicated. Without direct and precise policy and design interventions, sprawl is not going to produce good quality, sustainable urbanism that supports a diversity of uses and a diversity of people (DPZ Partners, 2016).
As we saw in Chapter 1, our study area is characterised by a lack of built density. Though not conceived of as ‘suburbs’, areas on the city’s periphery share plenty in common: long, monotonous, illegible streets of low rise buildings, built for a car-dominated world.
S3
One of the consequences of this dominant low-rise typology is that there is simply insufficient density to support a diversity of people, shops and services.
Reducing block sizes, changing street configurations and varying typologies and densities make for much more vibrant and walkable neighbourhoods. Fig. 88 : The old tenements with ground floor shops offer a good model for supporting density around local hubs
There are currently around 6,500 people living in Milton, over an area of around 150ha. In order to support a strong local centre with everyday services which everyone can walk to easily (usually 400m or 5 minutes walking), and bus services which are viable and frequent, we want to accommodate a similar amount of people in half that area - in other words, to more or less double the population contained within Milton’s boundary. By ‘filling in’ the existing city, we will create places which sustain appropriate levels of economic and social activity, which are all within an acceptable distance from basic transport and social facilities (UTF, 2005). This means creating development with higher densities where we want shops and services to be located. As we move further away from these local services, density should decrease. Where global services are located, densities should be even higher than at local centres, again with slightly lower densities forming a ring around the core. In areas which we want to promote as district hubs, offering daily shops and services for residents as well as more global services serving a wider population, a reworking of the tenement typology, 4 stories, some with ground floor retail, would work well. In neighbourhood hubs, ground floor retail with 2 stories of housing above should be able to create density without making the area feel cramped.
Fig. 89 : Different typologies producing the same densities - not just about the height (The Urban Task Force, 1999)
Fig. 86 : Illustration of suburban sprawl
Fig. 87 : IIllustration of sprawl repair
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Fig. 90 : Milton needs more people to support good public transport and a diversity of everyday shops and services (diagram adapted from Urban Task Force, 1999)
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S3 To the north of the perimeter, on the city edge, gateways to the countryside should be celebrated with clear marked pathways and educational signs information visitors of the possibilities beyond.
Liddesdale Road & Urban Gateways Milton deserves a strong identity with a defined urban landscape. Liddesdale Road has been re-instated as a main east-west route, connecting the industrial zone to Milton and Milton to its neighbours on either side. We envisage local shops and services along the length of the road, with two offshoots heading north towards the north of Milton, which is currently neglected. This road should act as a clear centre for Milton, with higher densities along the road supporting ground floor shops and services.
To the east, the entrance onto Liddesdale Road should have a clear connection to the new train station.
There will be a shift in priority towards pedestrians, cyclists and public transport and away from private cars. Pavements will be wide and encourage lingering. Sustainable drainage systems (detailed in Strategy S1) will contribute to an attractive streetscape which serves as a constant, pleasant reminder of the (newly accessible) countryside behind.
Fig. 92 : Map showing Liddesdale Road as a main street, with internal and external ‘gateways’
Fig. 91 : Visions for Liddesdale Road
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To the south of the perimeter, an existing node of shops hidden from the street below by walled-in ramps will be transformed into an accessible combination of stairs and ramps. This will be visually inviting for those living to the south of Milton, offering a reason to enter, and will regenerate existing shops.
To the west, the entrance into the industrial zone should be inviting, with views to the canal (enabled by Liddesdale Road’s high location), and identity which promotes canal base leisure, sustainability, and mixed-use working spaces (industrial, workshops, community spaces).
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Fig. 94 :Existing intersections
Connectivity As indicated in Booklet 04, it is clear that Milton, as a whole, has problems in terms of connectivity and accessibility. Urban blocks are very large, hence streets are very long. As a result of this, the majority of people are unhappy with walking distances and avoid walking or cycling around.
4-way intersections 3-way intersections Cul-de-sacs
To change this, a necessary step will be to cut the blocks to make the whole area more fluent. We increase the number of streets, that way offering more options to users about their routes. By enhancing the number of 4-way intersections, we make the area more legible. By improving Milton’s grid we expect an increase in pedestrian, cyclists and general life on the streets. The two maps opposite show the existing situation in Milton, where the vast majority of intersections are 3-way only. This makes legibility and connectivity very poor. In contrast, our proposal to create a denser street network results in far more 4-way intersections which support legibility and connectivity.
Fig. 93 : Intersections after changes to street network
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Connectivity
S3 Number of blocks
_18
Intersection density
_30
A set of structural indicators of connectivity and accessibility is presented here. As indicated in booklet 04, existing street connectivity in Milton is very poor. Studying an 800x800 m area, we aim to illustrate that with simple moves such as new streets connections and the removal of cul-de-sacs, we can considerably improve Milton’s connectivity.
Street density
_59
Number of cul-de-sacs
_10
Internal connectivity (CNR)
_0.75
Street network indicators are defined as the interconnected systems of elements that we call nodes and links. Here intersections are defined as nodes and streets as links.
External connectivity (m)
_139.1
Link-node ratio
_1.96
These were first measured to highlight intersection density. Intersection density is number of nodes per unit area. The higher the obtained number, the greater the connectivity.
Strong grid pattern ratio
_0
Weak grid pattern ratio
_0
Next, street density was calculated from the number of streets and cul-desacs. The lower the number of cul-de-sacs, the greater the connectivity. Our proposed blocks work well and so we continue with the study of external and internal connectivity. Internal connectivity can be measured as the number of street intersections divided by the sum of the number of intersections and cul-de-sacs. The higher the obtained ratio, the greater the internal connectivity. As suggested by the INDEX model, values should not be less than 0.5 and 0.7 and higher ratios are recommended.
Fig. 95 : Existing 800x800 m studied area
External connectivity is the median distance between ingress and egress points in meters along the studied area’s boxed edge. The shorter the distance, the greater the connectivity.
Number of blocks
_37
(+ 19)
Intersection density
_49
(+ 19)
The last indicators studied are strong and weak grid pattern ratios. A strong grid pattern is when a block is formed with four way intersections at its four corners. A weak grid pattern is formed when a block is formed by four intersections with three, four way intersections and one three way intersection. The higher the pattern ratio, the greater the connectivity.
Street density
_73
(+ 14)
Number of cul-de-sacs
_6
Internal connectivity (CNR)
_1.33
(+ 0.58)
With a few simple moves, we can considerably improve the connectivity of the area. The only decrease visible is in the link-node ratio but that is due to a decrease in the number of streets (because of joining multiple streets into one) and is not a reflection of failure. A perfect grid has a ratio of 2.5, but reaching 1.4 is a good target in new human settlements. The majority of indicators have been improved and our proposed layout is far better then the current one.
External connectivity (m)
_105.3
(- 33.8)
Link-node ratio
_1.49
(- 0.47)
Strong grid pattern ratio
_3
(+ 3)
Weak grid pattern ratio
_6
(+ 6)
(- 4)
Fig. 96 : Proposed 800x800 m studied area
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Fig. 99 : Nurseries and their catchment areas with suggested locations for new nurseries in red
Education Addressing issues in the physical structure of Milton and planning for higher densities around neighbourhood nodes should mean more services can be provided to residents. Nurseries are particularly in need for a population composed of many single parent households (51.4% compared to 40.4% in Glasgow) (Booklet 03). A new primary school will also be needed when the population increases. Milton is in high need for a high-school, but so is much of the north of Glasgow. For that reason we suggest locating it at the major district node of Possil Park. For students living in Milton this will provide a major improvement to school access. Improved road connections, local bus links and railway links, transport to the school will be regular and consistent. This will allow students that have studied together in primary school to remain together throughout high school and improve the sense of community amongst locals.
Fig. 97 : Secondary School proposed to the north of Possilpark with improved connections from Milton
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Fig. 98 : Primary schools and their catchment areas with suggested location for new primary in red
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Community Activity Milton has found resilience in a bottom-up approach to regeneration. Having been essentially ignored by Glasgow’s existing development policies, the community has had no choice but to organise and pool resources to bring about the positive change it so desperately needs. Love Milton is a registered charity operating in Milton since 2008 with the aim of improving the local area. They are behind a number of interventions including Bothy 75 and a community orchard. Marina from LoveMilton has informed us that they have gotten planning permission for a building containing offices and training spaces from which they aim to teach local people the skills necessary to live-build a new community centre for Milton. The fresh produce desert has led to a number of community developments which include a garden, the Love Milton orchard and a series of North Glasgow Community Food Initiative (NGCFI) projects. NCGFI has a fruit and veg barras every week in one of Milton’s churches, selling fresh produce at below cost. A memorial was also created to honour lost families and friends of Milton. Milton’s regeneration must start by supporting existing community efforts, building on them and offering new community led initiatives. Existing projects have been mapped in dark green, planned projects are in a lighter green and proposed projects in light green. They are detailed in the following page.
Nature reserve
Skills / training projects
Community sports arena
Community woodland
Reuse / recycling projects
Community building
Community-build bridge
Wildflower meadow
Community orchard
Gardening / Growing
Kids engagement
Green routes
Canal-based activities
Live projects
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New proposals
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Fig. 100 : Existing (dark green) and proposed (light green) community bottom-up initiative
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Community Gardening
Kids Involved
The existing community garden has gotten planning permission to extend south onto vacant land. This should be supported in the regeneration of Milton. The social, mental and physical benefits for the community have been detailed in S1. Allotment gardens could soften the urban edge to the country-side as well as offer more fresh produce to residents.
Community projects should work when possible in collaboration with local schools. The benefits of this are multiple. Children empowered to act upon their environment, are more likely to care for it. Temporary solutions such as clean ups are good but permanent transformations such as neighbourhood art projects or planting flowers and trees are even better! Fig. 101 : Community Garden
Fig. 105 : Kids cleaning Milton
Orchard
New Skills
An orchard, young and small, has been planted by the playing fields and is already offering fresh fruit to the community. This initiative should be supported and connected to the food based transformation of the industrial zone. It should also be understood in tandem to the flood prevention open air water collection system that needs to be put in place by it. This can in turn be related to the use of the playing fields, offering a complementary public space to watch sports unfold
Projects detailed in S1 and S2, offering support for those struggling for addiction, teaching new skills, supporting and improving the community, placing Milton as a gate to the country-side, closing loops of waste, all contribute to creating a resilient and supportive community for Milton’s residents and visitors. Fig. 102 : Community Orchard
Fig. 106 : Building a boardwalk at Malls Mire community woodland
Training Centre
Green Edge
LoveMilton has received planning permission (but is still struggling to obtain affordable right of passage) for new offices and training centre where they aim to give residents new skills to build the community centre the neighbourhood is waiting for. Aside from a new facilities, the project aim to improve the employability of those who participate.
Supporting biodiversity by improving the soil, protecting the wet-lands, and growing woodlands are all ways to get the community involved, learn new skills, recognise fauna and flora, bond as a community and protect the environment. Fig. 103 : LoveMilton Training Centre
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Fig. 107 : Wildflower meadow planting, increasing biodiversity
Bridge to Possil Marsh The training centre should run smaller scale side-projects to the new community centre to tackle some of the changes that need to be implemented in the area. One of those should be the design and built of a bridge connecting Milton to Possil Marsh, improving access to the green edge and improving Milton’s opportunity as a gate to the countryside. Fig. 104 : Duke’s Pass, Trossachs
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Fig. 110 : Existing nodes, densities, transport and ecological networks
3. Proposal In Chapter 2 we presented our strategy and explored in some detail precedents and inspirations. Now, we turn to how these changes manifest themselves spatially, by mapped proposed nodes and supporting densities, and modifying street, transport and ecological networks. Compared to the existing situation, our new vision for Milton illustrates a place which is well-integrated into its surroundings, urban and rural, with a clarified road hierarchy allowing for transport connections which are coherent and relate to each other, and an ecological network which is stitched together and accessible. Our proposal transforms a fragmented, incoherent and neglected part of north Glasgow into one where all the elements work together to create the sustainable and connected structures which form the backbone of a successful place. We have carefully mapped existing densities, nodes, road hierarchy, public transport and ecological networks in the study area. We have then mapped the spatial dimension of our strategies - proposed changes to these same networks. In the following chapter we detail our proposed changes to the various components.
Existing strong nodes Existing clusters of shops Proposed district nodes Proposed neighbourhood nodes
400m radius from existing nodes
Low density Medium density High density
Arterial routes Urban main streets Local main streets
Bishopbriggs Maryhill Station
Bus routes Milton
Suburban railways New train station
d
oa
lR
il yh
ar M
Public amenity
Possilpark Springburn
Private amenity Cemeteries
Fig. 108 : Proposed Nodes
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Formal cycle routes
Fig. 109 : Proposed nodes, densities, transport and ecological networks
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Fig. 113 : Existing densities, centres of activity, and indicative areas served
Nodes and Densities Currently, there are no clear district nodes which support global shops and services in the study area. There is also an absence of successful neighbourhood nodes providing everyday goods and services. Where clusters of shops do exist, density does not follow, and many struggle as a result. Diversity of shops and services is limited. We identify 4 district nodes in our proposal. Byre’s Road, in the south-west corner of the study area, is already strong and maintained as a district node. Bishopbriggs (north east) and Maryhill Station (north west) should be strengthened and upgraded to district nodes, along with Possilpark (south centre). This creates a basic structure of clear district centres for north Glasgow. Springburn (south east) remains a neighbourhood node, and the fragmented linear node along Maryhill Road is consolidated. Within Milton, Liddesdale Road, newly reconnected in the east, becomes a neighbourhood node for the area, with two branches going north, ensuring much needed shops and services permeate into north Milton.
Existing strong nodes Existing clusters of shops Proposed district nodes Proposed neighbourhood nodes
400m radius from existing nodes
Low density Medium density High density
A new hierarchy of densities around these nodes makes them viable, by ensuring sufficient people live within walking distance of their shops and services. Densities found in the outskirts of the district nodes are the same as in the core of the neighbourhood nodes (see sections).
Fig. 111 : Sections through showing existing and proposed densities. Transition from fragmented to coherent
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Fig. 112 : Proposed structure of nodes and corresponding densities
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Fig. 115 : Milton’s shops and services and built-area density
Milton’s Nodes & Densities We have previously spoken of the importance of supporting centres of shops and services with increased density. In Milton, where clusters of shops exist, density does not follow. This fact, combined with the physical disconnection from surroundings, leads to most of these business to struggle as a result. Diversity of shops and services is also extremely limited within the boundary. Liddesdale Road has been identified as a new main street for Milton due to the potential of strong centrality when reconnected to the east. This in turn allows it to become a neighbourhood node for the area, with two branches going north, ensuring much needed shops and services permeate into north Milton. A new hierarchy of densities around these nodes makes them viable, by ensuring sufficient people live within walking distance of their shops and services. This vision isn’t a proposal to demolish the existing urban fabric and start over. It is simply a suggestion of an area, which with some help, could evolve over time to eventually become a bustling main street. The bottom map highlights construction which is either occurring or planned highlighting that a significant portion of Liddesdale Road will be remaining residential for quite some time. There is however plenty of development space on the western and eastern edges of Liddesdale which could easily be planned as individual nodes with the idea that over time, as demand increases and building stock quality decreases, new high density and ground floor shop typologies may replace existing ones.
Existing strong nodes Low density Medium Density High density Existing Services Existing Shops Existing Community Spaces
Development in progress or with planning
Fig. 114 : Proposed built-area density with buildings being constructed or awaiting construction in red
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Fig. 117 : Existing Road Hierarchy
Road Hierarchy Currently, main roads bypass Milton, trapping it between two key arterial routes (A803 and A879) but providing no route across. There is no direct connection from Milton to Bishopbriggs, further exacerbating Milton’s isolation. Traffic is directed around Milton on the Ashgill Road dualcarriageway, creating a physical barrier between Milton and the rest of the city and an environment hostile to everyone but car users. The lack of legible routes between Liddesdale Road and Scaraway street contributes to the divide bewteen north and south Milton. Liddesdale Road is reconnected at the eastern edge and straightened in the west, creating a new urban main street and an environment prioritising public and active transport (see following pages). Other urban main streets remain, connecting district centres. Ashgill Road is downgraded to a local main street. A new network of local main streets within Milton help connect north and south from Liddesdale Road.
Existing strong nodes Existing clusters of shops Proposed district nodes Proposed neighbourhood nodes
Arterial routes Urban main streets Local main streets
Fig. 116 : Proposed Road Hierarchy
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Street Network Fig. 121 : Betweenness centrality, before: No important route going through Milton.
As detailed in booklet 05, one of our aims in proposing changes to the street network in Milton is to increase centrality. Central places tend to be more popular and are better able to support a range of everyday and secondary services.
Fig. 122 : Betweenness centrality, after: Liddesdale Road becomes important through-route.
Do I need to pass through this street to get to other places? By reconnecting Liddesdale Road at the eastern end we create a strong east-west route through the city, with good betweenness centrality (Fig. 116). This creates a practical reason to pass through Milton to get to other places, and the potential to create a place which can support more activity and street life. This supports our choice of Liddesdale Road as the main street running through Milton’s new neighbourhood node.
Fig. 118 : Betweenness centrality
How many places can I get to within a 5 minute walk of this street? The south of Milton in particular currently suffers from low closeness centrality, with long roads and few connections. By cutting block sizes around Liddesdale Road and the south, the closeness (at 400m, walkable in 5 minutes) is much improved (Fig. 118).
Fig. 119 : Closeness centrality
Fig. 123 : 400m closeness centrality, before: 400m closeness centrality, before. South Milton’s blocks are very big and unconnected.
Fig. 124 : 400m closeness centrality, after: Liddesdale Road and south Milton become much ‘closer’ places.
Is this street a direct route to other places? Milton is currently almost totally illegible - roads are winding and long and offer no clear clue to direction. By decreasing block sizes and connecting up routes which are currently cut off, we can improve legibility considerably (Fig. 121). Areas on the periphery continue to have the lowest straightness centrality - simply because the network ends at the city edge. You can see the contrast in straightness between the more regular new blocks and the curving crescents which already exist.
Fig. 120 : Straightness centrality
Fig. 125 : Straightness centrality, before: The whole of Milton has very poor legibility.
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Fig. 126 : Straightness centrality, after: More regular grid structure along and south of Liddesdale Road improves legibility.
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Road Hierarchy The look and feel of Milton’s streets must respond to their hierarchy. Liddesdale Road must become a clear main street. Ashgill Road, which has up until now been a large four way connector hugging Milton’s eastern edge need to be put on a diet and shrunk to the appropriate residential scale.
BUS STOP
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Fig. 128 : Proposed Liddesdale
BUS STOP BUS STOP
Fig. 127 : Existing Liddesdale
Liddesdale Road is restructured to alter the priority given to different transport modes and focus on pedestrians and cyclists. Segregated cycle lanes run along either side of the street. Pavements are widened considerably, creating a pleasant environment made for lingering. Bus stop peninsulas incorporate greenery and trees.
Traffic is currently directed around Milton on Ashgill Road, a dual carriageway. Our proposal downgrades Ashgill Road to a single carriageway, and to a residential scale with cycle lanes, again altering the priority of transport modes. This makes Ashgill Road safer for pedestrians, cyclists and residents.
BUS STOP
BUS STOP
Currently, much of the length of Liddesdale Road is lined with vacant and derelict land. There are narrow pavements, a dominance of vehicular traffic, and no pedestrian crossings.
Fig. 129 : Existing Ashgill Road
Fig. 130 : Proposed Ashgill Road
Fig. 131 : Shift in priority given to different transport modes
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Fig. 133 : Existing Public Transport Infrastructure
Public Transport Current public transport provision is inadequate and expensive for a population which struggles financially. Milton is not well served by any existing suburban rail stations. The bus network mostly connects Milton directly to the city centre, bypassing its immediate urban context. The new public transport network relies heavily on a new street network and on increasing density. It is as it is today partly because of a lack of sensible routes, because of a population spread too thinly, and because of the concentrated poverty of the residents it serves. In our proposal, local bus networks follow the new, more legible network, linking local urban centres to each other and to district services. District nodes are connected to each other (largely via existing suburban rail), with regular services made more viable with increased density. Everyone is within a 5 minute walk of a stop in the integrated city-wide transport system, which operates a timed fare structure allowing for flexible interchange. Terminuses in Milton are removed, creating through traffic for public transport linking surrounding neighbourhood nodes. A new train station on the existing rail line to Bishopbriggs is proposed at the east end of Liddesdale Road. This will improve accessibility to the area as well as the regenerated industrial zone. Employees can walk along Liddesdale, enjoying the shops and services and contributing to the local economy. New bus services provide onward links from rail stations (for example from Ashfield up to the industrial area), forming comprehensive, integrated public transport system.
Existing strong nodes Existing clusters of shops Proposed district nodes Proposed neighbourhood nodes
Bus routes Suburban railways New train station
Fig. 132 : Proposed Public Transport Infrastructure
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Fig. 135 : Existing green corridors and biking
Green Corridors & Biking As discussed on pages 30-31, the current ecological network is a fragmented series of green spaces not used to their potential, and the cycle network, or lack of it, discourages all but the most foolhardy from using a bike as a mode of transport. We improve the ecological network in several ways. First, we propose 3 new bridges across the canal which allow us to stitch together the green network using both sides. We recast some streets as greenways, with a focus on pedestrians and cyclists in pleasant green surroundings connecting up disparate parks and creating safe and attractive routes for cyclists. We transform a disused suburban railway line just south of Milton into a traffic free greenway. To encourage people to cycle more we create a comprehensive network of bike routes, integrated with the public transport network, which fall into three categories: Segregated cycle paths run north-south and east-west on the key arterial routes providing a safe route between district centres and into the city centre. Painted cycle lanes, sometimes on wide pavements, link up these main routes on quieter urban and local main streets where pedestrians and bikes have a clearly marked space. Greenways link up green spaces and intersect with both segregated cycle paths and painted cycle lanes, providing traffic free, attractive routes where cyclists and pedestrians have absolute priority. Taken together, the stitched up ecological network and new comprehensive cycle network provide reasons to get outside, strengthen the relationship between the urban and the rural, with routes permeating right into the city and into the open country, and make cycling as a mode of transport not just possible but appealing for pedestrians and cyclists.
Fig. 134 : Proposed Green Corridors and Biking
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Timeline Our vision is far reaching and not everything can happen at once. Some elements are crucial to support others to be viable. Public subsidy may be required in the short term, for example to support better public transport systems before density is increased and the street network rationalised. This is a cost which ought to be built into development. The timeline can only be indicative at this stage: a lot rests on key stakeholders, who will all have their own time-scales and agendas. This is a visualisation of the possible time frame to establish our vision. We can only aim to create the appropriate urban form but cannot foresee what path life will take.
Extension of Liddesdale Road to connect east to west of Milton Create clear urban gateway at eastern end of Liddesdale Road
Transform the canal into a local leisure destination and give it back life as a trading route
Alter bus network where possible to enhance legibility, proximity and accessibility Make significant changes to transport governance as groundwork for future changes
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Expansion of community gardening including allotments on city edge Build planned skills / training centre
Increase density along the new Liddesdale Road
Create cycle friendly routes through the city and along strengthened green routes into the country
Alter and repair main street network inside and outside Milton Replace speed bumps with other traffic calming where appropriate
Widen the canal in the industrial area, and make a through-route connecting it to Liddesdale Road Disused buildings used as temporary recreational facilities Start regeneration of industrial zone
Transform disused railway line into greenway
Complete the bus network on new street network Transport should be integrated and citywide
Redevelop the industrial area to support local skills, training and jobs
Build leisure centre in industrial area Community builds bridge connect Milton to Possil Marsh on the other side of the canal
Increase density along two branches north from Liddesdale Road
Complete the denser street network with more connections inside Milton
Create clear green corridors for pedestrians and cyclists, connecting up the ecological network
Start using canal as trade and leisure route
Open the new Liddesdale Road train station
Connect loops of waste between industries and use the canal
Extend new bus route through new street network
Possilpark is ready as a new key district centre with global services including new secondary school
Increase density near the train station
Strengthened recycling plant down the canal
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Fig. 138 : Milton’s Regeneration - Medium term
4. Reality Check Our previous timeline is the visualisation of one possible trajectory for Milton’s regeneration. With this project we aim first to create the urban form necessary to generate a pleasant urban environment and improve opportunity for residents and visitors. In reality, we cannot for-see what form life will take in the neighbourhood. The following pages aim to highlights the realities and restrictions of the area to better inform the future masterplanning. These specifications do not contradict any of big strategic moves but will influence the fine-tuning of the project. Short term - Stalled Spaces community initiatives make use of vacant and derelict land; allotments developed on excess parking around tower blocks. Medium term - Liddesdale Road reconnected and the area built up to increase density; new bus route runs east to west; community garden expanded; SUDs walkway built; begin retrofitting existing streets with SUDs; community-build bridge over canal built; tower block infilled. Long term - industrial zone and canal regenerated; train station at Liddesdale Road opened; new roads added to existing street network; tower blocks reach end of life, infill completed.
Fig. 136 : Milton’s Regeneration - Short term
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Fig. 137 : Milton’s Regeneration - Long term
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Fig. 141 : Milton’s Urban Form: Near Future
Evolving Urban Form Milton’s urban form is not static. The map below is an overview of today’s urban form, however construction is happening along Liddesdale Road and planning permission has been granted for flats in the the north of Milton. LoveMilton is struggling to obtain right of passage but have planning permission for new offices and training centre as well as a community center. These have been mapped in fig 141. The housing stock in Milton is of low quality. Extensive refurbishment has been undertaken by GHA bringing them up to standards. However, if no other refurbishment is made, the housing stock only has another thirty years ahead of it. This includes the tower-blocks. The industrial zone is in dire need for refurbishment. Many of the spaces are currently empty and in danger of becoming derelict. The area has been identified as needing investment as well as radical transformation to attract interest.
Fig. 139 : Milton’s urban form - Present Day
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Fig. 140 : Milton’s Urban Form - In 30 years (if nothing is refurbished until then)
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Fig. 143 : Milton’s “soft” urban form
What’s in play? Milton’s existing urban form has been studied to illustrate what is likely to be able to change and what is not. We define as soft, that which can be demolished, modified or refurbished over time. Form is defined as hard when it is unlikely to change (like schools and churches or most of the street network). The top map mostly highlights GHA’s housing stock which will be at the end of its life in thirty years if it is not refurbished again before then. Owneroccupied buildings, although most will also need extensive refurbishment in a near future, have been identified as hard due to the difficulty of convincing large amounts of owners to give up their homes. The industrial zone has also been identified as soft due to the many empty buildings and the general poor state of the facilities. Allied Bakeries and Pak-Poultry are the only ones that were identified as hard. Finally, the tower-blocks which are likely to remain standing for at least another thirty years will need adaptive solutions to frame the urban environment whilst allowing for the possibility of the towers eventually coming down. The bottom map highlights that which is considered hard, the road system, the owner-occupied housing, schools, churches, etc are unlikely to change rapidly. The eastern end of Liddesdale Road has been removed from the hard-scape as the reconnection could be done fairly easily through the now empty site of the demolished school.
Fig. 142 : Milton’s “hard” urban form
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Open Call to the City of Glasgow Good public transport has many ingredients, many of which are clearly spatial. However there is also the question of governance and systems. Good public transport needs to accessible, affordable and fully integrated across modes. Switching between modes of transport should be seamless; it should not be a hassle. In an increasingly individualised world, all people need is to be given reasons to make using public transport a positive choice. This is where governance comes in. Glasgow City Council has made all the right communications in planning and strategy documents, committing to public transport and a reduction in car dominance and dependence which is so damaging and unequal. But Glasgow’s public transport network is not fit for purpose: difficult to navigate, no single map exists to explain the whole thing. Several providers run expensive bus services with little thought given to interchange, and the subway system serves a laughably small inner circle in the city. There are few examples of public transport systems which satisfy all criteria and consist of disparate, largely unregulated private companies. For a system to be integrated, there must be some common denominator in all. At the most basic level, this means ticketing which is consistent within and across modes. With private providers running different routes, the role of operating such a ticketing system has to be taken on by a local public sector body. Systems which satisfy the criteria well tend to have a public body which takes charge in some way: either by running the vast majority of services themselves (as in Lyon), or by deciding the network, frequency of services, ticketing and rules of carriage before tendering operating contracts to private providers who run services under a single banner (as in London).
Fig. 145 : Glasgow’s tram system, dismantled in 1962
Stakeholders A project to improve Glasgow’s transport system requires collaboration across agencies, political will at least at the local level, and involvement of key third sector partner.
GCC should set out a clear vision for how public transport should look and function in the city. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport’s role should make the vision a reality. With the help of third sector partners such as sustrans, who’s work encourages people to travel in ways which benefit health and the environment.
Fig. 146 : Lyon transport en commun, a truly integrated and comprehensive network. The network is managed by two companies, one concerned with the policy-making and finance, and the other with day-to-day operations.
Not all transport networks can be self-financing from tickets. Where urban sprawl has left areas disconnected, public transport will need to be subsidised at least in the short term while development works to make services more viable. Where poverty is concentrated, services are also unlikely to be selfsupporting. Here, the transport authority has a political role to play in ensuring the most vulnerable residents are not left with the worst of public transport systems.
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Fig. 144 : Glasgow’s grassroots ‘Think Outside the Circle’ campaign demonstrates frustration with the existing system
Fig. 147 : Transport for London successfully coordinates a multi-modal transport system which takes a holistic view of transport, also investing in walkability and legibility. Some services are operated by wholly owned subsidiaries, some by private sector franchises, and some by licences.
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5. Conclusion For too long, Milton has been an isolated, disconnected and neglected area of Glasgow. On the northern edge of the city, for many it doesn’t register as anything more than an end of line bus terminus. For 6,500 people, though, it is home. Though there is a huge amount of work to be done, there is so much in Milton which is already encouraging: the resilience of the local community despite many years of being forgotten, and the fantastic community-led organisations. We believe it is time Milton was rewarded with the focus and structures which will make Milton a place to be even more proud of. After the analysis phase of the project, we identified the key issues affecting Milton and laid out a holistic strategy and detailed concept plan which we hope will help reduce physical, social and economic isolation, and spur an urban renaissance in Milton over the next 30 years. We began by revisiting Milton and its neighbouring districts to discover current nodes where local shops and services cluster, and noting the absence of shops in many places. We reorganised the nodes and proposed a hierarchy of densities which can support a diversity of shops and services. The road network in Milton is effectively disconnected from the rest of Glasgow. The lack of public transport and numerous physical (natural and man-made) barriers add to Milton’s isolation. We propose an overhaul of the public transport system, requiring governance changes and alterations to the street network to enable it to support a legible, interconnected system, including a new train station at the east of Liddesdale Road. Liddesdale Road is reconnected at the east, making the road a key local centre, and Milton more destination than dead end. By developing much of the derelict land lining the road into a mixed use, attractive high street, we hope to alleviate some of the worst affects of the concentration of vacant and derelict land in the area.
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We want Milton to make better use of the canal and its relationship with the urban edge. We propose reclaiming the canal and embracing the periphery. With a new joined up ecological network, outdoor activity centre and community woodlands we believe there are many opportunities to keep residents in Milton involved, educated, engaged and entertained by the natural beauty surrounding the area. To alleviate flood risk, we propose a comprehensive system of attractive sustainable urban draining, redirect excess water to pleasant overflow basins which provide focal points for public spaces. We want to overhaul the industrial area, utilising the canal to send waste products down canal to be used in other industrial process, closing as many loops in production and consumption as possible and making Milton an innovative place for cradle to cradle industry, creating local employment. Waste products will provide community gardens with fertiliser, materials for community building projects, and waste heat for cheap sustainable energy. Sustainability will be at its heart.
Beyond Milton We’ve been focussing on Milton’s problems, and Milton’s solutions. However, they should be applicable to countless other forgotten urban peripheries across Scotland and beyond. Nodes need strengthening and a hierarchy of densities established which allow for a diversity of goods and services, by means of infill and development of vacant brownfield land. Car dominance needs to be challenged, and public transport networks and governance need revisiting to make systems affordable, accessible, and interconnected, including with ecological networks. At the heart of all this, the communities in these long-forgotten areas need to be wholeheartedly involved in the transformation of their areas into places in which they have a real stake, and into which they are proud to welcome others.
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Bibliography
6. Bibliography Balcells, E. (2014). The New Urban Fabrik. [online] Barcelona: Adjuntament de Barcelona. Available at: https://issuu.com/ebalmon/docs/the_new_ urban_fabrik [Accessed 24 Nov. 2016]. De Urbanisten, (2016). Middelfart: Beautiful Even When it Rains. [online] Urbanisten.nl. Available at: http://www.urbanisten.nl/ wp/?portfolio=middelfart-even-beautiful-when-it-rains [Accessed 24 Nov. 2016].
Digimap.edina.ac.uk. (2016). Digimap. [online] Available at: https://digimap. edina.ac.uk/ [Accessed 23 Nov. 2016]. Endole.co.uk. (2016). Endole: Business Information Company Check. [online] Available at: http://Endole.co.uk [Accessed 4 Nov. 2016]. Energymasterplan.com. (2016). Energy Master Plan | EnergyMasterPlan. com. [online] Available at: http://www.energymasterplan.com [Accessed 15 Nov. 2016].
DPZ Partners, (2016). Agrarian Urbanism | DPZ Initiatives. [online] Dpz.com. Available at: http://www.dpz.com/Initiatives/ AgrarianUrbanism?from=Thought.AgrarianUrbanism [Accessed 24 Nov. 2016].
Energy.gov. (2016). Energy Sources | Department of Energy. [online] Available at: http://www.energy.gov/science-innovation/energy-sources [Accessed 15 Nov. 2016].
DPZ Partners, (2016). The Urban Transect | DPZ Initiatives. [online] Dpz. com. Available at: http://www.dpz.com/Initiatives/Transect [Accessed 24 Nov. 2016].
Focus, L. (2016). Photograph of Lombard Street San Francisco. [image] Available at: http://www.lifefoc.com/travel/san-francisco-united-states/ lombard-street/ [Accessed 10 Nov. 2016].
Frey, H. (1999). Designing the city. 1st ed. London: E & FN Spon.
Glasgowgis.maps.arcgis.com. (2016). Glasgow School Catchment Areas. [online] Available at: https://glasgowgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/ webappviewer/index.html?id=3296a79016c34af98c4e71c0f1e02fa5 [Accessed 16 Nov. 2016].
Glasgow City Council, (2016). Our Resilient Glasgow. [online] Glasgow: Glasgow City Council. Available at: https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index. aspx?articleid=17668 [Accessed 27 Nov. 2016]. Hodson, C. (2016). SUDs and Architecture. Natural England, (2016). A review of nature-based interventions for mental health care. London: Natural England.
Goodwin, K. (2016). The Glasgow effect: new study reveals causes of city’s high mortality rates. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www. theguardian.com/cities/2016/jun/10/glasgow-effect-die-young-high-riskpremature-death [Accessed 23 Nov. 2016]. Google Earth Desktop. (2016). Google.
The Urban Task Force, (1999). Towards an Urban Renaissance. London: Depatment of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. Urban green-blue grids, (2016). Bo01 City of Tomorrow. [online] Urbangreenbluegrids.com. Available at: http://www.urbangreenbluegrids. com/projects/bo01-city-of-tomorrow-malmo-sweden/ [Accessed 24 Nov. 2016]. West Dorset County Council, (2006). Poundbury development brief (Supplementary Planning Document). [online] Dorsetforyou.gov.uk. Available at: https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/116539/Poundburydevelopment-brief/pdf/Poundbur y _development _ brief_-_web.pdf [Accessed 24 Nov. 2016]. CDRC Maps. (2016). CDRC Maps: Maps of UK open data.. [online] Available at: https://maps.cdrc.ac.uk/#/geodemographics/imds2012/ default/BTTTFTT/14/-4.2635/55.8893/ [Accessed 9 Nov. 2016].
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Google Maps. (2016). Google Maps. [online] Available at: https://www. google.co.uk/maps [Accessed 23 Nov. 2016]. Government, Scottish. (2015). Beer, Whisky and Fish Report. 1st ed. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. Group, F. (2016). Greater Glasgow. [online] First UK Bus. Available at: https://www.firstgroup.com/greater-glasgow/ [Accessed 1 Nov. 2016]. Homeguides.sfgate.com. (2016). Composting With Brewer’s Yeast. [online] Available at: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/composting-brewersyeast-30789.html [Accessed 16 Nov. 2016]. HowStuffWorks. (2016). Green Science. [online] Available at: http:// science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science [Accessed 14 Nov. 2016].
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References
Bibliography
Figure references
Maantay, J. (2013). Derelict Land, Deprivation, and Health Inequality in Glasgow, Scotland: The Collapse of Place. 1st ed. [ebook] Glasgow: University of Glasgow, pp.17,21-22. Available at: http://www.gsa.ac.uk/ media/530191/180113_the_collapse_of_place_maantay_2013_final.pdf [Accessed 13 Nov. 2016].
All images produced by the authors are referenced as PBA. Icons used in this booklet are from the Noun Project, reproduced under Creative Commons licensing, by various authors. Fig. 1 : Venn diagram showing the way in which issues overlap - PBA
5
Fig. 2 : Existing clusters of shops and services, with 400m radius indicating theoretical area served - PBA
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Fig. 3 : Existing significant clusters of goods and services, analysed in detail p10-11 - PBA
9
Rogers, R. (2005). Towards A Strong Urban Renaissance. 1st ed. Understanding Glasgow. (2012). Glasgow North East Open Space Provision, Vacant and Derelict Land and Core Paths. [online] Available at: http://www.understandingglasgow.com/assets/0001/3843/Glasgow_ Open_Space__VDL_and_Core_Paths_NE_lores.pdf [Accessed 13 Nov. 2016]. Understanding Glasgow. (2012). Glasgow North West Open Space Provision, Vacant and Derelict Land and Core Paths. [online] Available at: http://www.understandingglasgow.com/assets/0001/3844/Glasgow_ Open_Space__VDL_and_Core_Paths_NW_lores.pdf [Accessed 12 Nov. 2016]. Understandingglasgow.com. (2016). Understanding Glasgow | The Glasgow Indicators Project. [online] Available at: http://www.understandingglasgow. com/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2016]. Meyerricks, S. and Playle, R. North Glasgow Community Food Initiative, (2016). Milton Talks: People, Place and Priorities. Glasgow.
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Fig. 4 :Detailed analysis of shops and services in 4 identified areas of existing activity - PBA
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Fig. 5 : Map of existing built-area density - PBA
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Fig. 6 : 2 story, single family homes - PBA
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Fig. 7 : “Towers in the park” - PBA
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Fig. 8 : Traditional tenements - PBA
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Fig. 9 : Densities at 4 identified existing centres of activity - PBA
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Fig. 10 : Photographs of Milton’s Shops and Services - PBA
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Fig. 11 : Milton’s shops and services and built-area density - PBA
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Fig. 12 : Lack of clarity in east-west routes - PBA
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Fig. 13 : Existing road hierarchy, with existing clusters of activity highlighted - PBA
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Fig. 14 : Traditional road and nodes layout with places of life placed along the main axes of travel - PBA
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Fig. 15 : Modernist road layout with places of life removed from main axes of travel - PBA
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Fig. 16 : Planner’s vision for Milton - PBA
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Fig. 17 : Today’s consequences of a weakened centre - PBA
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Fig. 18 : Possible scenario with Liddesdale Road reconnected and a strong neighbourhood node - PBA
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Fig. 19 : Milton’s urban block form - PBA
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Fig. 20 : Glasgow City Centre’s urban block form - PBA
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Fig. 21 : Kelvingrove’s urban block form - PBA
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Fig. 22 : Gorbals’ urban block form - PBA
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Fig. 23 : Maryhill’s urban block form - PBA
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Fig. 24 : Identified Barriers - PBA
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Fig. 25 : Map of existing speed bumps in Milton - PBA
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Fig. 26 : Vacant land in Milton - PBA
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Fig. 27 : Deprivation in the north of Glasgow , Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2012 - PBA
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Fig. 28 : Vacant and derelict land in the north of Glasgow, Understanding Glasgow 2012 - PBA
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Fig. 29 : Existing public transport network - PBA
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Fig. 30 : Map of existing fragmated ecological network and cycle network - PBA
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Fig. 31 : Map showing flood-prone areas in and around Milton, plus the topology of the area (higher areas in pink) - PBA 33 Fig. 32 : Milton re-imagined - PBA
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Fig. 33 : Overall strategy map - PBA
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Fig. 34 : Existing green edge to Milton - PBA
38
Fig. 35 : Miami21.org. (2016). Miami21: Your City, Your Plan. [online] Available at: http://www.miami21.org/TheTransect.asp [Accessed 5 Nov. 2016]. 40 Fig. 37 : Poundbury. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://www.architectmagazine.com/design/behind-the-facade-of-princecharless-poundbury_o [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 41 Fig. 36 : Poundbury. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3878190/Granny-approve-Charlestakes-Queen-Duke-Edinburgh-Waitrose-pub-guided-tour-new-Poundbury-estate-homage-Queen-mother.html [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 41 Fig. 38 : Strategy map (S1): Green urban edge - PBA
Fig. 46 : Malls Mire. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/ wood/?woodId=23110&wood Name=malls-mire-community-reserve [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016].
Fig. 47 : Nature Kids. (2016). Nurturing Outdoor Play with Grounds for Learning. [online] Available at: https:// naturekidsglasgow.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/nurturing-outdoor-play-with-grounds-for-learning/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 46 Fig. 49 : Scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk. (2016). Cullaloe reserve - Scottish Wildlife Trust. [online] Available at: http:// scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/reserve/cullaloe/#go-tabs-2 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016].
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Fig. 50 : Duke’s Pass, Trossachs - PBA
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Fig. 51 : Kelburnestate.com. (2016). Children’s Play Areas. [online] Available at: http://www.kelburnestate.com/country_ centre/childrens_play_areas [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 47 Fig. 52 : BBC News. (2016). In pictures: Borders to Edinburgh rail route landmarks. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc. co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-20392685 [Accessed 30 Nov. 2016]. 47 Fig. 53 : http://www.dkdo.co.uk, D. (2016). Sectors | Holmes Miller. [online] Holmesmiller.com. Available at: http://www. holmesmiller.com/projects/conservation/lambhill-stables-community-facility-glasgow/132 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 48 Fig. 54 : Stirling-rowing.org.uk. (2016). Experience the joy of being part of a rowing club by taking a look at Stirling Rowing Club’s gallery. [online] Available at: http://www.stirling-rowing.org.uk/app/modules/picturegallery/m_gallery. aspx?galleryid=34 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016].
Fig. 56 : Craftscotland.org. (2016). Colin Macleod - GalGael. [online] Available at: http://www.craftscotland.org/profile/309/ colin-macleod-galgael/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 49
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Fig. 40 : Urban wildflowers. (2016). [image] Available at: http://www.haltonhousing.org/2013/07/19/halton-wildflowers-burstinto-summer-bloom/ [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 44 Fig. 41 : Natural England, (2016). Gardening therapy. [image] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ connecting-with-nature-offers-a-new-approach-to-mental-health-care [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016].
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Fig. 55 : Understandingglasgow.com. (2016). GalGael Navigate Life Programme | The Glasgow Indicators Project. [online] Available at: http://www.understandingglasgow.com/asset_based_approaches/galgael_navigate_life_programme [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 49
Fig. 57 : Milton’s corner of a neglected north Glasgow ecological network - PBA Fig. 39 : Wildflower meadow in Alexandra Park. (2016). [image] Available at: https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.08/13403753_289143694759611_2724507217503326156_o.jpg [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016].
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Fig. 58 : Urban Task Force, (1999). Towards an Urban Renaissance. London: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. Fig. 55 : Disconnected ecological network and reconnected, coherent ecological network.. [image] 51 Fig. 59 : Flood risk and Milton’s topology - PBA
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Fig. 60 : Flood risk and ideas to alleviate it - PBA
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Fig. 62 : (Below) Section AB through Milton: how Milton could turn flood risk into opportunity - PBA
55 55
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Fig. 42 : Concrete Garden, Possilpark. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://glasgowwoodrecycling.org.uk/project/possilcommunity-garden-the-back-garden/ [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016].
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Fig. 61 : Milton’s current wet-weather look - PBA
Fig. 43 : Residents enjoying tea and biscuits in the community garden - PBA
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Fig. 44 : Existing Community Garden - PBA
45
Fig. 63 : Urban Realm. (2016). RMJM’s athletes village hits the ground running : June 2010 : News : Architecture in profile the building environment in Scotland - Urban Realm. [online] Available at: http://www.urbanrealm.com/news/2458/RMJM’s_ athletes_village_hits_the_ground_running.html [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 56
Fig. 45 : J. Pain composting. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://daanschone.nl/?page_id=862 [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 45 Fig. 48 : Clydeplan Forestry and Woodland Strategy Diagram - PBA
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Fig. 64 : Henry und Deutsch. (2016). Freiburg. [online] Available at: https://ichbinhenry.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/helloworld/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 56
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Fig. 65 : Bo01 Malmo. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://www.urbangreenbluegrids.com/projects/bo01-city-of-tomorrowmalmo-sweden/ [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 56 Fig. 67 : Urbanisten.nl. (2016). DE URBANISTEN. [online] Available at: http://www.urbanisten.nl/wp/?portfolio=middelfarteven-beautiful-when-it-rains [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 57 Fig. 66 : Urbanisten.nl. (2016). DE URBANISTEN. [online] Available at: http://www.urbanisten.nl/wp/?portfolio=middelfarteven-beautiful-when-it-rains [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 57 Fig. 68 : Urbanisten.nl. (2016). DE URBANISTEN. [online] Available at: http://www.urbanisten.nl/wp/?portfolio=middelfarteven-beautiful-when-it-rains [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 57 Fig. 69 : Circular Economy. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://www.sandbirch.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-thecircular-economy/ [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 58 Fig. 70 : Strategy map S2 Cradle to Cradle - PBA
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Fig. 71 : Existing looped road system - PBA
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Fig. 72 : Proposed road system with blocks - PBA
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Fig. 73 : Mosaic Art Source. (2016). Ceramic Tile – Mosaic Bollards – Glasgow, Scotland. [online] Available at: https:// mosaicartsource.wordpress.com/2007/01/09/mosaic-bollards-glasgow-scotland/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 62 Fig. 75 : Plataforma Arquitectura. (2016). La nueva fábrica urbana: el eco-parque industrial de Torrent Estadella, Barcelona. [online] Available at: http://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/771701/la-nueva-fabrica-urbana-el-eco-parque-industrial-detorrent-estadella-barcelona [Accessed 5 Nov. 2016]. 63 Fig. 74 : Plataforma Arquitectura. (2016). La nueva fábrica urbana: el eco-parque industrial de Torrent Estadella, Barcelona. [online] Available at: http://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/771701/la-nueva-fabrica-urbana-el-eco-parque-industrial-detorrent-estadella-barcelona [Accessed 5 Nov. 2016]. 63 Fig. 76 : Plataforma Arquitectura. (2016). La nueva fábrica urbana: el eco-parque industrial de Torrent Estadella, Barcelona. [online] Available at: http://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/771701/la-nueva-fabrica-urbana-el-eco-parque-industrial-detorrent-estadella-barcelona [Accessed 5 Nov. 2016]. 63 Fig. 77 : A selection of existing industrial areas along the Forth and Clyde Canal and River Kelvin - PBA
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Fig. 84 : Urban Task Force, (1999). Towards an Urban Renaissance. London: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. Fig. 81 : Urban Task Force Diagram of Interconnecting Nodes. [image]. 71 Fig. 86 : Sprawl Repair. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://www.dpz.com/Initiatives/SprawlRepair [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 72 Fig. 87 : Sprawl Repair. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://www.dpz.com/Initiatives/SprawlRepair [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 72 Fig. 88 : Tenements with shops. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://thepatchworkdress.typepad.com/the_patchwork_ dress/2008/08/tenements.html [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016].
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Fig. 90 : Adapted from Urban Task Force, (1999). Towards an Urban Renaissance. London: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. Fig. 87 : Milton needs more people to support good public transport and a diversity of everyday shops and services. [image]. - PBA 73 Fig. 89 : Urban Task Force, (1999). Towards an Urban Renaissance. London: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. 73 Fig. 91 : Visions for Liddesdale Road - PBA
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Fig. 92 : Map showing Liddesdale Road as a main street, with internal and external ‘gateways’ - PBA
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Fig. 93 : Intersections after changes to street network - PBA
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Fig. 94 :Existing intersections - PBA
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Fig. 95 : Existing 800x800 m studied area - PBA
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Fig. 96 : Proposed 800x800 m studied area - PBA
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Fig. 97 : Secondary School proposed to the north of Possilpark with improved connections from Milton - PBA
80
Fig. 98 : Primary schools and their catchment areas with suggested location for new primary in red - PBA
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Fig. 99 : Nurseries and their catchment areas with suggested locations for new nurseries in red - PBA
81
Fig. 100 : Existing (dark green) and proposed (light green) community bottom-up initiative - PBA
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Fig. 101 : Community Garden - PBA
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Fig. 102 : Community Orchard - PBA
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Fig. 103 : Love Milton Training Centre, eg: [online] Available at:http://www.lovemilton.org/about [Accessed 16 Oct. 2016]
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Fig. 104 : Duke’s Pass, Trossachs - PBA
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Fig. 78 : Freight on River Trent. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/business-and-trade/freight [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016].
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Fig. 79 : Making waste go further - PBA
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Fig. 80 : Science meets food, (2016). Spent Yeast. [image] Available at: http://sciencemeetsfood.org/ [Accessed 19 Nov. 2016] 65 Fig. 81 : London Fields Lido in winter. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/ apr/ 27/photography-swimming [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 65 Fig. 82 : Energymasterplan.com. (2016). Energy Master Plan | EnergyMasterPlan.com. [online] Available at: http://www. energymasterplan.com [Accessed 15 Nov. 2016]. 65
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Fig. 83 : Strategy S3 Make it Urban - PBA
Fig. 105 : Evening Times. (2016). Community clean-up is Streets Ahead. [online] Available at: http://www.eveningtimes. co.uk/news/13803113.Community_clean_up_is_Streets_Ahead/?ref=arc [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 85
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Fig. 106 : Woodlandtrust.org.uk. (2016). [online] Available at: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/wood/?wood Id=23110&woodName=malls-mire-community-reserve [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016]. 85
Strategy
Fig. 132 : Proposed Public Transport Infrastructure - PBA
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Fig. 133 : Existing Public Transport Infrastructure - PBA
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Fig. 107 : Urban wildflowers. (2016). [image] Available at: http://www.haltonhousing.org/2013/07/19/halton-wildflowersburst-into-summer-bloom/ [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 85
Fig. 134 : Proposed Green Corridors and Biking - PBA
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Fig. 108 : Proposed Nodes - PBA
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Fig. 135 : Existing green corridors and biking - PBA
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Fig. 110 : Existing nodes, densities, transport and ecological networks - PBA
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Fig. 136 : Milton’s Regeneration - Short term - PBA
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Fig. 109 : Proposed nodes, densities, transport and ecological networks - PBA
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Fig. 137 : Milton’s Regeneration - Long term - PBA
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Fig. 111 : Sections through showing existing and proposed densities - PBA
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Fig. 138 : Milton’s Regeneration - Medium term - PBA
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Fig. 112 : Proposed structure of nodes and corresponding densities - PBA
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Fig. 139 : Milton’s urban form - Present Day - PBA
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Fig. 113 : Existing densities, centres of activity, and indicative areas served - PBA
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Fig. 140 : Milton’s Urban Form - In 30 years (if nothing is refurbished until then) - PBA
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Fig. 114 : Proposed built-area density with buildings being constructed or awaiting construction in red - PBA
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Fig. 141 : Milton’s Urban Form: Near Future - PBA
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Fig. 115 : Milton’s shops and services and built-area density - PBA
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Fig. 142 : Milton’s “hard” urban form - PBA
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Fig. 116 : Proposed Road Hierarchy - PBA
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Fig. 143 : Milton’s “soft” urban form - PBA
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Fig. 117 : Existing Road Hierarchy - PBA
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Fig. 145 : Glasgow’s tram system, dismantled in 1962. (2016). [image] Available at: http/www.488.cyberpictures.net/ (Accessed 2 Dec. 2016.)
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Fig. 118 : Betweenness centrality - PBA
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Fig. 119 : Closeness centrality - PBA
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Fig. 120 : Straightness centrality - PBA
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Fig. 121 : Betweenness centrality, before - PBA
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Fig. 123 : 400m closeness centrality, before - PBA
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Fig. 125 : Straightness centrality, before - PBA
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Fig. 122 : Betweenness centrality, after - PBA
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Fig. 124 : 400m closeness centrality, after - PBA
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Fig. 126 : Straightness centrality, after - PBA
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Fig. 127 : Existing Liddesdale - PBA
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Fig. 128 : Proposed Liddesdale - PBA
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Fig. 129 : Existing Ashgill Road - PBA
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Fig. 130 : Proposed Ashgill Road - PBA
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Fig. 131 : Shift in priority given to different transport modes - PBA
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Fig. 144 :‘Think Outside the Circle’. (2016). Think Outside the Circle: Extend Glasgow’s Subway!. Available at: https:// you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/think-outside-the-circle-extend-glasgow-s-subway/ (Accessed 2 Dec. 2016.) 110 Fig. 146 : Lyon transport en commun. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://mapa-metro.com/en/France/Lyon/Lyon-Metro-map. htm [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 111 Fig. 147 : TfL integrated transport. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://blog.threestory.com/wordpress/2013/london-bicyclesand-alvaro-valino [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]. 111
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