Stitching Spaces Making Places
Stage
Package
Masterplanning
1 Preliminaries
Prepared by Martin Fleischmann, Taina Lund-Ricard, Poppea Daniel Urban Design Studies Unit, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Jan-May 2017
Stitching Spaces Making Places
Introduction The following work is the result of many months’ work studying and analysing Milton, one of Glasgow’s most northerly neighbourhoods, to produce a masterplan vision for its future. In this booklet, 01 Preliminaries, we build the context, pulling out key strategic and analytical points from previous phases. We present our vision, and by the end of this booklet we have our foundation masterplan. In booklets 02a and 02b Masterplan, we present the product of our masterplanning process, going into detail about all the elements which make it a whole. In booklet 03 The Time Dimension we look at our masterplan responding to time and change, before broadening our view to look at similar areas such a masterplanning process could be applied to. In 04 Appendix, you can find the technical detail supporting the system of plot passports we propose. In the Annex, you can find a full scale copy of our masterplan
Authors Taina Lund-Ricard
Architecture, University of Strathclyde
Martin Fleischman
Architecture and Urbanism, Czech Technical University in Prague
Poppea Daniel
Economics, Edinburgh University
Masterplan
Contents 01 PRELIMINARIES Synthesising Research
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Building the Context
8
Design through research, research by design
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People make places
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Places have memories
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Vision
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Plot-based masterplanning
28
Selecting a masterplan area
30
The look and feel of a place
32
Distinct places, distinct strategies
36
Street network
42
Foundation masterplan
48
02A MASTERPLAN 02B MASTERPLAN 03 THE TIME DIMENSION 04 APPENDIX HOW TO NAVIGATE THESE BOOKLETS Where we refer to other parts of our work, we use the booklet number and page number. For example, b01p6 refers to page 6 in the booklet 01 Preliminaries
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
Synthesising Research SEMESTER ONE The masterplanning of Milton could not have been completed successfully without the vast amount of work that was done during the first part of the year. This work was subdivided into two phases: Analysis This phase focused on understanding the neighbourhood’s present form, its history and the stories of its residents. It mapped the objective realities and subjective perceptions of place. It looked at Milton’s place in the planning framework’s of the city. It studied the existing street network and its connections to its greater context. Strategy This phase brought together all the aspects of the previous phase to form a strategic approach to redeveloping Milton, focusing on key aspirations and reflecting on long term goals.
SEMESTER TWO
STITCHING SPACES MAKING PLACES
Using, building on and interpreting the information gathered in the first two phases of this project, we develop a masterplan for Milton. That process is detailed in the following booklets. The masterplan, at scale 1:1000 is attached to these booklets as annexe 1.
When Milton first grew out of the existing fields, streets were almost all named after Scottish Isles. We can only speculate that this was out of romanticism, selling the idea that this new neighbourhood would echo the beauty of the isles in its peripheral location. Unfortunately, it is not the beauty of the isles that Milton inherited, but their isolation and difficulty to be reached.
Fig. 1 :Stitching spaces making place - Hebridean islands and their ferry ports
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We aim to sow Milton back to its main land, Glasgow, reconnecting it physically and emotionally. Transforming the existing and adding new streets to the network we found ourselves faced with the question of what to name the new connections. And so, in a moment of poetry, we have named them after the ports that connect these islands to their main land.
Masterplan
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Building the Context
THE UK’S HOUSING CRISIS
POVERTY IS MULTI FACETED
The graph below shows how Britain’s housing has got steadily more expensive as the rate of house building has become steadily stagnant; the amount of houses being built by local authorities drastically reducing and the private market and non profit failing to fill the gap.
Milton is one of the most deprived areas in Scotland. Its poverty is multifaceted and covers all aspects of urban life. Shops and services are lacking with most notably, no supermarket, no pub and no community centre. There is no easy access to fresh produce. This in turn plays an important role in the poor physical health of residents. There is an ever growing amount of derelict and vacant land and a lack of quality green spaces. This coupled with the high unemployment rate, plays an important role in the high levels of poor mental health. There is a lack of school provisions and hardship in reaching those that exist. The absence of available activities for the youth also contribute to boredom and delinquency.
Scotland needs to build 12 000 new homes per year England needs to build 300 000 new homes per year Neighbourhoods like Milton are ideal locations for this new housing as they have plenty of brown-field land already plugged into essential services, are within city limits, and they are desperately in need of higher densities of residents to support the shops and services they require.
Government
Labour
Conservative
Labour
Con
An improved urban form cannot fully resolve all of these issues but it can contribute to empowering and enabling the community in their aspirations.
Labour
Conservative
New Labour
Coalition
£200,000 450,000 £175,000 400,000 £150,000
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LOCAL AUTHORITIES 250,000
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150,000
Average House Price
New dwellings per year
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Fig. 2 :New dwellings per year, average house price (Parvin, 2011)
Masterplan
Fig. 3 :Housing crisis and multifaceted poverty
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SWOT ANALYSIS
The following SWOT analysis provides a summary of the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that were identified within Milton. The strengths and weaknesses discuss current conditions within Milton. These have the potential to assist or to hinder the future redevelopment of Milton. The opportunities are areas on which the redevelopment should improve, while threats are potential obstacles that will have to be handled when revitalizing Milton.
STRENGTHS
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(1) Proximity to the Canal - The Forth and Clyde Canal has the potential to become a true asset for the community
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(2) Vast spaces of derelict and vacant land open up to redevelopment possibilities
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Milton’s topography lends itself to great views towards the Campsies
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(3) Community involvement to make Milton a better place is on the rise (community garden and proposed community centre among others)
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(4) Milton’s position between the two main roads A879 and A803 (respectively Balmore Road and Kirkintilloch Road) can facilitate the connection between Milton and the wider context.
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WEAKNESSES •
Milton’s residents suffer from income or employment deprivation at almost 50% more than the Glasgow’s average.
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The average density in Milton is really low in comparison to the ideal level in this kind of neighbourhood. This negatively affects walkability in the area, the presence of facilities, as well as availability of transport.
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The provision of facilities in the area is very poor
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(6) Street connectivity both inside and outside of Milton is very weak.
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The pedestrian network doesn’t provide enough permeability, especially in the north-south direction.
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Streets and other public spaces are mostly designed with a car-focused approach, leading to the absence of human scales.
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(7) Car speeding is a problem in all of Milton and has resulted in proliferation of speed bumps.
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The only frequent bus line only covers the east edge of Milton.
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(8) Due to the unfavourable topography, a big part of plots for residential housing is north-facing.
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(9) The electrical substation is a visual blight.
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(10) There is no connectivity to Possil Marsh, the Scottish National Wildlife Reserve, beyond the Canal.
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(11) The Forth and Clyde Canal is hardly accessible
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(12) Milton Park is suffering from a lack of use, accessibility and visibility.
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Lack of maintenance of public spaces is observable in whole Milton.
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According to the analysis as well as Milton Talks Report, there is a lack of children and teenager play spaces.
(5) Milton is in a unique position between the city and the countryside and should use this as an asset
Masterplan
PLACE STANDARD In strategy booklet 08, the ‘Place Standard’ online assessment tool developed by Architecture and Design Scotland, NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government was used to study Milton. The assessment output is based on a scale of 1-7 (7 being the strongest ‘positive’ value). Very few aspects of the site were considered to have a positive rating greater than ‘3’; The broad consensus was that Safety, Work and Local Economy, Facilities and Amenities, Social Interaction, Housing and Community, Play and Recreation, and Streets and Spaces all scored very poorly; Natural Space, Influence and Control (linked to community initiatives) and Traffic and Parking scored highest, but generally only between 2 and 4.
Fig. 4 :Place Standard Assesment score wheel
5 9
10 12
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8 3 6 7 4
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Fig. 5 :Map showing Milton’s identified strengths and weaknesses
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Design through research, research by design AS A PROCESS
AS A PRODUCT
The masterplan investigates a wide range of issues - not all of which are spatial but all of which interact in some way with the spatial.
The masterplan is a document setting out the urban form which results from the masterplan as a process, as well as a regulatory framework setting out the rules of development. Can a developer build a free-standing tower in Milton? No. Why? Because we’ve defined what is desirable as part of the analysis and visioning process, and a free-standing tower is not. How do we stop a free-standing tower being built? The area has adopted the rules we’ve created, and the rules were created in such a way that only ‘desirable’ typologies are possible.
Masterplanning is the process of making objectives happen, through an involved process of analysis and strategic visioning. The objectives are both long term - such as bringing families back into the area, creating a more resilient built environment and reducing car dependency - and short term - such as the generation of ideas, community engagement, and helping out current residents. Masterplanning is also about identifying the order in which changes to the built environment ought to happen. In analysis and strategy booklets 01-09, we went through the analysis and structural change parts of this process, to understand the area and understand both short and long term objectives. In this booklet we continue this process by considering the details of how to make this vision happen.
The masterplan is also a 3D representation of the future - it is not a blueprint for the future, but instead a snapshot of one of many possible futures in which decisions on use, layout, movement and architecture have all been implemented and a real place has emerged. In booklets 02a and 02b Masterplan we present this snapshot, and discuss the rules which make this snapshot possible.
AS RESEARCH
AS EVOLVING
This is a masterplan for a part of Milton. But by focusing on Milton as a prototype and through a process of design, reflection and extraction of information, the masterplan is also the basis for considering a regulatory and design framework that could be applied to the rest of Milton and similar areas across the country.
The masterplan as a product is a snapshot at a 25 year time horizon, but the process is a continuous one. As time passes and more of the existing urban fabric needs renewal, the process of applying the framework, whose rules are determined according to the visioning process, goes on.
In Opening it up (b03pX) we locate some of these areas - this should start a discussion about distilling the masterplan into a set of rules which could be applied more broadly.
In booklet 03 The Time Dimension we consider the role of time and how the masterplan can adapt to changing realities.
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Masterplan
RESEARCH
DESIGN ANALYSIS
STRUCTURAL CHANGE
MASTERPLANNING
CHARACTER AREAS
CODING AREAS
LOCAL URBAN CODE STREET DESIGN PLOTS
PUBLIC PLACES ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK PLOT PASSPORTS
PLAN REPRESENTATION
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
Fig. 6 :Design through research, research by design. Both the process and product are the result of involved research and iterative design. And masterplanning Milton is itself research for the regeneration of other similar areas
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
People make places
There’s something key missing from our masterplanning process. When we conducted analysis of Milton, we engaged regularly and meaningfully with members of the existing community. But when it came to developing strategic visions, this stopped. However seriously we have taken the project, this has been an academic exercise, and it did not feel right raise hopes and expectations among the community, only to have us leave within a year, with nothing changed. Many of Milton’s residents feel ignored and isolated, with very little public money having come into the area, and the most visible changes in recent times being the slow process of decant and demolition of buildings deemed past their sell-by date. Derelict land is added to vacant land, and this physical bleakness becomes an echo of many residents’ economic and social isolation. Placemaking must involve people. Form is not everything - it is only part of the story, and not all social problems can be solved by tinkering with it. Success is defined not by whether a place’s form ticks all the boxes in principle, but in how those places are used and how they make people feel. If the result of a carefully crafted formbased masterplan is further isolation and disempowerment of Milton’s existing residents, then it cannot be considered a success. For example - if we believe that a huge amount more housing needs building, with many more people living in the area, then we’re going to need some serious answers on amenities - what the people currently living there already lack and need. Not in the future, but now. The masterplan needs to be developed with the existing community and also with the people we want to attract to Milton in mind.
This is not to say that the existing community should dictate what can happen at every stage of the process, but they need to have the capacity to be meaningfully involved in it. One role of an urban designer is to build that capacity. A vision - the roadmap to the masterplan - needs to be developed with and shared by as many stakeholders as possible - including the local community, housing associations, public bodies and private developers. It’s true - progress may be slower than if you didn’t involve people. But this isn’t about speed - progress will be more durable, particularly if the existing population is reasonably stable, like Milton’s. Developing a sense of ownership over spaces is key - this will allow them to thrive. In the absence of top-down investment, some of the local population have turned to bottom up solutions. These include the community garden and orchard which help people access fresh produce, and others focussing on employability through hands-on skills training. The local population have ownership over these projects. With no ownership, the meanest solutions have to suffice, as no one takes responsibility for care and maintenance. Mean is cheap in the short term and devastating for the future. Engaging residents in the process of generation and regeneration helps instil this vital sense of ownership.
“I would like to be a part of change. But nothing will happen, because Milton is like a no man’s land” Milton Talks
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Masterplan
“Environmental and social solutions can emerge only when local people are empowered and honoured.” Hawken, Lovins and Lovins, 1999. p312
Fig. 7 :Milton’s community in action
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
Places have memories
THE IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT It is easy as an outsider to reduce Milton to its flaws but the reality is that whether the urban form is objectively poor or not, people have lived here, people have grown here, people have loved here. These memories that they have built over time are an inherent part of their lived experience. A place is a sum part of both its physical attributes and the meaning its users give it. It takes years for people to build these memories and with that an emotional attachment to a place. And it takes moments for that place to be lost forever. Comments from the community on the facebook page Milton Glasgow Memories highlights this attachment and the pain felt from the loss of the Milton they knew. Milton has seen its built fabric shrink over time, building after building being torn down with nothing to replace it. What remains needs to be cherished, built upon and improved. Masterplanning the area does not mean starting from scratch, it means carefulky considering what is there and working with it, not against it.
Fig. 8 :(right) Historical photo and later demolitions
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Masterplan
Fig. 9 :Extracts from facebook page Milton Glasgow Memories
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Masterplan
A vision was developed to guide every step of the masterplanning process. This vision is detailed in the four following pages. Everything that follows in this booklet is about implementing that vision. Bread crumb navigation in the top right corner relates every page back to the following vision statements.
CULTIVATE DIVERSITY
CONNECT PLACE AND CONTEXT
CREATE LIVING NEIGHBOURHOODS
PROMOTE SYNERGY BETWEEN PEOPLE, CITY AND NATURE
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
CULTIVATE DIVERSITY MILTON MUST BE DIVERSE IN LANDSCAPE, IN ARCHITECTURE, IN USE, IN FEELING, AND IN PEOPLE
Milton’s landscape today is vast, undefined and vacant. Its housing is undifferentiated, made overwhelmingly of low rise cottages and houses cut and pasted from the same template on similar sized plots, with occasional tenements and an afterthought of six towers on the edge. Milton has very little except houses. arge parts of it feel un-cared for, some places inspire fear, and kids are bored. There is a lack of ethnic diversity, and a concentration of poverty.
MIX OF PLOT SIZES
LIMITED DESIGN CODES
Plot-based urbanism builds in diversity from the start. A mix of plot sizes, with a bias towards smaller plots, allows a mix of developers to get involved. ousing associations, selfbuilders, community collectives and housing cooperatives through to small and medium size commercial developers are all able to find plots which suit them.
Design codes regulate minimally, and on key elements of the urban form rather than aesthetics. This helps breed a diversity in architectural styles and materials, breaking visual monotony and helping transform Milton from confusing to legible.
MIX OF TYPOLOGIES Along with varying plot sizes, a mix of typologies allows for vertical and hori ontal differentiation. The mix allows differentiation along the street edge, providing visual and architectural diversity. Within a building it creates opportunities for a diversity of unit sizes, not privileging one si e and type of household.
MIX OF USES arying plot si es and flexibility in spaces allows for an evolution of uses over time. More and varied shops and services bring passing trade from more and varied people, and makes neighbourhoods out of a jobless dormitory town.
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Diversity, as opposed to monotony, breeds resilience, designing in a framework for difference and change. iversity makes readable places, not endless corridors. And diversity creates opportunities for a diverse range of people.
MIX OF OPEN SPACES Each open space has a slightly different balanced between public and private, providing opportunities for a range of activities, people and character.
Masterplan
CONNECT PLACE AND CONTEXT A PLACE IS ALWAYS PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER: MILTON MUST MAKE SENSE IN ITS CONTEXT
Milton is unstructured. It disconnected in all directions and many dimensions: from Glasgow, from the west, the east, from the countryside. It’s socially disconnected from Bishopbriggs, and internally disconnected from its own landscape. It’s spatial typology is confused and largely suburban, but its people have urban needs. It is isolated, it is convoluted, and it is illegible.
RECONNECTING NORTH GLASGOW
BRIDGE TO POSSIL MARSH
Milton’s regeneration is seen as part of an interconnected network of city neighbourhoods at varying scales. Milton has both neighbourhoods in its own right, and connects to a larger scale of shops and services.
CITY WIDE GREEN ROUTES An interconnected and continuous network of green public spaces promotes active travel connections with the rest of the city, and invites the city into Milton on its way to the country.
SUPPORT FOR CYCLING Cycling routes are integral, not an afterthought, providing a coherent network through the city instead of a fragmented, disjointed series of short paths.
HIERARCHY OF STREETS A clear hierarchy of streets connects and differentiates, giving structure to Milton. The hierarchy prioritises movement but makes car connections less convenient than other transport modes.
The periphery conjures up an image of isolation, but Milton can be a place on the edge without being detached.
A bridge over the canal connects Milton with the neighbouring wildlife reserve at Possil Marsh and makes a focal point on the canal in a wider city context.
RECONNECTING LIDDESDALE ROAD econnecting iddesdale oad in the east allows the flow of people through Milton from the east and west, making Milton part of the context and less easily avoided. It forms the backbone along which neighbourhood centres spring.
PERMEABLE STREET NETWORK A more dense, permeable street network reconnects Milton to its own local context, bringing the streets down to a pedestrian scale.
CRITICAL MASS OF PEOPLE Higher population densities arranged within the hierarchical network of streets make public transport more viable, and so connections with the rest of the city more frequent.
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CREATE LIVING NEIGHBOURHOODS MILTON MUST HAVE IDENTITY AND OPPORTUNITY AND IT SHOULD BE EMPOWERING
Milton has no real neighbourhoods, no structure, and no points of focus. Compared to its population and its needs, it has next to no amenities and very few jobs. There are hardly any places to meet - no pub, no community centre.
VALUING THE ORDINARY
MORE AMENITIES
Diversity helps to create legible places, and a degree of unity within that diversity helps create places which are ordinary and familiar and offer some continuity with what came before.
More people calls for more public amenities. A new neighbourhood square is built around St Monica’s primary school and the library, with a new health and leisure centre with a small pool. In the quieter residential area, the existing doctor’s surgery and a new community space become focal points for a new small public space.
PEOPLE POWERED MOVEMENT Pedestrian and cycling desire lines are maintained, with priority over cars, giving power to people in Milton to own and navigate their own environment.
DIVERSITY IN TENURE Plot size and type diversity brings in a wider segment of the population, under a wider range of tenures. Some will have more financial resources, and the mix can help support a wider selection of shops and services from which all can benefit.
MIX OF OPEN SPACE Spaces are structured to become distinct places. Some are given formal structure to define them, others are bare bones spaces designed for evolution and experimentation in use.
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Milton has a sense of community almost in spite of itself. But it wants and deserves more. Milton should be a place with a sense of belonging, a place of health and wellbeing, and a place where people will want and choose to live, work and play.
GRADIENTS OF PRIVACY Each new open public space interacts slightly differently with private space, and brings streets alive with people and character. Some spaces provided opportunities for passive social interaction with a broad range of people, others nurture interaction with friends and neighbours.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY Balmore Industrial Estate is reconfigured as a mixed use area providing a mix of spaces for light industry and fabrication. Some old units are retained and refurbished as low cost space and new smaller spaces are constructure. There are collaboration opportunities with local schools, colleges and universities. A wider range of uses in neighbourhood centres supports a greater number of jobs.
Masterplan
PROMOTE SYNERGY BETWEEN PEOPLE, CITY AND NATURE MILTON MUST WORK WITH NATURE, NOT AGAINST IT
Milton is right on the edge of the city, at the boundary with country, yet this is not a positive part of its identity. The Forth and Clyde lies hidden and underused, much of the area is flood prone, and open space is undifferentiated, lacking in both biodiversity and visual interest. The climate is changing, and will make people and places vulnerable. Working with nature is more sustainable and more resilient than working against it. Healthy ecological systems often resemble sustainable and healthy urban and human ones. Biodiversity needs to be let back into the city and valuable social dimension of green and nature must be appreciated and harnessed.
CITYWIDE GREEN CORRIDORS
FOOD PRODUCTION
An interconnected and continuous network of green public and private spaces provides corridors for biodiversity, allowing new species in by extending their habitat range. The same network, made of linear parks, green wedges, small pocket parks, growing spaces, tree-lined streets and ultimately the countryside allows humans to interact with nature everyday at different scales and intensities.
Allotments on the city edge complement other growing spaces in bringing food production back into the city, with social, economic, environmental and health benefits.
DIALOGUE WITH NATURE Plots, buildings and public spaces create a dialogue with nature by carefully considering orientation and views.
GREEN BLUE NETWORKS The blue network is made an integral part of the green network and of the public realm by incorporating sustainable drainage solutions in key flood-prone areas. This happens in public space and private space.
THE CANAL AS AN ASSET The canal is celebrated and opened up in places, with plots for housing facing on to it. A new footbridge enables more interacted with canal and residential moorings on the other side bring in new people and activity.
CRITICAL MASS FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT Higher densities and a more connected street work make sustainable public transport and active travel more viable and accessible, incentivising their use and reducing car dependency.
VACANT AND DERELICT LAND Currently vacant or derelict land is prioritised for sustainable development.
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Fig. 10 :Strategy diagram for Milton visualising some of our vision - showing vacant land, key moves in terms of routes and permeability, landmarks and green links
100m
Green routes
Vacant, derelict or undeveloped land
Main routes
Development already planned or in or in progress
Local routes More connectivity More pedestrian permeability
Industrial area Green corridors Existing landmark New landmark
Local centres
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Masterplan
LOOK OUTSIDE OF MILTON
Fig. 11 :Strategy diagram showing how Milton should relate to north Glasgow
Peripheral places like Milton cannot be fixed by purely inward-looking policies. Fixing Milton’s street network might improve walkability internally, but if connections into the city remain poor, it is unlikely the place will thrive.
These are all examples of how important it is to pay attention to what is going on outside the study area at higher spatial and policy levels. Everything and every place is always a part of something bigger.
Green corridors within Milton are fantastic, but biodiversity benefits won’t be maximised if corridors don’t extend right into the heart of the city.
So everything in this masterplan presupposes, or encourages, that the city prepares similarly concrete strategies and masterplans for the rest of the city and the wider regional level, in order that the regeneration of Milton and similar areas of concentrated poverty is outward looking and doesn’t fall down by displacing problems or ignoring bigger drivers.
Milton needs strong district nodes to provide the more specialised shops and services its own neighbourhood nodes won’t offer, which means filling in vacant land and tackling deprivation in Possilpark, too.
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CONCEPT PLAN
Fig. 12 :Existing concept plan showing a weak street heirarchy, no centres of density, and a disconnected green network 100m
More dense
Urban main street Neighbourhood main street Local main street
Less dense
Buses Segregated cycle ways Green routes Green network
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Masterplan
Fig. 13 :Proposed concept plan showing a strong street hierarchy, legible puiblic transport networks, segregated bike ways and a connected green network
100m
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. 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. Ashgill Road is downgraded. Within Milton, we propose the development of two key neighbourhood centres, with the density to support them, and smaller local hubs to serve basic needs. Potential public transport routes follow the road hierarchy, running along key routes and serving a wider area. Segregated cycle routes follow main roads, and the whole of the local street network is made cycle-friendly. North-south green routes form corridors for humans and ecology from city to country, connecting up fragmented pockets of green along the way.
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Plot-based masterplanning “While diversity of architectural form can’t by itself produce socioeconomic diversity…. it can create the urban conditions necessary to support it” Jonathon Tarbatt
Good places are more socially mixed, with more mixed uses and more variety in the design of buildings. This is what a large body of research and observation tells us. The question is how to create these ‘good places’. When we dig deeper into them, they appear to share two dominant factors related to urban form:
the plot the smallest increment of developable land
diversity of architectural form a key physical characteristic, manifested in mixed use, close- and medium-grain neighbourhoods
Despite frequent claims that the type of housing development currently built is ‘what people want’, evidence suggests that people’s views are more nuanced. According to a CABE report, people want “character; neighbourhoods that feel like places with their own identity”. Cities are an evolutionary phenomenon, and their diversity does not come by design but by the piece-meal and incremental change that occur in them over time. Masterplanning at the most granular level of the plot provides the structure for this incremental change.
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VISIONARY GLASGOW In the past, Glasgow has been pioneering. While the results have not always been successful, for a plot-based approach to succeed, some of that pioneering spirit needs to be recaptured. We have to fight the UK’s development orthodoxy and promote a more continental European approach - with leadership and coordination from the public sector, and a more integrated approach to design and phasing.
A PROACTIVE COUNCIL At the beginning of this booklet, we proposed that the UK's housing crisis is largely due to an over-dependency on conventional private developers and the dramatic reduction in publicly funded housing development. For better or worse, we are perhaps beyond an age and a politics where local authorities take on the provision of new housing themselves. However, there may be a role for councils between building themselves and just letting the private sector dictate what gets built. Glasgow City Council has expressed a desire to take on an enabling role in housing production (Barbour, 2016), investing upfront in infrastructure and land decontamination. A key underlying intention is to diversify housing options, particularly by providing plots for selfand custom-build (which they have done at Maryhill). This signals a clear interest in returning to incremental forms of development, harnessing gradual money and the close-grain developments it can support. A detailed strategy remains to be formed but when it does it must be based on principles extracted from the analysis of urban forms resilient to profound change. This means emphasising the importance of plots and latent urban structures instead of buildings. It means developing guidance in the form of design codes not limited to intial formative stages that establish enough formal constraints to support an urban structure capable of transforming over time (through amalgamations and subdivisions of plots) whilst also allowing enough freedom for development initiatives to take form. Although plot-based urbanism has all but been lost in the last 60 years, the value of close-grain development is starting to be understood in the public sector and the city council’s attitude allows us to be hopeful for future developments, including the possible transformation of Milton.
Masterplan
Fig. 14 :When times change, the difference between a plot-based place and a block-based approach is clear. In both cases, 1/3 of buildings were removed.
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Selecting a masterplan area We were asked to select an area of Milton in the shape and size of our choice on which to focus our masterplaning intentions. Indeed, in the limited time we were allocated, we could not masterplan Milton in its entirety. We were however keen to detail a masterplan that would relate to the whole of Milton and would not feel like an isolated intervention. Our aim was to select an area that would allow us to develop rules that could then be applied to its greater context. First to transform the totality of Milton and then to apply to similar neighbourhoods across the UK which are showing similar urban forms and socioeconomic characteristics.
5 CHARACTER AREAS We identified five aspirational character areas which cover all the urban form present in Milton. They are defined both through their form and social character. Neighbourhood centre Residential areas Specialised areas Water front City edge
We defined our study area so that it would stretch over every one of these character areas, ensuring a thorough and holistic masterplan.
11 CODING AREAS Each identified character area contains a mix of existing urban fabric and housing stock, and vacant, derelict or otherwise undeveloped land. The masterplan aims to unify each area into a legible, pleasant and characterstrong environment. To do this we need to consider what will be transformed when and how. The character areas are further subdivided confirmation and transformation areas.
into
Confirmation Areas Areas that will only be subjected to minor changes. Transformation Areas Areas that will undergo major changes in density, landuse or street layout.
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Masterplan
100m
Fig. 15 : Masterplan shape highlighting the five identified character areas
100m
Fig. 16 : Masterplan shape highlighting the eleven coding areas
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The look and feel of a place
100m
We consider the study area broken down into areas with a distinct feeling. Thinking about the feelings we want to create helps us think about the structure and characteristics of the urban form which would help create it. How a place feels is as important as how it functions, and great places are distinct. This doesn’t mean extreme changes in form, scale and funciton, but rather a change in atmosphere - the result of subtle differences in these things, and in streetscape, activity and appearance which give areas a unique identity. Each character area has a strong imagined identity and is distinct, but it is also part of something bigger, sharing characteristics and overlapping with other areas. This bit of continuity helps create a legible rather than fragmented environment.
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Liddesdale Road Neighbourhood core Around the neighbourhood centre Quiet residential Industry and fabrication Edge of the city By the canal
Fig. 17 : Look and feel character areas
Masterplan
NEIGHBOURHOOD CORE
LIDDESDALE ROAD
“St Monica square is where everything happens” “I can sit up by the school in the evening and look over the whole square, watching the world. There’s so much to see but it doesn’t feel overwhelming” “I like hanging about with my friends after my swimming lessons, while my dad does some shopping for tea”
“I like to stroll along the street, and when I stop at openings I can see through to centre of Glasgow on a clear day”
“Walking along Liddesdale Road, I know where I am and I know where I’m going” “Liddesdale Road is my favourite part of my ride to work - I can cycle safely straight to the hospital, and I can skip ahead of the morning traffic!”
“Sometimes I bump into people I know but a lot of the time I see new people, coming and going about their business. You feel like you’re a little bit part of something.” “The bus drops me off here after school and when it’s alright weather I head straight across the square and up to the countryside with my pals” “When I want a break from my workshop I walk up here and see what’s happening, maybe treat myself to some lunch”
Fig. 18 :(very left) Active use of space with temporary market stalls Fig. 19 :(left) Representative public space for multipurpose use Fig. 20 : (right) Segregated bike lane is enhancing the comfort and safety of cyclists Fig. 21 : (very right) Bike racks prioritised over parking spots
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
AROUND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE “I like living here, you’ve got options. We’ve not got our own garden but we’re not short of places to be!” “I’m never stuck for choice. I work in town and come back early evening, but rarely go straight home. I live and play here!” “You get what you need from the city here, without all the crowds. You can see and hear children, and they’re sometimes out in the side streets playing. You wouldn’t see that on Sauchiehall! When we want to take the kids to cinema or to a museum, we just hop on a bus round the corner”
QUIET RESIDENTIAL AREA “This place is calm but it’s definitely alive.” “It feels really safe round here. I let my kids out on the streets to play - the cars move slow and the kids definitely rule the roads” “Everyone feels close round here - we don’t know everyone but you do feel like part of a little community” “It feels ordinary and familiar around here without being boring.” “It’s quiet round here but you don’t have to walk too far to get to the shops and get what you need”
Fig. 22 :(very left) Historical tennement buildingwith privacy enhanced by setback Fig. 23 :(left) Modern adaptation of similar typology with setback Fig. 24 :(right) Quiet residential area with low-storey housing evoking sense of home Fig. 25 :(very right) Community event on street junction
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Masterplan
BY THE CANAL
ALONG THE CITY EDGE
“I walk up from Maryhill along the canal and it’s always worth stopping around here. There’s a lovely park on the opposite side from the towpath which looks out on the water.” “We move our boat around and this is one of our favourite spots when we want something a bit quieter. We’re right on the edge of the city here but the canal makes us feel totally part of it”
“We feel like the countryside is our garden.”
“I can sit and watch people beavering away in their allotments”
INDUSTRY AND FABRICATION “I get off the bus opposite the factory and it always smells like a mixture of bread and wood and oil.” “I love my studio down here - there’s lots of people busy making things. I know some of the people next door and it’s like we all quietly keep each other going by being there working away” “On my lunch break I go sit down by the canal, different spots depending on my mood” Fig. 26 :(top very left) Pond in countryside is working also as bioretention for potential flood water Fig. 27 :(top left) Riverside water access by large-scale steps Fig. 28 :(top right) Allotments on the edge of countryside Fig. 29 :(top very right) Scottish hilly countryside allows similar views also from Milton Fig. 30 :(left) Milton-based Allied Bakeries Fig. 31 :(right) Mixed-use fabrication hub
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Booklet No.7
Distinct places, distinct strategies
100m
Fig. 32 :Strategy plan within the design area
We zoom to the design area and consider in more detail the high level strategies - where local centres will be, where land is available to use, where more connections are needed. We then dig down further to the character areas within our design area and think about what specific, localised strategies will help us implement our overall vision for Milton (see b01p19).
Vacant, derelict or undeveloped land Development already planned or in or in progress Industrial area Green corridors Green routes Main routes Local routes More connectivity More pedestrian permeability Existing landmark New landmark
Local centres Fig. 33 :Character areas within the design area
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Masterplan
CITY EDGE
QUIET RESIDENTIAL
DEFINE THE EDGE
RECLAIM THE STREETS
A walkway stretching the length of the city edge links up green north-south corridors and clearly delineates the boundary between city and country where previously there was a no-man’s land. The walkway and surrounding landscaping addresses flood risk in the area while simultaneously making the countryside more accessible.
Pedestrians and cyclists are prioritised, maintaining desire lines so that people, not vehicles, are in control of the space. Streets are designed so that cars must wait for each other to pass, reinforcing the hierarchy of streets which puts through traffic on a few key roads.
GROW FOOD The city edge is further defined by allotments next to the tower blocks on currently vacant and partially tarmacked land. These provide much needed and in-demand space in Glasgow for food-growing and will serve a population catchment wider than Milton. Some allotments and raised beds may be community owned and farmed, in an extension of current resilience and health-building growing projects within Milton and around the north of Glasgow.
WALK INTO NATURE
UNITY AMONGST DIVERSITY Places which are ordinary and familiar are important to people. Diversity in materials and open spaces is balanced with unity in the scale of buildings and streets.
SPACES TO PLAY, SPACES TO BE How spaces are structured largely determines how those spaces are used. Amongst houses, we create a variety of spaces with different degrees of formality, with the aim of encouraging people to use them naturally for different activities.
Three green ‘fingers’, running north to south and forming the start of green corridors which should be extended into the city, provide easy and pleasant ways for people to engage with nature and wander into the countryside.
BUILD CLIMATE RESILIENCE Sustainable urban drainage solutions tackle areas at high risk of flooding while significantly enhancing the environment for humans. Food growing space, flood water management and green corridors through the area and extending into the city all help build resilience in biodiversity, water and food systems.
EYES ON THE GREEN Outward facing development and allotments on the city edge help keep the countryside better surveilled and foster a sense of ownership and stewardship over the natural environment.
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Booklet No.7
NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE
CANAL
URBAN NEEDS, URBAN FEEL
CONNECT TO POSSIL MARSH
Public space provides the stage for urban life and increased density supports a full range of everyday shops and services.
Possil Marsh natural wildlife reserve is a stone’s throw across the water from Milton, and a new foot bridge over the canal improves pedestrian access to it. A valuable natural resource is made accessible for schoolchildren to learn with and from. The bridge has the potential to form part of a skills and training project developed by the community, with links to new community fabrication spaces in the revitalised industrial zone.
RECLAIM THE STREETS Pedestrians and cyclists are prioritised, maintaining desire lines so that people, not vehicles, are in control of the space. On the roads themselves, buses rule over private vehicles.
ROOM FOR GROWTH Milton needs more people to support more shops and services, and reasonably quickly - the location of a neighbourhood centre at the crossroads of Liddesdale Road and Castebay Street provides largely unused land for immediate development. As demand grows, there is room to expand westward towards the industrial area, which becomes more and more a part of Milton.
BUILD CONNECTIONS The neighbourhood centre sits on Liddesdale Road, which after reconnection at the eastern end becomes an important east-west through route in the north of Glasgow. This connects the centre to the rest of the city, and through passing trade promotes the viability of shops, services and public transport. Connections around the new centre and into the existing fabric, and the position next to the existing library, gym and primary school help tie the new centre into today’s Milton.
PROTECT AND ENHANCE GREEN Though the green strip along Castlebay Street is historic and has several established trees, its biodiversity and enjoyment value can be much greater. Development of the neighbourhood centre is balanced with the preservation of an important green corridor. It is partially rerouted through urban blocks and becomes a focus for different public spaces.
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CONNECT TO CITY The canal is a natural connection between Milton and the city and the bridge to Possil Marsh makes this a reality. We create a linear park along the edge from Lambhill, which extends out into the country and forms the beginning of linearly connected series of spaces which extend back along the canal into the city.
OPEN UP THE WATER Not only is the water a connection to the city, it is also a valuable resource for its immediate surroundings. The linear park opens up the canal from behind the trees and invites people to stop, creating a sense of place there which is also part of something bigger. The water is also opened for living. Residential moorings are few and far between in Glasgow: moorings here balance the peace and quiet of being near the country with the accessibility the canal provides into the city.
EYES ON THE CANAL The creation of a linear park means more people are moving through the area, and increased concentration of units in the industrial area also provides more footfall. The fronts of new housing face it and look over the canal, providing additional eyes on the area and creating a sense of ownership over the space by these residents.
Masterplan
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Fig. 34 :Section through industrial area to canal, showing how topography helps the transition
Booklet No.7
INDUSTRIAL CONCENTRATE UNITS Units are concentrated in a smaller area, reducing the feeling of isolation in the current layout. By concentrating and consolidating units, we concentrate the footfall in the area, with more people moving through a smaller space. This increases the feeling of safety, enhances visual interest, and creates better opportunities for viable public transport to serve the area. Concentration also increases opportunities for resource sharing and energy efficiency, and for idea and knowledge sharing. Overall, better use is made of available land - with industrial uses guided towards concentration on the canal side, the neighbourhood centre in Milton is able to expand and densify westwards.
CONNECT TO CITY AND SURROUNDINGS Connections are made internally, to the canal, to Milton and to a local hub at Lambhill. This reduces the isolation of the area, encourage the presence of people, and increases the viability of public transport.
ENCOURAGE FABRICATION AND SKILLS Both new and old spaces can be configured as shared workshop, studios and makerspaces, creating a fabrication hub for North Glasgow. Shared and co-working spaces promote synergy and knowledge sharing in emerging industries and among makers, and the model provides opportunities for skills and training links with colleges and organisations across the area.
IMPROVE APPEAL A diversity of spaces opposite Allied Bakeries provides visual diversity, increasing visual appeal. Increased greenery and connections to the newly opened up canal, with housing behind smaller industrial spaces, gives more of a lived-in feel, with less concrete, more people and more green.
CREATE AND REINFORCE DIVERSITY A diversity of shapes, sizes and types of spaces helps a diversity of people, uses and enterprises to thrive.
REPURPOSE THE OLD Existing large industrial units, currently vacant or becoming vacant, can be refurbished and subdivided into small, cheap studio and office spaces, encouraging in new young businesses and makers.
CREATE NEW Other units are demolished and replaced with purposebuilt, flexible workspaces, to be marketed to more established businesses.
Fig. 35 :Industrial units occupied and to let, showing scope for concentration and consolidation Existing unit, occupied Existing unit, to let
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Masterplan
Balmore Industrial Estate is designated as an economic development area in Glasgow’s city plan. The plan does not earmark the estate currently as being an EDA suitable for managed change and diversification, but it's possible that this designation may change if the wider Milton area adopts a regeneration masterplan. Funding for regeneration could come from both a levy on existing occupiers and on grant funding from the Scottish Government - for example the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, which “supports locally developed regeneration projects that involve local communities, helping to support and create jobs and build sustainable communities”. Fig. 36 :Vale of Leven - a large industrial estate north of Dumbarton which has been undergoing regeneration since 2014. The Council, a community interest company and the Business Improvement District set up by the existing occupiers, are working together to improve the trading environment and enhance links with surrounding areas. Transport links have been improved, new units have been constructed, and a riverside path has been created in partnership with the Central Scotland Green Network. Balmore shares much in common with the Vale of Leven estate, which provides a precedent for the building of new space and re-integrating with green surroundings.
Fig. 38 :Map of Glasgow’s makerspaces and college / universities showing potential in north Glasgow College
Makerspace
Balmore
A makerspace is defined as an “open access space (free or paid), with facilities for different practices, where anyone can come and make something”. Makerspaces tend to offer a range of tools, and provide other amenities. A considerable proportion are run as community interest companies or charities; a large amount are also run as normal companies. Many makerspaces are looking to tackle a particular need in their local community, provide skills and training and alternatives to school-based education. Some have partnerships with local schools and colleges.
Fig. 37 :Baltic Creative CIC was established in the Baltic Triangle regeneration area of Liverpool in 2009, with aim of promoting economic growth, new jobs, sustainability and environmental responsibility. It provides flexible and affordable workspace for creative and digital industries in refurbished industrial and warehouse space. A similar model could be used to create community workshop space in refurbished units in Milton.
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
Street network REACTING TO TOPOGRAPHY A large amount of vacant, derelict, or undeveloped land gives us the opportunity to repair in large parts Milton’s street network - the skeleton on which everything urban is based. We want Milton’s urban fabric to be connected - internally and externally - and to be permeable and walkable. Milton, though, is not a flat area of the city. We’ve thought carefully when constructing our proposed network about the impact of Milton’s hilly landscape.
SOMETIMES WE DON'T PUT A STREET WHERE WE WANT ONE Ideally we'd like to break long blocks into blocks of 50-70m in length, but topography doesn't always allow this. Where the slope of a street would exceed 10 degrees, we have generally not cut a new road through unless essential for connectivity.
...AND SOMETIMES WE PUT A PEDESTRIAN STREET INSTEAD Where an area is particularly steep, we sometimes create a pedestrian street. Some of these will have stairs (with bike/pushchair rails). Although not ideal, this maintains a degree of pedestrian connectivity and route options where the streets are too steep for sensible vehicle access. Where stairs are not necessary, inclines are shallow enough to allow wheelchair access.
WE CREATE ONLY LIMITED EXTRA ROUTES TOWARDS THE INDUSTRIAL SITE The presence of the large Allied Bakeries site as well as particularly hilly terrain means the industrial area remains somewhat physically separated from the rest of Milton. This has informed the way we see the relationship between Milton and the industrial area - the industrial area is part of something bigger, and more readily connected with Lambhill. The change in topography above Allied Bakeries (see fig 34) allows the seclusion of streets above, softening the presence of the factory in Milton’s landscape.
STREETS FRAME VIEWS Where possible we use the hilly landscape to create streets which frame views towards the city.
Fig. 39 :Milton’s existing fabric has not been built on flat landscape; undeveloped land is not flat either
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Masterplan
Fig. 40 :The way we construct the new street network pays careful attention to topography. This map classifies streets based on their steepness. Steep streets are sometimes unavoidable and are present in the existing urban fabric. Where terrain is very steep, pedestrian footpaths (dotted lines) maintain connectivity. 100m
Steepness Lower
Higher
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
CENTRALITY AND HIERARCHY
Central places tend to be more popular and are better able to support a range of everyday and secondary services. The geometry of the street networks can have a big influence on whether shops and services are likely to cluster in an area. More interconnected networks and more central streets can support more shops and services, which Milton sorely needs. Our proposed street network aims to create a hierarchy of central places which will provide the structure necessary for Milton to thrive. Do I need to pass through this street to get to other places?
Fig. 41 :Bewteenness centrality
By reconnecting Liddesdale Road at the eastern end we create a strong east-west route through the city, with good betweenness centrality (Fig. 45). 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 centres. How many places can I get to within a 5 minute walk of this street?
Fig. 43 :Closeness centrality
The south and east of Milton in particular currently suffers from low closeness centrality, with long roads and few connections (Fig. 46). By cutting block sizes around Liddesdale Road and the south, the closeness (at 400m, walkable in 5 minutes) is much improved (Fig. 47). 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 (Fig. 48). By decreasing block sizes and connecting up routes which are currently cut off, we can improve legibility considerably (Fig. 49). Areas on the periphery continue to have the lowest straightness centrality - simply because the network ends at the city edge. Areas of the network with more external connections have higher straightness centrality.
For a detailed explanation of how to read and use Multiple Centrality Analysis, please see analysis booklet 05.
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Fig. 42 :Straightness centrality
Centrality Low
High
Masterplan
Fig. 44 :Betweenness centrality, before. No important through-route going through Milton
Fig. 45 :Betweenness centrality, after. Betweenness centrality is highest along main and secondary routes
Fig. 46 :Closeness centrality at 400m, before. Much of Milton performs poorly
Fig. 47 :Closeness centrality at 400m, after. Places are more connected and so closer to more places
Fig. 48 :Straightness centrality, before. Milton’s network is convoluted and illegible
Fig. 49 :Straightness centrality, after. The street network is much more legible and takes you places
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
LIVABILITY, WALKABILITY
Creating a clear hierarchy of streets where there was none before creates a street network which maintains channels of movement but makes movement by car less attractive than travel by foot or bike by creating a limited number of clear east-west and north-south routes, keeping traffic away from residential side streets. Car users are not punished - we actually increase through routes, getting rid of many of the dead ends in the existing network - but instead obvious changes in streetscape and scale nudge drivers into different behaviour and signal clearly which routes are most suitable for through-travel. Streetscape and driver behaviour is discussed in more detail in Street Design (02a Masterplan). Central streets provide the structural backbone which can support vibrant places. Interconnected networks are inherently more walkable (more connections mean shorter blocks), and this walkability can in turn reinforce the economic diversity and vibrancy of an area. Creating networks that are walkable also contributes to the goal of reducing car dependence, with environmental and sustainability benefits.
Fig. 50 :Currently, there is no clear hierarchy of streets and lots of dead ends making through-movement complicated
Our pedestrian network is even better connected than our improved street network - people on foot and bike being able to use shortcuts which cars can’t. Figures 52 and 53 show the 400m (5 minute) real walkable pedshed around one of our proposed neighbourhood centres, and what the pedshed would be in the same area if the network was left unaltered. The 5 minute reach to the east and west of the centre following our proposed network is considerable extended by shorter blocks and more frequent intersections. Blocks are currently long and impermeable - making journeys inconvenient and sometimes unintuitive. Where we are able to create new streets, new make sure the resulting block are less than 100m long (a 1 minute walk). Having shorter blocks and more frequent streets aids connectivity and gives people options when making journeys on foot. Fig. 51 :We propose a clear hierarchy of streets which directs traffic towards certain routes and frees residential streets up for life Dead ends
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Residential streets
Secondary streets
Most trafficked streets
Masterplan
Fig. 52 :5 minute pedshed - the current street network is sparse, even with pedestrian paths
5 minutes
Fig. 54 :Blocks (like this one off Scaraway where tenements are being demolished) are large and take time to walk around
Fig. 53 :5 minute pedshed - the new street network is much more interconnected, opening up land to the west of Castlebay for development
3 minutes
Fig. 55 :More interconnected streets make walking journeys more direct, and free up time for other things
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
Foundation masterplan FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY In order to begin masterplanning our design area, we need to combine our strategic vision and concept plans. The street network (b01p42) is a one of the most important and durable components of the urban form which we have dealt with for the whole of Milton. We then define areas of transformation and confirmation, guided by the idea of taking the path of least resistance. Milton has such vast areas of vacant and derelict land, much of which falls within our design area, that filling these areas and repairing holes in the urban fabric is plenty to occupy a 25-year masterplan. So the designation of transformation and confirmation areas within the design area is really quite simple: where there is vacant or undeveloped land, we target this for substantial transformation; where there is not, and existing, viable housing stock remains, we don’t.
Our concept plan maps the rough relationship between densities across the study area. The first key element of the foundation masterplan is the translation of these high level conceptual densities into street edges with assigned relative densities.
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Of course, transformation and confirmation is not a totally binary distinction - the strategy for the industrial area (b01p40) combines elements of both, and within existing ‘confirmation fabric’, small changes can be made which bring coherence to the whole and transform places at a different scale. Next we define street edges according to the street hierarchy, consider what densities might be necessary to support the amenities we’d like to see, and undertake a coding exercise to establish what urban typologies are best suited to realise those densities. The result is the foundation masterplan (Fig 56), in which the hierarchy of streets, transport and green spaces has been filled in with a concrete hierarchy of densities along street edges.
The street layout detailed in the previous section defines the block layout too. Our concept plan shows us in which conceptual band of density each blocks falls. We exclude confirmation areas and apply density only where we want it.
We then use our street hierarchy to draw the street edges within these blocks: following the pattern that the more important street fronts develop before, and hold more activity (density) than the less important ones.
Density
Highest
Industrial
Fig. 56 :Foundation masterplan for the design area
100m
Lowest
Civic
Buses
Local main street
Neighbourhood main street
Green routes Green network
Urban main street Segregated cycle ways
Masterplan
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
UNDERSTANDING THE FORM OF A PLACE Urban Morphology is the study of urban form and the processes of urban evolution. Its focus is on time and change. Urban morphometrics attempts to measure some elements of the urban form which morphologists have identified as important. This is important in two ways: first, to understand how observed qualities in the urban form can or can’t be distilled down to their structural elements; and then to create a repository of examples of urban form and their characteristics which can be used to guide future development.
Density: 52 u/ha The block is not huge but building coverage is low at 20-25% across street edges
One of the key numbers we translate from conceptual to actual is density (see below). The key thing we want to understand from density numbers is how they might determine what level of shops and services are supported (of course this isn’t the whole story, but it's part of it). In order to determine what concentration of habitable units is sufficient, we also need to think about new district and local centres relate to each other and what transportation is like. To understand Milton’s current form, we first code two blocks (right). We then look for examples in the Local Urban Code and across Glasgow, focussing not just on form but on where street edges sit in the street hierarchy and in relation to other areas to get a handle on what these numbers should be.
There are 3 street edges, one of which is not continuous. All streets are undefined in the hierarchy. Average setbacks along all street edges are c.6m
TRANSLATING DENSITIES There are many types of density which can be calculated, each communicating something different. All are calculated according to the same basic formula, with the denominator changing: Unit density = # units / land area (ha) In the strategy phase we were concerned with a larger scale - we measured gross residential density, which included residential uses, local roads and local nonresidential uses like parks and schools. Now we focus on the block and we measure site density, which includes only what’s within the block - it’s the most concentrated form of density. The land area in the equation is smaller, producing unit density figures which are higher than in previous phases.
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9 of the plots are internal, facing a pedestrian lane rather than the main street. Corner plots are larger, otherwise plot sizes are reasonably regular
Fig. 57 :Urban coding for a block in Milton - bounded by Stornoway St, Egilsay St and Raasay St
Masterplan
Density: 48 u/ha The block is massive, broken only by indirect pedestrian paths. Building coverage is low, between 20-30%.
There are 5 street edges. This end of Liddesdale Road and Castebay Street are important in Milton’s poorly defined hierarchy. Setbacks average 6-7m, with the setbacks in front of tenements on Liddesdale Road over 10m
Plot size varies with typology, which is a mix of low-rise single family houses and tenements. There are a few internal plots and several undefined internal parcels of land
Fig. 58 :Urban coding for a block in Milton - bounded by Liddesdale Road, Castebay St, Egilsay St, and Torogay St.
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
LOOKING FOR EXEMPLARS
Density: 146 u/ha The block is a modest size, similar to the Stornoway/ Raasay block in Milton. But built coverage is much higher, at 50-60%
The block has 4 regular street edges. se.1 is Albert Drive - the most prominent street edge. Setbacks are 0m on this edge - on the residential edges they are 3m. Public-private interaction changes around the block
We want the junction of Liddesdale Road and Castlebray to become a lively and active neighbourhood. So we looked to Glasgow for examples of places which had that feel and shared enough in common with Milton. Albert Drive is a long street, part of which is in Pollokshields, on the southside of Glasgow. Though slightly closer to the city centre and certainly better connected, the area is like Milton still physically separated from the city and its neighbours by the railway and a motorway. Its position in the city’s street hierarchy is confusing, mostly owing to the motorway, but similar to where we want to position Liddesdale Road in the hierarchy. It is important locally, a backbone high street to the blocks surrounding it, and connects to more important streets (like Pollokshaws Road to the east). There are a lot of shops and services, including a bank, several fresh food grocers, food stores, cafÊs, a pharmacy and a primary school. These all provide active frontages to the buildings, giving it a neighbourhood feel. The short edge of the blocks front onto Albert Drive, making them short and walkable, and increasing pedestrian access to the shops and services. The building typology is almost entirely 3 storey sandstone tenements. The scale of these buildings would not be out of place in Milton, which has some 4-storey 60s tenements remaining. Though the typology is the same, active frontages provide visual diversity. The blocks feel unified in a positive, not monotonous way.
All of the plots face the street and there is one bit of open space. The plots are not very varied in shape and size
Fig. 59 :Urban coding for a block on Albert Drive bounded by Albert Drive, Kenmure St, Leslie St and Kier Street
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Masterplan
What do we take from Albert Drive? The gross density (in units/ha) of the Albert Drive block studied is around 145. We use this as a benchmark for the top of our range of densities we think Milton needs and can sustain. This highest density will be concentrated around the Liddesdale Road - the most important street in Milton. The short edge of the blocks facing onto Albert Drive are around 60m wide, leaving space for 2 corner tenements and one central tenement. We take this as a minimum viable width for this street edge typology. Of course, Albert Drive isn’t a perfect comparison‌ Pollokshields currently has problems with overcrowding, but this should not be confused with density. Overcrowding looks at the number of people living in each unit. We look
at built density only, which is the relationship between floorspace and total space within the block. There are of course important differences between Milton and Pollokshields, not least the demographics. Over 50% of the east Pollokshields population is from an ethnic minority background; currently only 4% of Milton is. This is likely to change the mix of shops and services which naturally develop in an area. From our analysis of Albert Drive, we’ve chosen only those structural elements which we believe are relevant and appropriate, and even then as benchmarks only.
Fig. 60 :Albert Drive block in context - the tenemental typology predomininates in this area
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
DENSITY (u/ha)
STREET EDGE PASSPORTS
The output of this local coding exercise is a set of street edge passports. These are not final regulation, but passports for us as masterplanners to use as guides in the process. We set a series of quantitative rules for street edges which describe very broadly the character we envisage on each edge type, including density, active frontages, scale, and the relationship between public and private. From these rules we carve out exceptions to make places. When creating the foundation masterplan (Fig 56), we classified street edges according to 6 grades of density, which subdivide the two conceptual levels of density in the Strategy and Concept phase - according to the position of a street edge in the new hierarchy.
M+
Possible
54
Required
135
M=
135 115
M-
115 100
L+
100 85
L=
85 70
L-
70 55
URBAN TYPOLOGIES We take Albert Drive as the top of our desired density range, and Milton’s existing fabric as the bottom. We use the catalogue of blocks, streets and types in the Local Urban Code to find examples of urban form which more or less match the street edge passports for those in between densities, and consider possible building typologies (see Plots and Buildings, in 02a Masterplan).
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9-11
Masterplan
STOREYS STOREYS
ACTIVE FRONTS ACTIVE FRONTS
RESIDENT FLOORS
SETBACKS
RESIDENT. FLOORS
S T R E E T
S T R E E T
S T R E E T
S T R E E T
S T R E E T
S T R E E T
Fig. 61 :Street edge passports for 6 different tiers of density - the rules from which we carve exceptions
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Stitching Spaces Making Places
Fig. 62 :Map of active frontages (required, possible, none) following street edge passports. Active frontages are found in the highest density areas, clustered around the main streets. In the residential area, active ground floor uses are allowed to develop along local main streets as demand requires
Urban main street Required
Possible
None
Neighbourhood main street Local main street
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Masterplan
Fig. 63 :Map of setbacks following street edge passports. Around the neighbourhood centre, setbacks are the smallest, privileging the public street interaction. In the quieter residential areas, setback allowance gets larger, acknowledging the desire for a different balance between public and private and echoing the existing urban fabric
Less public
More public
Urban main street Neighbourhood main street
More private
Less private
Local main street Civic Industrial
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