ENVIRONMENT
7.28 The National Planning Framework for Scotland recognises that issues of place remain critical to maintaining confidence and influencing business location. The achievement of a high quality urban environment is a necessary condition in order to remain competitive.
The Built Environment and Architectural and Archaeological Heritage
7.29 The image of the City is important and nowhere is that image more powerfully portrayed than in the City Centre with its 550 listed buildings. Much of the City Centre is also designated as an Conservation Area, reflected in approximately 140 Category A listed buildings. A large number of archaeological sites also exist within the central area.
Figure 7.4: Central Conservation Area
7.30 The Central Conservation Area contains architecture that reflects medieval, late Georgian, Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Modern and Post Modern influences. It is the most significant conservation area in the City in terms of the number of listed buildings, and buildings of national importance. In addition, it is recognised as probably the best example of a large and coherent concentration of Victorian architecture in the UK and contributes to Glasgow’s attraction as a major centre for tourism. A conservation area appraisal for this area is in preparation (see BUILT HERITAGE, paragraph 5.10) and revisions to the Conservation Area boundary may be promoted.
7.31 The built heritage and wider urban fabric, encompassing building and landscape design, greenspaces and the connecting streets and spaces, is an asset to Glasgow in attracting and retaining inward investment and a creative workforce. As a result, there is a presumption in favour of the retention, refurbishment and preservation of all listed buildings in the City Centre and all unlisted buildings within the Central Conservation Area, particularly where these are identified in the Conservation Area Appraisal as making a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation area.
The City Council will use the Conservation Area Appraisal to promote action aimed at restoring and enhancing the environment of the Central Conservation Area.
New Development in the City Centre
7.32 Of equal importance is the promotion of new development that complements and respects the heritage of the City Centre. New development, in general, should respect urban morphology, especially within the Central Conservation Area, and be designed with respect to context, setting and townscape. The scale and massing of new development should respect neighbouring developments and townscape.
7.33 Contemporary forms of architecture and design are encouraged, provided the development also respects townscape, context and setting, scale, massing and detail. New development that ignores these factors is likely to detract from and weaken the process of regeneration and will be resisted (see policies DES 1: Development Design Principles and DES 2: Sustainable Design and Construction and development guide DG/DES 5: Development and Design Guidance for the City Centre).
Public Realm/Linkages
7.34 Phase 1 of the Public Realm improvement scheme has been completed (including treatment of the City’s main shopping streets). City Plan 1 indicated that consideration was being given to funding a second phase of the programme that would extend the benefits of Phase 1 to the surrounding areas. Whilst some of these areas have been subject to public realm works (e.g. Trongate), the main focus of the second phase of works has been within the Merchant City, on improving the links between Central and Queen Street Stations and within the IFSD. These works, in conjunction with the new pedestrian and cycle bridge between Tradeston and the IFSD, aim to stimulate economic growth and development in the area.
7.35 To improve the permeability of the Merchant City and the Broomielaw areas, opportunities provided by development to reopen and upgrade the lanes and wynds will be utilised (see policies DES 7: Developments Affecting City Centre Lanes, Wynds and Courtyards and TRANS 1: Transport Route Reservations).
Figure 7.5: City Centre Public Realm
The City Council will:
-
complete the Merchant City, station links and the IFSD public realm improvement programmes; and
-
seek to ensure that development proposals provide for the reopening and upgrade of wynds in the Merchant City and Broomielaw.
7.36 Consideration also requires to be given to the extension of the public realm works to:
The City Council will consider opportunities for extending the public realm works to other important pedestrian routes in, and to, the City Centre and will investigate creating improved linkages to surrounding areas and to the river.
7.37 Lighting and public art should form an integral element of the design of public realm works, using Secured by Design principles and those devised as part of the Council’s Lighting Strategy. Architectural lighting installations should protect architectural and townscape quality. Artworks should be visible, robust and must not impede pedestrian movements. The Council has prepared strategies for public art, lighting and dressing the City. The City Centre will be the focus of many of the measures proposed in these Strategies (see HERITAGE AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, paragraphs 5.26-5.28, and policy DES 6: Public Realm and Lighting).
The City Council will promote integrated lighting design for public realm proposals in conformity with the policies and standards set out in the Council’s Lighting Strategy and using Secured by Design principles.
Public and Civic Spaces
7.38 The public and civic spaces in the City Centre provide open areas for leisure, entertainment and sitting out. Since City Plan 1 was adopted, Rottenrow Gardens has been developed near Strathclyde University as an attractive public space.
7.39 Any consideration of George Square should include traffic management measures, provide for the renewal of the Queen Street Station façade and entrance and provide a suitable context for the City Chambers. It should also recognise and respect its historic function and connect well to adjacent areas, such as to the new public realm in the Principal Retail Area and the Merchant City.
7.40 Blythswood Square, in the heart of the Principal Office Area, is also in need of enhancement. There may also be opportunities to enhance the public realm around the square and extend these linkages northwards to Sauchiehall Street.
7.41 Opportunities also exist to deliver an upgraded public realm in St Enoch Square in conjunction with development proposals to extend the St Enoch Shopping Centre. These opportunities may, in time, provide scope to extend good quality public realm works south to the Riverside. These linkages should also extend to Custom House Quay to facilitate and encourage greater pedestrian activity in the area and help support the creation of a critical mass of development alongside the River Clyde to assist in the site’s, and river’s, regeneration.
7.42 Where appropriate, developer contributions will be sought for public realm works (see policy ENV 2: Open Space and Public Realm Provision).
INFRASTRUCTURE
Transport and Accessibility
7.43 The City Centre is the focus for intra and inter-urban transport links across the City Region, resulting in a high level of accessibility. Two main-line high level railway stations, Glasgow Central and Queen Street, provide rail links to major cities throughout the UK and, potentially, trans-European rail services. In addition, there are six other rail stations (including Queen Street and Central low levels) and three Subway stations.
7.44 The City Centre is at the heart of the local bus network with Buchanan Bus Station providing cross-country bus services. The M8 motorway, which runs adjacent to the north and west of the City Centre, provides easy access to Glasgow Airport and the wider motorway network. The City Centre also contains the largest concentration of public parking within the conurbation and a high intensity of private, non-residential parking spaces (see policies TRANS 4: Vehicle Parking Standards and TRANS 11: Permanent and Temporary Public Car Parks).
Figure 7.6: Public Parking Supply at 2007
7.45 Accessibility from the surrounding region and beyond, both in a quantitative and qualitative sense, is critical to the economic success of the City Centre. To attract inward investment, the City Centre must aspire to having an integrated transport network of a standard comparable to, or better than, its European and UK competitors. This will require further substantial investment, on an ongoing basis, in public transport, such as a possible South City Centre Bus Station. SPT are investigating the potential for a high speed link between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Millennium Plan (1995)
7.46 The Millennium Plan (covering the City Centre) set out a vision for traffic management, public transport improvement and the expansion of the public realm (see TRANSPORT, paragraph 6.50).
7.47 Considerable progress has been made in relation to the development of the public realm street network (see paragraph 7.34) and complementary traffic management. SPT and the Council are also looking to progress the longer term proposals for Crossrail and LRT. SPT is promoting Clyde Fastlink (with the Council as agent), along a mainly segregated riverside route between the City Centre and Glasgow Harbour. This route could form the basis of a wider network that could fill gaps in the City’s public transport coverage. This possibility is being examined through a Conurbation Public Transport Study being undertaken by SPT (see TRANSPORT, paragraph 6.27).
7.48 The opportunity exists to build on the legacy of the Millennium Plan to further the goals of promoting and improving public transport and improving conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, whilst accommodating essential vehicle needs. A further review of traffic management, building on the Millennium Plan, is to be undertaken by the Council’s Land and Environmental Services (see TRANSPORT, paragraph 6.50). In association with this review, consideration requires to be given to the opportunities for improving public transport to, and circulation within, the City Centre, including:
-
the upgrading and renewal of Anderston station on the Argyle Line to provide convenient, safe and attractive access to the surrounding areas, including the IFSD and the western side of the M8;
-
the possibility of further extending the network of pedestrianised streets and public spaces;
-
the extension of Subway operating hours; and
-
the extension and review of the network of cycle routes.
In reviewing the Millennium Plan in conjunction with SPT, the City Council will develop a new Traffic Management Plan for the City Centre aimed at enhancing the role of public transport, reducing the volume of cross City Centre traffic and extending the pedestrian/public realm network.
Air Quality
7.49 As a result of NO2 emissions exceeding recommended levels (the major cause being road traffic emissions), Glasgow City Centre was declared an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in 2002. The implications of new development in the City Centre in terms of traffic generation, and traffic management issues, generally, are key considerations in addressing levels of NO2 (see TRANSPORT, paragraphs 6.62 - 6.63 and policy TRANS 9: Air Quality).