Each of the nine districts in Glasgow city centre has or will have a District Regeneration Framework (DRF) - essentially, a plan for short, medium and long-term actions to be delivered that will bring economic, environmental and social improvements to the area. The DRFs are created with input from local communities, organisations and a wide range of stakeholders.
The draft Central DRF is the fourth of the nine for the city centre districts, and has been developed in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team led by Austin-Smith: Lord and MVRDV, and informed by consultations in the area and online. The consultation period sees a further opportunity for local parties to make their views known, and the final Central DRF and Action Plan will be produced after the end of the consultation period.
The process of developing this draft DRF found the Central district's strengths, potential, opportunities and challenges: the district lies at the heart of the city centre and is key to all the surrounding districts, it contains the city's leading retail quarter and much public transport provision - but is still dominated by the car and the subsequent impact on public space.
Five key themes have emerged from the Central DRF:
• (Y)our Great Streets and Spaces: this theme seeks to respond to the car and bus dominated character of the district and address the shortage of quality green and public spaces. Broken connections and gaps in the urban form need to be addressed throughout the district and investment in public spaces and the physical environment is essential. It also focuses on connection and re-connection to further develop the diverse and distinctive character in the CDRF;
• (Y)our Updated Mobility: this incorporates proposals to enhance the city centre's public transport and active travel networks to create a sustainable, walkable city, and will include a review of the City Centre Transport Strategy in the context of the CDRF objectives and the recommendations of the Connectivity Commission;
• (Y)our Vibrant Central: this theme explores ways to address the lack of local neighbourhood amenities which might prevent people from choosing to live within the Central District area. It is therefore important that increased community infrastructure should accompany increased city centre residential development and achieve higher densities of working populations. Not only should the locations of attractions and destinations inform the alignment of key routes across the city centre but the city centre should become more lively, with more night-time economy, more viable amenities, better connections to the existing cultural and creative infrastructure and a more sustainable, walkable and activated district;
• (Y)our Great Buildings: this theme seeks to ensure that Glasgow's historic fine built heritage is protected and that it continues to be recognised as some of the greatest urban architecture in the UK. Consequently, it is imperative that new developments respect this legacy whilst striving to achieve the highest quality in contemporary design.
• Transforming (Y)our Central: this focuses on the creation of agile policies and shared objectives to attract investment, secure funding and foster collaborative working in the district. Transforming this district cannot however be delivered by the Council alone; this must be a truly collaborative partnership between all stakeholders. Despite the lack of public ownership, GCC will look to identify and work with partners to develop masterplan strategies for both sides of the river.
The aim of the public consultation is to establish support for specific projects, and to determine which actions should be prioritised. The public consultation will run from 6 December - 14 February, and those interested can take part through an online survey, by email and by post.
(MH/JG)
