[ESPRESSO_TICKET_SELECTOR event_id=22004]
Author: Taylor Cross-Whiter
**Cancelled** Doors Open Days Online Talk: The Glasgow City Improvement Trust and the Transformation of the Victorian City
Unfortunately due to some unforeseen circumstances we’ve had to cancel this talk. If you booked a ticket, please check your inbox for more details, and we apologise for any inconvenience this might cause. We hope to see you at another event soon!
Thursday, 15th September | 6pm | via Zoom
GCHT’s Deputy Director Niall Murphy will be giving an online talk on the achievements of the Glasgow City Improvement Trust as part of Doors Open Days 2022.
Over the course of the 19th Century, Glasgow suffered explosive city growth, with its population increasing from 77,000 in 1801 to 762,000 by 1901. This rapid growth created problems of overcrowding, poor sanitation and population health issues, with the city’s housing conditions regarded as amongst the worst in Europe.
To combat this, in 1866 Lord Provost Blackie led a delegation including Glasgow’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr William Tennant Gairdner, and the City Architect, John Carrick to Europe to see what lessons could be learned. Having visited Amsterdam and Brussels it was Baron Haussmann’s Paris where they were most impressed by the urban innovations being introduced for Napoleon III.
Upon his return to Glasgow, Carrick drew up the City Improvement Act of 1866 with a programme of slum clearance to clear out and introduce light and air to the medieval heart of the city. This made Glasgow a pioneering city for municipal improvements with the English social reformer, Octavia Hill, leading a parliamentary delegation to find out what the city was up to.
Join us to find out more about the revolutionary work of the City Improvement Trust and its legacy for Glasgow!
Free, booking required, donations welcome.
We are using Zoom to broadcast our live talks. You can join these events as a participant without creating a Zoom account. You do not need to have a webcam or a microphone to join the event as a participant.
All events are subtitled. We aim to make our events as accessible as possible but if you feel that you might need some additional help, please let us know when you book your ticket or get in touch in advance. We’re open to feedback and would welcome your ideas on how we can improve in this area.
You will receive instructions on joining the event by email. If you haven’t received anything by midday on the day of the event, please check your spam folder and then contact us.
All events are recorded and everyone who has booked will be sent a link to the recording to watch again after the event. We are a small team and this can take a couple of weeks so please bear with us!
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Glasgow Historic Environment: A Snapshot – 2019
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Read our latest blog post about our Ghost Signs of Glasgow project, pondering the nature of ghost signs and what they tell us about the urban landscape.
What Next for Glasgow’s City Centre? In-Person Panel Discussion
Wednesday, 28th September | 7:00pm | The Merchants House, 7 West George Street, G2 1BA
Join GCHT for an in-person panel discussion that asks the question, “What Next for Glasgow’s City Centre?”
Our panelists will look at the challenges currently affecting the city centre such as the legacy of the Covid 19 pandemic, the high number of vacant buildings and the decline in shopfront retail, as well as how solutions to these challenges can help tackle the climate crisis.
After hearing from our expert panelists, we’ll open it up to you for questions and discussion, so you can have your say about how we can shape a city centre that maintains its historic character and is accessible, safe and functional for Glasgow’s people and visitors.
The event will be chaired by Bailie Christy Mearns, Depute Lord Provost
The panellists will be:
Paola Pasino, Glasgow City Council
Tam Coyle, Chair of the Merchant City & Trongate Community Council
Thierry Lye, Chair of the New Glasgow Society
Euan Leitch, Chief Executive of SURF
Booking Essential
£7 per person, £5 concessions
Please note: Payment is taken via PayPal but you do not need to have a PayPal account to pay online.
You might also be interested in…
Glasgow Historic Environment: A Snapshot – 2019
Ever wondered which buildings in your neighbourhood are listed, or even on Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register? Our new interactive map shows data collated between February and April 2018 which gives a snapshot of the current state of Glasgow’s historic built environment.
Blog Post: Ghosts and Zombies
Read our latest blog post about our Ghost Signs of Glasgow project, pondering the nature of ghost signs and what they tell us about the urban landscape.
Online CPD: Architecture and Health in Historic Buildings
Thursday 8th September 2022 | 12.30-1.30pm | via Zoom
As we continue to respond to the Covid 19 pandemic, focus has turned to how poor building design can contribute to the spread of airborne diseases. Older buildings are sometimes portrayed as unhealthy and subject to being damp and uncomfortable. But historic buildings, particularly those from the late 19th century, were often far more pragmatic at creating integrated approaches to combatting infection than modern ones.
In this CPD, Dr Richard Hobday will discuss what historic buildings can teach us about managing airborne infections through a mix of passive ventilation, material characteristics, and quality of internal space. He will also look at how retaining these characteristics is key when refurbishing historic buildings, and demonstrate how past approaches to combatting infection in buildings remain relevant for creating healthy internal environments.
Dr Richard Hobday practices inter-disciplinary research which brings together engineering, building design, architectural and medical history, urban planning, and public health. He received his PhD in engineering from Cranfield University where he designed and assessed solar energy technologies. He has since been involved in a wide range of projects concerning sustainability and health in the built environment. He is the author of two books and numerous technical reports. He has also written and co-authored academic papers on infection control in buildings, hospital design, school design and public health. He is a member of the Daylight Academy, Switzerland.
All GCHT CPD sessions are recognised by the IHBC, and attendees can obtain a CPD certificate upon completion.
£15 per person / £10 for students
All sessions are recognised by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) as being capable of contributing to the obligatory CPD requirements of Full Members (see www.ihbc.org.uk)
We are using Zoom to broadcast our live talks. You can join these events as a participant without creating a Zoom account. You do not need to have a webcam or a microphone to join the event as a participant.
We aim to make our events as accessible as possible but if you feel that you might need some additional help, please let us know when you book your ticket or get in touch in advance. We’re open to feedback and would welcome your ideas on how we can improve in this area.
You will receive instructions on joining the event by email. If you haven’t received anything by midday on the day of the event, please check your spam folder and then contact us.
You might also be interested in…
Glasgow Historic Environment: A Snapshot – 2019
Ever wondered which buildings in your neighbourhood are listed, or even on Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register? Our new interactive map shows data collated between February and April 2018 which gives a snapshot of the current state of Glasgow’s historic built environment.
Blog Post: Ghosts and Zombies
Read our latest blog post about our Ghost Signs of Glasgow project, pondering the nature of ghost signs and what they tell us about the urban landscape.
Results of the 2022 Historic Environment Survey
RESULTS OF THE 2022 HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SURVEY
Over the spring of 2022 GCHT launched a public survey on perspectives towards Glasgow’s built heritage, receiving just under 500 response from members of the public to eight questions on Glasgow’s urban landscape. This is a fantastic response, demonstrating the important role our architectural inheritance holds in the lives of people who live and work in Glasgow today. It also provides important viewpoints going forward on how Glaswegians want their city to look and feel in the future.
The survey is part of GCHT’s Snapshot, an ongoing research project which gathers a city-wide perspective of Glasgow’s built historic environment. The aim is to provide a baseline of information, together in one place, to help provoke discussion, illustrate trends and inform decision making. More information about the project can be found here.
WHO TOOK THE SURVEY?
The survey captured the views of a diverse section of society. It does, though, vary from the demographics representative of Glasgow’s people, with 76% of respondents resident in the city. Almost 65% of respondents were over 45 years of age, this contrasts to the estimate of Glasgow’s population in 2020 of 47% within that age bracket, while those 44 and under, comprising 37% of the population, represents 34% of survey respondents. Only one respondent identified as under 16 (despite under 16s comprising 17% of the population).
Of the 498 responses, 27% identified as having a professional engagement with the heritage sector, while 60% felt the term “heritage enthusiast” best described themselves. In total, five elected officials responded.
HOW PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT GLASGOW’S BUILT HERITAGE
Understandably, those who responded to the survey are engaged with the value of heritage, 93% answering that Glasgow’s built heritage was very important for them.
Overwhelmingly, respondents felt that Glasgow’s architectural heritage was in an unacceptable condition (28% very poor and 49% quite poor). Worryingly, the trend identified by 79% of respondents was that the condition of the city’s historic urban fabric was “getting worse”, contrasted by only 5% who felt the status to be improving.
COMMENTS FROM PEOPLE SURVEYED
The survey provided an opportunity to leave comments, which 53% of those surveyed did. These comments have been analysed and can loosely be categorised into eight main themes:
- Call to action: Sentiments that expressed the need to take immediate action (e.g., specific buildings of concern)
- Wider context: Considerations need to be given to wider influences in society (e.g., deprivation, climate emergency, comparison with other cities):
- Criticism of planning: (e.g, council needs to act further on its responsibilities)
- Incorrect approach or philosophy of heritage sector: (e.g., in prioritisation of projects, variations across the city)
- Opposition to new buildings and commercial development: (e.g., demolition of older buildings instead of repair)
- Ways to enforce repair and restoration: (e.g., greater protection for architectural heritage)
- Need for broader political action: (e.g., national or city-wide policies)
- Lack of public interest: (e.g., ignorance of Glasgow’s architectural history)
“I’m saddened by the decline in Glasgow’s historic environment in recent years, and the general air of neglect that is growing in parts of the city. The Council needs to fight for funds to protect and preserve it. It’s Scotland’s biggest city with a glorious architectural heritage. It isn’t enough to have Edinburgh’s older architecture cared for. Scotland needs Glasgow to be better too.”
“(It is) very important to protect and enhance Glasgow’s historic environment to make it distinctive, exciting, dynamic, full of civic pride, and to address environmental issues of climate change.”
“Too much of our history is left to rot until safety is the excuse to demolish. We need to invest for our community, for jobs, for tourism and have a place we are proud of to call home. We are custodians, time we protected and promoted our built environment for future generations.”
“I think it’s very import to preserve the history of Glasgow for future generations to love and enjoy!”
VACANT AND DERELICT BUIDLINGS
Participants were also asked to indicate all the different ways they felt that vacant and derelict buildings impacted the surrounding communities. The negative impact to civic pride ranked foremost (92%) closely followed by negative impacts to a community’s wellbeing (76%) and an increase in anti-social behaviour (73%). 64% of respondents also thought vacant and derelict buildings lead to less community cohesion, though only 48% of people were concerned about an impact in property prices.
OBSTACLES TO IMPROVEMENT
Given these widely shared sentiments, it is important to understand what is considered to be the biggest barrier to improving the condition of Glasgow’s historic environment. Interestingly, lack of political will, not availability of investment, was identified as the main obstacle to improving the city’s architectural heritage, respectively 44% versus 36% with all other factors polling under 10%.
FUNDING
One aspect of this criticism of political will is better understood in the response received to the question “What do you think should be the main source of funding for the restoration of historic buildings?” The majority of the survey respondents supported the main source of financial support to be from public funds (54%), and setting aside both those without a fixed opinion and those who prioritised third-sector sources of funding (e.g., community or charitable grant funding), only 10% supported commercial development as a means to fund restoration works.
It is possible that negative perceptions of the private sector development of historic buildings and historic sites has partly influenced this response, namely, a lack of trust in the property development and construction sectors. This should also be coupled with an important civic tradition in Glasgow of providing funding for works when considered as public goods. Indeed, there was a strong sense that investment in historic building restoration has particular social value.
Given this need for public funds, and other priorities on local authority and government budgets, we asked respondents “Should the restoration of historic buildings be a priority for public funds?” almost half (47%) felt it should be a high priority and a further 48% thought it should be of some priority. This indicates that investment in built heritage was seen to have many benefits beyond just architectural preservation.
AWARENESS
One other issue identified by the survey is the amount of awareness of current building conservation and renovation projects. Despite the high-level of interest in Glasgow’s historic built environment captured in the demographic section of the survey, 78% of respondents were aware of fewer than three active projects. Of which, 24% had no knowledge whatsoever of a current building conservation or renovation project in Glasgow.
This evidence shows that the heritage sector itself is not as successful as perhaps it needs to be to highlight the existence of individual projects or disseminate best practices and approaches to an already engaged audience who could channel their interest into more tangible support.
SURVEY TAKEAWAYS
The survey demonstrates the strength of feeling regarding the city’s built heritage. While the survey provided an important outlet to criticise the status quo, it also outlined the level of passion and support. A call to action – that Glasgow’s architectural gems can and must be saved – was by the far the most common response. We must remember that 93% of respondents valued the city’s built heritage highly. The survey showed that Glasgow’s historic buildings are beautiful, they are something of which people are proud and above all, people want them to be loved, cared for, and appreciated by everyone.
Report compiled for GCHT by Sam Gallacher, independent consultant
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