3.5 Case Studies: Examples of infrastructure developments maximising positive health and equity impacts

Background to the project:

What

The Queensland Court and Gardens place-making interventions were delivered via a collaboration between Glasgow City Council and Southside Housing Association (SHA), as part of the wider Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnership (MGSDP) City Deal programme to increase drainage capacity and reduce flooding.  For an overview of the project, please see this interview with Pauline Fletcher (SHA)

The project combines new interventions to manage flood risk for the wider Cardonald and Hillington catchment area with community led green and blue infrastructure, to create public assets, including good quality and well-connected green and open space to support play, sport, leisure and social interaction, as well as habitat connectivity. Thus, generating wider health and wellbeing benefits for local people.

The extensive community engagement included consultation with the community about the proposed use and design of the space, but also surveys before and after project completion, providing a baseline for community satisfaction with the space and their perception of health and wellbeing benefits offered by the site.

A survey, carried out one year after the completion of the project, and compared to a baseline survey from 2020, showed increased satisfaction with specific aspects of the neighbourhood, particularly about the play facilities (99%), bike storage facilities (94%) and residents' perception of safety (91%).  

Furthermore, the survey highlighted that use of greenspace at Queensland Court and Gardens has increased from 35% to 64%, with 30% of respondents now saying that this is their preferred outdoor space in their local area for fresh air 4-7 times a week, compared with only 10% prior to the project being delivered.

Finally, social connections have improved, with 38% of those surveyed now speaking daily to someone other than who they live with. Previously this figure was only 15%.

In summary, this collaborative approach and community led design enabled the successful retrofit of green infrastructure to support both urban climate resilience and wider health and wellbeing of local people in a deprived area of the city.

Why

Glasgow City Council identified the Cardonald (and Hillington) catchment as an area vulnerable to flooding and where drainage capacity was constraining regeneration. 

Southside Housing Association identified a need to improve the local public realm, particularly because there was a lack of good quality open space available to local residents. Improvements in open space would provide benefits to the physical and mental wellbeing of residents.

How

The collaboration between GCC and SHA sought to improve local amenities and enhance the health and wellbeing of local people, while also reducing flood risk by integrating Sustainable Urban Drainage Solutions (SuDS) within the redesign and redevelopment of an area of underused space adjacent to the high-rise flats in Queensland Gardens and Court.

The city council led on the design and delivery of the technical flood risk reduction interventions and SHA led on the design of the public realm and community engagement throughout.

Extensive engagement with local communities, during the two-year planning period, identified the community's needs for the area. This included the wish to retain the Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), additional green space, seating for residents, play facilities for children and informal play areas to suit all ages and a variety of activities.

The final design and delivery of the project includes a variety of interconnected blue-green infrastructure, mirroring the natural water cycle, including swales, rain gardens and an attenuation basin.

The area also features a new resident's garden with trees, an area of garden with seating for residents, new play facilities for children, as well as informal play areas to support a variety of leisure activities, including facilities for walking, wheeling and cycling and an improved MUGA.

Where

Queensland Court and Gardens - Cardonald, Glasgow, is situated within an area vulnerable to flood risk, which has also been identified as within the most deprived 10% of areas in Scotland according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2020.

The project acknowledged the lack of good quality open spaces accessible to local residents and sought to transform underused space adjacent to high-rise flats at Queensland Court and Gardens, transforming it into an urban park, including a space for biodiversity, as well as for outdoor playing and socialising.

Who

Glasgow City Deal (through the MGSDP) and SHA funded this joint project.

The project is also part of a £37.5m Scottish programme of projects to improve the urban environment of larger towns and cities.

The Green Infrastructure Strategic Intervention is led by NatureScot and is part-funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Other project funders include the Cardonald Area Partnership (through GCC), the Scottish Government, the Place Fund (from the Scottish Government's Regeneration Unit), Green Action Trust, EB Scotland, FCC Environment, Garfield Weston Foundation, the National Lottery Community Fund, Cycling Scotland, and the Clothworkers Foundation.

Background to the project

What

The Claypits project includes: the Claypits Glasgow Inner City Nature Reserve; Garscube Bridge; Garscube Link; Panmure and Applecross improvements; Infrastructure improvements to support development and address Vacant and Derelict Land; and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDs) installation facilitated for Queens Cross Housing Association (QCHA) to support 600 new homes.

Please see this short video developed by LUC for a summary of the project's approach.

The purpose of the Claypits project was to provide greater public access to, and renewed community benefit from, an existing piece of green and blue space running alongside the Forth and Clyde Canal - which was previously an industrial hub.

In addition, the project has provided:

·       Glasgow's only Inner-City Nature Reserve: located on the site of historic removal of clay to build and line the canals.

·       Connecting communities: The Claypits project delivered a quality environment to 13,000 households within a 10-minute walking distance of the site.

·       Health, leisure and learning opportunities for local communities.

·       Environmental stewardship: The area received Local Nature Reserve designation May 2016; the project intent was to retain and develop a diverse environment

·       Remediation and services to derelict land in advance of development: improved services infrastructure for a proposed Scottish Canals owned development site.  

·       Living on water and water-based uses: Creation of 14 moorings between Applecross and Firhill, with more planned in the future.

·       SUDs scheme facilitating QCHA to deliver 600 homes in the adjacent Hamiltonhill.

·  Garscube Bridge, a new bridge structure designed and engineered for minimal impact on the historic canal structure while linking communities east to west. Connecting communities via this key connection reduces socioeconomic isolation and creates positive moves between different areas of the city.

·       A new "Front Door "to the canal and its green and blue spaces in the form of "Garscube Link". The link connects canal side communities, while also creating access to the National Walking and Cycling Network (NWCN) along the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Why

The Claypits is a 17ha area of post-industrial site that spans the canal, and which was designated as Vacant and Derelict Land.  The site was contaminated and widely acknowledged as unsafe, making it a significant barrier to movement and connectivity between adjacent communities and key services, including health services.

The local community saw the potential that the vacant site could offer to improve the quality of their neighbourhoods and their quality of life, initiating discussions with local stakeholders. This led to continued engagement with Scottish Canals and key partners to identify priority action for the local area, as part of the wider regeneration of Canal North area of the city.

How

The project emerged from early community discussions which looked at what more the space in and around Claypits could do for the local people.

Friends of Parks Groups initiated dialogue within the local community, and Scottish Canals then developed a subsequent charrette process ( 'What floats your boat') and a number of presentations, conversations and workshops for all stakeholders in the local community.

This resulted in the Woodside, Firhill and Hamiltonhill Development Framework, informed by meaningful engagement with local communities which shaped the key priorities identified for the area.

The community is represented on the Steering Group by the LNR MG, a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) which has been formed by local people.

The overall project components were developed during the Charette process in 2015-2017, including local community representatives and key partners. This resulted in the Glasgow City Council adoption of the Planning Framework for the area.

The key components of the project have the connection of communities at their heart, providing the opportunity for those on the north and west of the canal to benefit from access to the Claypits, an urban Nature Reserve which reopened to the public in spring 2021.

The wider intention is to create long term benefits to the economy, via health and wellbeing and the creation of opportunity for growth by connecting local communities to key services, as well as access employment and education opportunities.

This process has been and will continue to be facilitated via sustainable, place-based change - of which green and blue infrastructure is a key component.

Where

Glasgow North: Firhill/ Panmure Street / Ellesmere Street / Applecross / Garscube Road.

The project area is located 1km north of the city centre and lies within areas ranking from the top 5-15% on the Scottish Indices of Multiple Deprivation.

Who

The Claypits group of projects have been developed with Scottish Canals as the lead organisation and Chair of the Steering Group of partners. The project was funded by:

-          SUSTRANS, Glasgow City Council (Vacant & Derelict Land Fund), NatureScot (European Regional Development Fund), CSGN, Scottish Canals, Green Exercise Partnership (via Glasgow City HSCP).

-          NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde provided funding to Garscube Link and site wide communications, specifically with the intent of supporting the health benefits provided by improved access to green and blue space, as well as connectivity between Garcube Link and Woodside Health Centre.

Key partners include Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership, Scottish Government via QCHA, and the (SCIO) Claypits Local Nature Reserve Management Group.