r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	Scunnered20
Comment	The omnipresence of vehicles isn't the only reason for the decline of the city centre, but it is by itself one contributing factor. At the same time, it's also true that you can't entirely isolate 'car centrism'or 'abundance of cars' as a problem in and of itself, unrelated to anything else: it feeds other issues which by themselves have contributed to the decline of the city centre over decades. * I've already mentioned it in passing, but a fundamental issue is that our city centre economy was hollowed out in at least two ways: 1) depopulated, with people moved to new towns and suburbs (which happened also to be designed entirely around the car as a way of getting around or out of those suburbs and into the city) and, 2) the construction of free-to-park-at out of town shopping centres, all around Glasgow's periphery. The result is a city centre with minimal local clientele and minimal appeal for those who drive as their main mode of transport. * You might not feel it or recognise it as a personal reason for not spending time there, but Glasgow has the highest percentage of land space inside its city centre devoted to roads. Road surfaces take up more space in Glasgow city centre than in any other city in the British Isles. To lots of people (again, maybe not you) it is in fact an indirect deterrent to have to cross so many roads. When you compare how many other comparably sized mainland European city centres look, with pedestrianised precincts and wide pavements devoted to outdoor hospitality and mini street parks, Glasgow city centre is almost all roads. It's not necessarily that people think "I don't want to go to town today, too many cars" (though undoubtedly some do!). It's more that the prioritisation of road space up to this point has held Glasgow city centre back in terms of what it can offer people.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/yxx7si/new_glasgow_city_transport_plan_puts_cars_bottom/iws6xlm/
Created	Thu 17th Nov 2022 11:13pm
Status	normal ()

The omnipresence of vehicles isn't the only reason for the decline of the city centre, but it is by itself one contributing factor. At the same time, it's also true that you can't entirely isolate 'car centrism'or 'abundance of cars' as a problem in and of itself, unrelated to anything else: it feeds other issues which by themselves have contributed to the decline of the city centre over decades.

* I've already mentioned it in passing, but a fundamental issue is that our city centre economy was hollowed out in at least two ways: 1) depopulated, with people moved to new towns and suburbs (which happened also to be designed entirely around the car as a way of getting around or out of those suburbs and into the city) and, 2) the construction of free-to-park-at out of town shopping centres, all around Glasgow's periphery. The result is a city centre with minimal local clientele and minimal appeal for those who drive as their main mode of transport.

* You might not feel it or recognise it as a personal reason for not spending time there, but Glasgow has the highest percentage of land space inside its city centre devoted to roads. Road surfaces take up more space in Glasgow city centre than in any other city in the British Isles. To lots of people (again, maybe not you) it is in fact an *indirect* deterrent to have to cross so many roads. When you compare how many other comparably sized mainland European city centres look, with pedestrianised precincts and wide pavements devoted to outdoor hospitality and mini street parks, Glasgow city centre is almost all roads. It's not necessarily that people think "I don't want to go to town today, too many cars" (though undoubtedly some do!). It's more that the prioritisation of road space up to this point has held Glasgow city centre back in terms of what it can offer people.