Housing in Glasgow
[20] Subsequent urban renewal initiatives following World War II, such as those motivated by the Bruce Report,[21] and the Abercrombie Plan,[22] entailed the demolition of slum tenement areas, the development of new towns, the building of overspill estates on the periphery of the city, and the construction of tower blocks.
Although the new town option was accepted, with places such as East Kilbride and Cumbernauld being established,[20] the need for thousands of new homes was becoming ever more pressing – almost half of the dwellings in the city had been judged as overcrowded in the 1951 census[24] while in 1957, 97% of housing in the Gorbals was still described as 'unsatisfactory sanitorially'[22] – and with the Glasgow Corporation keen for as many citizens to remain as taxpayers within their boundaries as possible despite limited space and funds available, the overspill and tower proposals were eagerly pursued, in contrast with the trend of lower-density housing which had been preferred prior to the war but were considered to take too long to build and use too much land in comparison with the urgent need to replace so much of the inner city.
The four main peripheral developments (Castlemilk,[25] Drumchapel, Easterhouse and Pollok) grew to become among the largest in Europe, while other smaller but substantial neighbourhoods (Arden, Barlanark, Barmulloch, Cranhill, Eastwood, Garthamlock, Merrylee, Milton, Penilee, Ruchazie, South Nitshill, Toryglen) were also constructed, largely consisting of tenement-style housing of three or four storeys.
While the facilities in dwellings in the towers and the modern tenements were an improvement on the slum housing, the large 'schemes' lacked basic amenities and employment opportunities,[25] and were often cheaply built using pre-fabricated concrete construction methods which were ill-suited to the intemperate climate of Western Scotland.
Some first generation 'emigrees' chose to return to their old neighbourhoods to socialise whenever possible, creating a strange situation where otherwise desolate environments such as post-demolition Gorbals retained thriving public houses on isolated corners, with their clientele having stayed loyal despite moving several miles away to estates with no such establishments.
The cost of maintaining the buildings was far higher than anticipated, and while some tower blocks were upgraded in the 1980s with apex roofs (to combat damp), secured entry and external cladding; by the 1990s demolition was becoming the preferred solution over repair and renovation.
In the East End, the Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal (GEAR) scheme which began in the late 1970s demonstrated that the tenements, if sympathetically refurbished, could be turned back into viable housing of a higher quality than many of the post-war concrete estates and towers.
They have outlasted the vast majority of the inter-war rehousing grade (lower quality material) blocks intended to replace them, with developments at Barrowfield, Blackhill, the Calton, Cowlairs, Hamiltonhill, Lilybank, 'Maryhill Valley', Moorepark[35] Oatlands and Teucharhill having to be rebuilt from scratch by the 2010s (pockets of this style remain at Battlefield, Bridgeton, Craigton, Germiston, Govanhill, Haghill, Ibrox, Riddrie, Scotstoun, Shawlands, Shettleston, Springburn etc., mostly refurbished or better appointed from the outset).
