Our Tier 1 Cities

 

 

 

CITY OF GLASGOW          

 

Glasgow in the UK

Glasgow, with a population of around 600 000, is Scotland's largest city and is the commercial capital of Scotland. It is the UK's largest retail centre after London. Situated in the Central Belt of Scotland on the west coast it is easily accessible by road, rail and air. Glasgow is one of Europe's top 20 financial centres and is home to many of Scotland's leading businesses. The city houses many wonderful municipal art galleries and museums, first-class sports and leisure facilities; excellent theatres; an array of restaurants, pubs and clubs; and beautiful parks. Spectacular countryside and coastal views are within easy reach and the city is only 42 miles from Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh.

 

Glasgow in Europe

Glasgow is a member of ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability and has been a key partner in the Eurocities network for over twenty years and was a founder city of the WHO European Healthy Cities network. The city will also shortly sign the EU Mayors Adapt and thereby make a strong public commitment with other European city leaders to climate change adaptation. The city has taken a strong leadership role in working for regional climate change resilience through the Climate Ready Clyde partnership.

GLASGOW AND RESILIENCE

Planning Glasgow

Glasgow is administered by Glasgow City Council with the municipal headquarters, the City Chambers, situated in George Square, at the heart of the city. The City Council works with partner agencies including the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board, Greater Glasgow Health Board, public sector organisations, educational institutions and the private and voluntary sectors to raise the profile of the city and make it an attractive place to live in, study in, work in, or visit. The city council has well established and comprehensive systems in place to address short / medium term resilience challenges and emergency planning.

The tools developed by the Smart Mature Resilience project will be piloted, implemented and evaluated in Glasgow in cooperation with Glasgow’s partner research institution, the University of Strathclyde.  

Resilience Goals

Glasgow is a city in transformation, recovering from a post-industrial legacy of social, economic and environmental shocks. At the heart of the wider region, both our citizens and the outlying Clyde Valley region rely on Glasgow to be resilient and lead the way in tackling these complex issues in order for the region to flourish. With an ambition to become one of the most sustainable cities in Europe, Glasgow is rebuilding a sustainable city economy. As part of its further progress towards resilience, Glasgow plans to build on its already developed ability to react to the impacts of events to reach a stage of forward planning for long-term risks and threats.

Glasgow is prioritising sustainable and smart infrastructure based on renewable energy as well as building healthy communities, tackling fuel poverty and increasing social capital. The city aims to develop business continuity and community resilience capable of continuing to operate despite shocks or disruptions. Water quality, flood risk management and drainage are a priority for Glasgow’s resilience development. 

 

 

City factsheet

Population 

Area (km2)

Economic Structure

Climate

Geography

599,650

175

Services & Manufactures

Oceanic

River Clyde

 

Resilience Policies and Initiatives

 

Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009

Climate Ready Clyde initiative Metropolitan Strategic Drainage Partnership (MGSDP)

Member of 100 Resilient Cities Network in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation

 

 

 

 

 

GLASGOW AND WATER

Glasgow and Flooding

 

Glasgow’s vision for flooding resilience is to transform how the city region thinks about and manages rainfall to end uncontrolled flooding and improve water quality.

Glasgow’s objectives for flood risk management are

 

1. Flood risk reduction

Contribute to and assist the partners and Scottish Government in the implementation of the Flood Risk Management Act both nationally and locally via the Clyde and Loch Lomond Local Plan District

2. River water quality improvement

Achieve a minimum of 'good' status for water bodies or to have them remain at their current status (if good or above) by 2015 and if required via 6 year planning cycles up to 2027. There is also an objective to avoid deterioration in current status for all water bodies.

3. Enabling economic development

Major investment and effort will be required over the coming years to ensure that Glasgow's drainage network can cope with changing climate, improve the environment and support modern development requirements. This investment is also critical for Metropolitan Glasgow's future economic prosperity. Without an effective drainage system progress of urban development would be inhibited in some areas outside Glasgow as it would be simply adding to the problem. More developments mean less open land is available to absorb rainfall, creating greater and faster surface water run off which can overwhelm the drainage system and contribute to flooding which can often be several miles away from the development itself. The MGSDP Vision is tasked with delivering methodologies and project to meet these challenges.

4. Habitat improvement

Provide a holistic approach to managing surface water which will reduce flood risk and unlock development potential, while improving water quality and allowing residential areas to harmonise with the natural landscape and greenspace areas.

5. Integrated investment planning

Raise awareness of constraints in drainage infrastructure, and the resolution of these, and support planning authorities' preparation of new local and strategic planning policies. This is particularly relevant where local, regional and national surface water management plans are being developed.

Snapshot of key projects

Year
Investment
Project     

2008

£500,000 

Ruchill SuDS project – series of 3 linked attenuation ponds.

2009

 £2m

Toryglen Regional SuDS project. Pond system designed to drain 5 development sites covering 44ha

2011

 

White Cart Water Flood Prevention Scheme – phased construction of 2.6Mm3 flood storage, 4.5km flood defences and 6 pumping stations.

2014

£4.2m

South Dalmarnock Regional SuDS ponds to receive surface water from surrounding region.

2014

 £14m

Camlachie Burn Overflow project delivering a 1,300m x 2.7m flood by-pass tunnel with capacity of 11.8m3 per second.

2016

 

Creation of flood resilient place as part of the Hawfield Master Plan

2016

 

Various environmental improvements including wastewater tunnel and pumping station upgrades.

Includes the Shieldhall Tunnel – a £100m project to improve water quality in the River Clyde and reduce flooding issues at key locations

 

Metropolitan Strategic Drainage Partnership (MGSDP)

  • Scottish Water: responsible for the sewerage network
  • Scottish Canals: responsible for canal network
  • Local authorities (Glasgow City Council, South Lanarkshire Council, East Dunbartonshire Council, Renfrewshire Council): responsible roads drainage, watercourses and flood risk
  • Regeneration and economic development agencies (Scottish Enterprise, Clyde Gateway): responsible for considering economic development issues and their impacts
  • Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA): responsible for water quality and flood advice 

 

 

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 653569.