Glasgow, George Square and Gobbledegook

Glasgow City Council has initiated a consultation exercise on the future of George Square.

Now I've been banging on for ages about relocating all the ugly statues to a better location such as Glasgow Green.

The council's outline plan is for 'people' to be at the heart of the project which for me should mean that George Square becomes fully pedestrianised - with cyclists and scooter-users being required to dismount.

As for reducing 'street clutter' the council could make a good start by getting rid of all the estate agent signs which currently festoon the city's streets.

PS - I looked for an explanation of SMART infrastructure which seems to be the latest in management speak gobbledegook:

"A smart infrastructure could be defined as a cyber-physical system that provides for an integral management of all elements that it comprises by means of different technological tools that help compile and analyze data to meet efficiency, sustainability, productivity and safety objectives."

Community Benefits (suggested by the City Council)

The EIIPR programme is essentially a quality place-making scheme that will transform 21 key streets and adjacent areas (or “Avenues”) in Glasgow city centre, through the introduction of an improved external environment that will rebalance traffic modes, introduce green and SMART infrastructure, and place “people” firmly at the heart of the project vision and design strategy. 

The ambitious project aims to transform the face of the city for all those who live, work and visit.  It will see key Glasgow city-centre streets redesigned to protect and prioritise space for cyclists and pedestrians, improve connectivity, introduce sustainable green infrastructure through attractive streetscapes and enhancing biodiversity and improve the way public transport is accommodated.  

The improvements include:

  • Increased pedestrian / cycle space
  • Continuous footways
  • Segregated cycle lanes
  • Green/Blue Infrastructure
  • Reduced street clutter
  • Intelligent Street Lighting (ISL) and improved lighting features
 

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