Is Wasteland Ever Wasted? Looking beyond the developer’s view; how brownfield sites add value to the cityscape

In this episode of Recovering Community, Les Back climbs through a hole in a fence to get right to the foundations of urban life. He meets with Dr Ross Beveridge, and artists Mary Redmond and Jim Colquhoun to talk about the landscape of the city, how it’s valued, and who gets to value it. 

The story of Glasgow’s mixed fortunes is written into its built environment - from the confident grandeur of its Victorian monuments, to the once futuristic, now flaking edifices of post war modernism, to the new smoked glass and steel developments promising growth, longevity and perhaps - with some scepticism - ecological harmony.

Glasgow also bears many scars from the collapse of its once thriving industries. Former warehouses and factories, decaying public buildings and housing; euphemistically termed ‘brownfield sites’ pepper the city. And although Glasgow is rich in this wasteland, these sites are disappearing as developers move in to rebuild the cityscape and harvest profit.

The Wastelands and the City Network is an interdisciplinary research team connecting the University of Glasgow’s College of Social Sciences, and The Glasgow School of Art with artists, ecologists, researchers and archeologists. 

Together, they are thinking about different perspectives on this ‘wasted land’ and how we use it. One of the most productive of options might be to do nothing at all - but that requires a huge leap of imagination and courage.

The Wastelands and the City Research Network and Seminar Series is a collaboration between the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art.

Learn more about the College of Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Research Theme, Challenges in Changing Cities and Reading Landscape Group at GSA. 

https://www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/socialsciences/research/interdisciplinaryresearchthemes/challengesinchangingcities/

Recovering Community is presented by Les Back and produced by Freya Hellier