Clyde Gateway
The Project
The Clyde Gateway is the largest regeneration programme in Scotland, with £1.5 billion invested to date in new homes and businesses in the east end of Glasgow. The project aims to attract 20,000 jobs to the area whilst regenerating the communities of Bridgeton, Burnhill, Camlachie, Dalmarnock, Parkhead, Rutherglen and Shawfield that make up the Clyde Gateway.
Background
Located just two miles from the city centre, the Clyde Gateway has strong transport links to the rest of the city, where, across Glasgow, over 70% of people are of working age.
Despite this, the area faces many challenges, including poor health and high unemployment. 31% of Clyde Gateway residents reported having a long term health problem or disability in 2011, compared to 20% across Scotland; the number of people claiming out of work benefits in 2007 was three times the Scottish average; and 46% of Clyde Gateway’s adults had no formal qualifications in 2011 compared to 20% across Scotland.
The problems in the east end have long been recognised, and major regeneration projects have been attempted before. In the 1970’s, the Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal (GEAR) project invested in private and public properties in the area in an attempt to bring jobs to the area. However, the project involved little consultation with local residents as to their needs, and was unsuccessful in returning manufacturing jobs to the area. It had little public support during its implementation, and is still viewed with resentment today.
The Clyde Gateway has had to consider the legacy of GEAR when designing its own strategy for renewal. As well as involving the local population and business community in the development plans, greater emphasis has been placed on the social regeneration of the area.
Delivery
In 2007, a plan emerged based on three strategic goals: sustainability, community capacity, and economic activity. Sustainability placed the environment and infrastructure alongside each other as equal priorities, whilst community capacity focussed on widening local participation in the development. The goal of economic activity attempts to attract and relocate businesses to the area to create employment and training opportunities for residents and bring about long term economic success.
Initial funding came from the Scottish Government (£120 million) and Scottish Enterprise (£23 million), with asset transfers in the form of council land and buildings providing more resources for the project. The Clyde Gate has also been successful in attracting funding from other sources, including private investors, and by 2015 a total of £731 million had been invested.
As with Midsteeple Quarter, Community Benefit clauses in Clyde Gateway contracts ensure that the benefits of regeneration are passed on to locals, with supplier opportunities and sub contracts tendered to local businesses and residents.