The words Glasgow, or Glas Cu as it once was, means “dear green place”.
The way Glasgow city has been developed in the past, and how it relates to built and natural environment; well be discussed in this section of the report. Just over 1000 years ago forests extended across most of Scotland, especially the whole of the Scottish Highlands. There are a number of historical accounts of what happened to the forest, according to the green party 1989 that great tracts of natural forest existed until the 17 and 18 centuries, during this period large areas were cleared. As many people immigrated to Scotland so the areas were used for livestock husbandry and forest cleared (wood, timber) to build the amenities. Form then the environment has been alerted and never recovered its natural environment. Although some planting in the early 19 century the total area of woodland cover continued to fall and was only 5% of the total land by the end 1920’s. (HMSO) The oldest open space is the Glasgow Green (140 acres), on the right bank of the river, adjoining a densely populated district. It once extended farther west, but a portion was built over at a time.
Glasgow’s natural surroundings have suffered badly since the post-war period. New houses and amenities had to be built again also bridges. In 1720’s timber dwellings were prohibited as extensive fire broke out during 1652 and 1677, and the stone edifices that replaced them were built according to a uniform pattern.
In the last decade significant progress has been made in Glasgow to confront local environmental problems such as urban decay, industrial dereliction and the contamination of our watercourses. The infamous tenement slums many of which had been destroyed or badly damaged by wartime bombs were replaced by a new generation of high rise housing and large suburban housing estates known as "schemes". Whilst the hundreds of new tower blocks changed the city's skyline forever, the high rise edifices broke up long established community relationships and social structures. Coupled to poor design and low quality construction, some of the blocks created as many problems as they solved and became magnets for crime and deprivation. Of course, the slum districts and new residential estates represented only part of Glasgow's diverse landscape, the substantial terraces and villas of Southside (like Pollokshields) and west-end (Kelvingrove) still impressive examples of Victorian opulence.
“Epidemics of stone cleaning and tree planting have transformed its former blackness into chequer works of salmon pink, yellow and green. Old buildings have been burnished and refitted”
Ian Jack in The Sunday Times
Some description of the city as it is in the present day, the city that once was “second city of the Empire”.
The city now has many art galleries and tourist attractions including the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988, welcomes over 3 million visitors each year. Being named the European City of Culture in 1990 was a turning point in Glasgow's history. One of the most visited cities in Europe; Glasgow has one of the UK's largest shopping districts.
Glasgow is now Scotland's largest city. It has also won awards in the past such as "Europe's City of Culture" and the "UK City of Architecture and Design.
Since the 1980s, Glasgow started reconstruction both its figure and its buildings. The Council had begun a plan of sandblasting many tenements and civic buildings in the city, enlightening their wonderful Victorian stonework. Instead of demolishing the tenement flats that had survived, they were cleaned and refurbished to become attractive private housing. The western end of the central area was redeveloped into a new central business district. Also the riverbank has been transformed from an industrial dereliction into an entertainment and residential centerpiece. The banks of the Clyde have become a recreational area for property developers, with office blocks and high rise luxury flats taking the place of the old shipyards, granaries, wharves and docks.
The redevelopment of residential areas, combined with the increased cultural activities, has contributed to a better environment. The city has been successful in attracting tourists, conferences as well as major sporting events.
An introduction to some of the current issues that concern Glasgow city.
Our changing climate has had an adverse impact on the
frequency and intensity of rainfall events in the West of Scotland
and increased the likelihood of flooding. There were major
floods in Glasgow in 1994 and 2002 and more local flooding
occurs on a regular basis. During flood events, in addition to
damage to property, there is often an increase in pollution to
watercourses either from sewer overflows or a range of other
Sources. The heat wave summer of 2003 saw the highest ever UK temperature of 35.5C, melting the surface of the M5 and sullying air quality. Hurricane force winds caused havoc; roads were impassable and were blown down.
It is increasingly apparent that the management of urban water
Is becoming an issue of greater importance and various flood
events have resulted in the perceived effects of climate change
becoming more recognised.
Glasgow’s lack of capacity in its surface water drainage
infrastructure is part of a wider national problem caused by
decades of under investment. This is currently forcing the
agencies with statutory responsibilities to refuse development
that would impose additional infrastructure burdens on the
system.
In recent years, the effect of exhaust pollution from vehicles in Glasgow
Has risen to feature as the main cause of air pollution both at ‘Ground Level’, causing adverse health effects, and ‘Upper Atmosphere’ contributing to climate change.
It has been estimated that in 2003 transport was the second biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions after the energy sector and generated 17% of the total Scottish emission 6% rise since 1990.
Research Methods Used:
The research methods used in this report were wide range of sources.
Such as news paper, the internet was very useful and full of the required knowledge. Journals and books were also beneficial. The completion of the report strictly depended on the use of internet, without it, it would have been unmanageable. The web sites used will be listed in details in the references section.
Discussion:
The parks, river Clyde, trees and greenspace, they all constitute the natural environment in an urban setting such as Glasgow. Glasgow has an extensive greenspace network which accounts for over 20% of the city’s total land area and includes: over 70 public parks within the city boundaries and such is the diversity of these parks you will always be able to find somewhere to suit you, woodlands, allotments, 5 sites of special scientific interest, 5 local nature reserves, 70 sites of important for nature conservation, 7 nationally important gardens and designed landscapes. This wealth of resources provides opportunities for the informal enjoyment of nature by the public.
Glasgow has many natural environment constitutes, one of which is Glasgow green it is the oldest greenspace in Glasgow, situated in the right bank of river Clyde. The location of the park is extremely significant as it is very close to the city centre where most of the pollution is made, in consequence the park acts as a sieve to clean the atmosphere. Greenspace is an essential part of the urban heritage and infrastructure and contributes to the identity of the city. An extremely important feature of the greenspace in Glasgow is the 27 allotment sites providing green space, habitat for wildlife and buffer zones in urban areas.
Trees are also an essential part of our ecosystem and provide a number of important functions. They are beneficial in terms of global warming by absorbing CO2. Also animals (e.g. seagulls, pigeons, butterfly), air, climate and water (e.g. river Clyde, ponds, lochs) etc, they all makeup the Glasgow’s natural environment.
The state of the natural environment in Glasgow, arising from both current activities and the historical legacy, will be discussed in this section of the report. The Glasgow natural environment is generally of good quality. Although it’s subject to continuous change, some of these changes could be a result of the natural forces acting upon it, but mostly now is influenced by human activities such as emission of pollutants and sewage disposal. The state of Glasgow’s natural environment is influenced primarily by flows of materials through the environment and the increasing requirements for; food, fuel, fibre, fish, housing, transport while using natural resources.
100 years ago foul air; filthy Clyde River and poor sanitation were all common in parts of Glasgow. 50 years ago air quality remained a problem in urban areas and river Clyde were lifeless and polluted. Today Scottish rivers especially Clyde are at their cleanest for 300 years, gross air pollution from industry is declining and individual industrial sites are strictly controlled. The legacy of industrial pollution is gradually being reduced as most of the contaminated land has being identified and cleaned up. Overall the state of the Glasgowgain natural environment is complex with both pluses and minuses. While climate change is real and if the urban emission of greenhouse gases continues, there is a great risk of reaching a point where the actions is irreversible and that could lead to potential devastation to the human health and the environment.
There are many human activities that impact the natural environment in Glasgow but the main ones are climate change, energy, pollution, and waste.
Current development patterns ate threatening the basic life supports systems upon which we all depend and the most clearly visible and widely reported of these is climate change. As a result rainfall patterns are now changing, sea levels are rising, glaciers are melting and incidents of extreme weather are increasing dramatically. The cases are the increasing atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gasses, but most important of all is carbon dioxide with 80% increase of carbon in atmosphere due to burning fossil fuels. It is also anticipated that a number of animal and plant species will become extinct whilst tropical diseases and insect pests such
as mosquitoes could become prevalent. The Scottish crossbill, the UK’s only endemic bird, has been identified as being
one of the species potentially at risk of extinction, owing to climate warming.
Climate has had an unpleasant impact on the
rate and intensity of rainfall events in the West of Scotland
and increased the likelihood of flooding. There were major
floods in Glasgow in 1994 and 2002. During flood events, in addition to
damage to property, there is often an increase in pollution to
watercourses either from sewer overflows or a range of other
sources.
One of the most important issues we face today in relation to
resource use is that of energy supply. Recent reports confirm that
greenhouse gas emissions released by the burning of fossil fuels
for power is a major contributing factor to climate change. Therefore affecting the natural environment in Glasgow.
The bulks of these emissions are due to electricity generation and oil refining.
In recent years, the effect of exhaust pollution from vehicles in
Glasgow has risen to feature as the main cause of air pollution both at ‘Ground Level’, causing adverse health effects, and ‘Upper Atmosphere’ contributing to climate change. It has been estimated that in 2003 transport was the second biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions after the energy sector and generated 17% of total Scottish emissions. Thus affecting the natural ecosystem and biodiversity.
The majority of the waste materials that are generated from our homes and from the commercial sector in Glasgow are currently disposed of in landfill sites. This is clearly an unsustainable use of scarce resources and we need to change the way we view and deal with the waste generated in our day to day lives. A high proportion of this waste is biodegradable and as it breaks down in landfill sites it emits methane and produces leachate (a toxic liquid). Methane is one of the most powerful of greenhouse gases (approximately twenty times more potent than CO2), while leachate, if not properly managed, can cause serious contamination of soil and water.
Glasgow city council managed to put some control measures and regulation in place in attempt to minimise the activities that impact the natural environment in Glasgow. At Summerston landfill site the installation of a gas turbine generates 5 Mega Watt capacity that is supplied to the electricity grid and there are plans to introduce gas engines at Cathkin and Kilgarth sites.
In March 2006, the UK Climate Change Programme made a
commitment to the ambitious goal of reducing emissions of CO2
by 20% (of 1990 levels) by 2010, with a longer-term goal of a
60% reduction by 2050. The Scottish share of this reduction
has been calculated at around 1.7 million tonnes of carbon
(MtC) in annual savings by 2010. Glasgow City Council promotes the restriction of air travel by Council members and staff for internal business
to a minimum in an attempt to reduce CO2 emissions.
The Alkali Act 1863 was the first legislation which sought to
Control emissions to air. Energy savings trust reported that Glasgow council managed to reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated 463,439 tonnes through the energy efficiency advice centre, by targeting homes with advice on energy efficiency. Also the introduction of the home energy conservation act (HECA) 1995 had a great impact on the reduction of CO2 emission, as the council actively developed schemes and partnership arrangement to maximise the energy savings, the council is also working to promote the use and development of renewable energy. Reducing the use of fossil fuels by replacing them with renewable sources of energy such as wind, water, solar, and biomass is a key part of tackling global warming. City council claimed to have 7 roof mounted wind turbines have now been installed on council properties with plans to 8 more units.
Glasgow council is working to generate electricity from landfill gas and operates on site controls to manage leachate effectively, waste is an important issue thus its being driven by the EU directive which requires a reduction of 36% in the amount of biodegradable municipal waste being sent to landfill on 1995 levels by 2010, with longer target of 75% by 2020.
According to SEPA in Glasgow 148,000 in total households are provided recycling services. Since 2004 no landfill in Scotland has been licensed to accept hazardous waste. Hazardous waste producers have responded by:
- Replacing hazardous substances with non-hazardous substances so that the waste they produce is also non-hazardous;
- Treating their hazardous waste to make it non-hazardous;
- Minimising the amount of hazardous waste they generate.
Streamline Corridors have been developed across the City to encourage people to use buses or cycle as an alternative to the private car in attempt to reduce harmful gasses emissions.
Glasgow commission managed to secure funding to trail a number of vehicles with a selective catalytic reduction system (SCR), the benefits that will be derived from this Energy Saving Trust approved system will be a 70-90% decline in oxides of nitrogen emissions as well as a reduction in diesel particulate matter. In my opinion most of the regulation and control measures Glasgow council set out were reasonably effective ofcourse not top-class concerning the resources the council have.