The effect of the creation of new jobs on the total population of Glasgow was enormous. The population grew as people came in for more jobs. Due to the jobs many people came in this is called a push or pull factor in this case it is a pull factor. The process of when towns grow is called ‘urbanisation’. Glasgow grew from a town to a great city and many people moved out into the outskirts of Glasgow; another form of urbanisation.
Tenements are a common kind of Victorian housing; they are about four or five storeys high and were found in the inner city. The living conditions in the tenements were foul and were not suitable for living in. They were rat infested. Mainly single roomed. People used to cook on open fires, there were rubbish dumps out side in the yard. Sometimes people had to share beds and this was not just with family. There were no bathrooms, hot water or inside toilets.
The jobs that had been created in ‘heavy industry’ during the 1920s and 1930s were coming to an end. The figure stating that one fifth of the worlds ships had come from Glasgow had disappeared, from abroad ships could be built a lot cheaper than in Glasgow. People stopped using coal so the coal miners dwindled down. These people had no other qualifications and in Glasgow there were no other jobs due to the lack of opportunity. These people also had no other jobs to go to.
From 1957 and after tenements were being demolished this was due to the unhealthy living conditions mentioned before. The council scheme to demolish the tenements was known as comprehensive redevelopment. The comprehensive redevelopment plan produced 5 new towns, council estates on the edge of the city and high-rise flats. One person described it as ‘houses on stilts’.
The Hutchinson Town in the Gorbals is an area of Glasgow that underwent Comprehensive Redevelopment. After the redevelopments there are many high-rise flats, it is looks deserted and run down. People were not happy with the housing, and then the main cause of unhappiness was due to the fact that communities were ripped apart. There was no place for children to play causing danger as this could make them play in unsafe areas. People did not want this they wanted the community preserved and improved, new amenities, indoor toilets, bathrooms, and proper roofs. Most of this was not accomplished and in some cases the conditions of the quality of life were worse than before. The conditions inside the high-rise flats were not good. There was dampness in the walls causing some to split. The furniture was disfigured and this is not what the people wanted.
Not everyone was re-housed in high-rise flats. Some people were re-housed in new housing estates on the outskirts of Glasgow. Many people were unhappy with the housing estates this is because they were located on the out-skirts of the city meaning that they were far away from the city centre. They also split up families; once families might have been a few streets apart they are now miles apart. The estates were put anywhere.
During the 1980s the council had placed a scheme to replace the high-rise tower blocks this was known as urban renewal. Instead of knocking down the tenements the council had decided to renovate them, this was a lot cheaper than knocking them down and starting from scratch. Urban renewal was not just about creating improved housing conditions it was also about setting up new jobs, creating a community, etc… Urban renewal was a success.
