Port Dundas was another of the charrettes in the Scottish Government’s Mainstreaming Programme with KMA acting as the joint team lead with Peter Brett Associates alongside the team of Willie Miller Urban Design, Benton Scott-Simmons and Turner Townsend.

The aim of the charrette was to formulate a planning and development framework that would subsequently form the basis of supplementary guidance for the area through the city development plan. The Port Dundas site is widely acknowledged to have massive potential, given its location across the M8 from the city centre. However there are several challenges to moving the area forwards, including previous uses, the scale and image of the site and the level of investment required for transformation.

The charrette identified key principles
• Strengthening the links not only north-south, but also east-west
• Continuing to evolve the surrounding post-industrial uses with an even more diverse mix, including residential
• Exploiting the opportunity to experiment and innovate, from small businesses incubation to funky leisure
• Generating visitor interest, to help put Port Dundas on the mental map as a gateway to the north of the city
• Exploring new procurement models such as Custom-build development

The first moves along North Canal Bank Street aim to build upon the idea that positive incremental change creates its own momentum and interest that stimulates visitors and further investment.

This was Glasgow City’s first charrette and it received an enthusiastic reception from participants whom we thank for their contributions. Glasgow City Council had a small film crew on hand to document the process and this can be viewed here. Social media also played an important role in engaging people in the charrette and a summary of this was put together by Willie Miller and can be viewed here.

UPDATE: The charrette report is up on the Scottish Government website: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0047/00476616.pdf