Designate Glasgow subway a special planning area and modernise it via congestion charging
We have learned very little from the New Towns experience except how to build, sponsor and decorate roundabouts. The Enterprise Zones which the New Towns were could be used to drive investment and economic growth if applied to new situations in the current climate, such as along transport corridors/routes/networks.
The Strathclyde Subway (it is used by people from greater Glasgow and beyond) is a case in point. By designating the ground-level (and the sub-surface) of the route, delineated perhaps 25metres either side of the central rail plumb line, as an Enterprise Zone with a range of investment incentives, it would be possible to create conditions for development and capital value uplift that could make a major contribution to the modernisation of the existing Subway.
This is a basically sound idea - many of the subway stations function as mini-growth points for a range of small business / good places to live / retail hubs and transition points to other modes of transport - but most of this happens around the stations on the north of the river. The south side stations are very different but have enormous potential to develop into key investment and growth zones - Bridge Street (and its relationship with Laurieston Gorbals) being one of the most obvious. Not sure about 'Enterprise Zone' status as it has been cast in the past but certainly some form of investment incentive would be constructive together with a dialogue with SPT (or whoever will run the system) with the intention of linking ideas to action and connecting with potential groups/firms/individuals who may want to be part of it.
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