M74 'lost space' finds its place as a hybrid urban park
March 4 2025
Long-held plans to transform a motorway undercroft from a grey void to a green oasis have taken a new turn with fresh plans for an urban park by Glasgow Urban Sports (GUS).
Landscape architecture practice erz has stepped up to the challenge of reimagining the hostile environment at Devon Street, beneath an elevated section of the M74, as the city's newest public space.
Helping to heal the scars left by road engineers the park will help unite a fragmented chunk of the city, linking Laurieston and the Gorbals to the south with Govanhill and Pollokshields to the north by reactivating part of a belt of vacant land snaking through the southside, a short walk from the city centre. Once home to a tenement run designed by Alexander 'Greek' Thomson the site has lain fallow since the 1980s.
As direct sunlight is restricted to 70% of the site and the bridge structure acts as a wind tunnel the land will chiefly be utilised as an urban sport, exercise and events space.
In a design report erz wrote: "Despite the site's proximity to busy and thriving neighbouring communities, this ‘lost space’ contributes to an environment that feels unpleasant and unsafe, particularly pedestrians.
"The motorway superstructure has a significant impact on the microclimate of the site. Although direct daylight can be limited, the canopy offers good protection from precipitation to facilitate sports, especially important for skate and other wheeled sports."
Enveloped by road and rail infrastructure the challenging site has gained new prominence by the construction of the South City Way, a segregated cycle route, with the site now viewed as a lynchpin for driving further regeneration in the area.
Building on work by lead artists Toby Paterson and Raydale Dower, working with skate expert John Bailey, the landscape design is conceived as sculptural terraces lined by planting and public art housing a dedicated skate park, a levelled east-west walking route and activity space sheltered by a belt of trees positioned against the prevailing wind.
The landscape design must work overtime to counter a lack of sunlight, strong winds and traffic noise
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16 Comments
Sorry but this is a waste of money. Glasgow city centre is falling to bits. Improving this and trying to spark some sort of regen in the most commercial areas should be a priority. Not fixing up a dead space that is determined to fail.
Why not just plant it up in the short term and try to develop it? Some sort of commercial occupier could go here.
Plus very exclusionary.
US charity dynamic.
10 years late.
Half a job.
Site left to fester after the M74 build.
No active engagement by the council.
Plenty of warm words / PR guff.
Now half a job -- any news on the southern section of the site?
Donny John becomes credible because of the chasm that develops in the gap between the public's lived reality and the fantasy world created by student politicians who love a happy clappy press release but deliver little / deliver late / deliver at huge cost.
Apologies if I have had a grey moment but from memory earlier plans included both areas.
UR -- 2014 / 2015 articles on a sculpture park -- do they cover the same site or do they relate to a site to the north of this location.
Main point still stands -- why has progress been so slow?
Points to a lack of economic activity in the area or a lack of public sector energy to do something.
Neither paint the city in a good light.
There are no active planning applications for the land off Turriff Street but it is assumed that the plot will eventually host a street-facing perimeter block. The sunlight analysis does not factor in development here.
A 10m strip alongside the motorway is off-limits for development to permit road maintenance and will be planted with a shelter belt of trees and seating.
The original GUS plan centred on a different site a little to the west between Stromness Street and Kilbirnie Street.
https://shorturl.at/ACnQ3
#10 I suspect drinking will heavily related to this space. No adults, no passing pedestrians, perfect location for any sort of A.S.B. Good for fly tipping too. Load up the car and get on the M74.
At the very least, they could put the park on the southern edge of the M74. Here it would have an overlooking, residential frontage and would get some sunshine. There is just a complete lack of comprehension of how people use space here. No body is going to use this peripheral space at the edge of the community.
There are many many open spaces in this area that could be vastly improved. Look at the green area on Cavendish Street. Its right at the heart of the comminity and has a pretty miserable playground and ball court. Do something like this there.
The most depressing thing is that they have a great team and a nice design but the place is just completely ridiculous. Might as well just burn the money. Blind, vanity development.
All our civic / societal / political failures in true technicolour / full gory detail.
The M74 builders actually delivered some landscaping after the build but it was all downhill from there.
Area is fenced off and left to re-wild at its own devices. Litter trap turned up to 11 and instead of the "Broken Windows" effect we have the broken fence effect.
Shockingly bad management of a public space -- can't be ersed doing a lot of heavy lifting.
Surely the rent from a couple of billboards could have been used to properly factor the area?
One thing for sure its proper management is well beyond the capabilities of the post 2017 council. The pre 2017 council wasn't great but at least it was focused on the city and not a cause directed from Holyrood.
Shameful.
Needless to say the police swiftly shut it down and kicked us all out....
#14 - Surely, critics gonna critique?
Now, they fund 'repetitive beats' via Resident Adviser getting tons of dosh via the arts council to keep it dull, monetised and 'safe'.
Anyway the landscape project above is a good idea but too little too late and am not sure how well it will work in reality as per all the intelligent comments already made.
The elephant in the room of course is that this humungous and very destructive road was built rather recently instead of building the cheap clean and quick interconnected mass transit system that we still culpably lack in Glasgow.
False starts every 6 months and now only half a job.
There must be a quicker / lower cost solution to delivering public spaces in this type of scenario.
Strong winds -- the bar must have been set very low.
File under interesting but floundering under wave upon wave of middle class angst and welfare harvesting. I fear they might be related.