November 12 2019

Glasgow has been reimagined as a Dear Green Place in its truest sense in a new study imagining how UK cities could appear when subject to vertical forests, biophilic design, tree planting and roof gardens.

The green vision is the product of fertile minds at Marshalls, a provider of hard landscaping materials, which has been seeking new ways to make cities more environmentally friendly by taking inspiration from 2019 Future Spaces research.

At the heart of this approach is the theory of ‘wildness’, a model for bringing unkempt nature into the heart of our cities by integrating green infrastructure into design and planning infrastructure.

In a statement, Marshalls wrote: “With the potential to be known as a ‘forest city’, the improvement to Glasgow’s overall look would be striking. With walkways, bridges and paths littered with trees and shrubbery, Glaswegians could expect to feel immersed in nature from the moment they leave home, to the moment they return from work.

“With the adoption of biomimicry architecture to mimic natural forms, there would also be several striking new buildings across the Scottish city’s skyline.”

Additional plant growth could soak up excess carbon dioxide while producing oxygen, enhancing aesthetics and wellbeing on congested streets.

11 Comments

#1 Posted by eh on 12 Nov 2019 at 12:40 PM

Love how they've left most of the roads and surface car parks clear but 'greened' the cycle and pedestrian routes...

#2 Posted by whit on 12 Nov 2019 at 13:08 PM

It would be great to have Glasgow greener. I'd imagine it would have been a lush forest prior to settlement. Tree lined streets everywhere.
Nice pyramid and child-like rendering.

#3 Posted by Charlie_ on 12 Nov 2019 at 14:46 PM

Still looks a total mess - no substitute for the semblance of coherent urbanism that area is still crying out for.

#4 Posted by The G Man on 12 Nov 2019 at 16:05 PM

With all these new box buildings springing up everywhere, I suppose its a good excuse not to look up anymore, bad enough that some prominent views in the city are now obscured by trees. The council allowed trees to grow out of buildings for years, was wondering if that was the inspiration for this idea...

#5 Posted by Robin B's Discount on 12 Nov 2019 at 16:31 PM

The Barclays campus and the new hotels around the hydro car park have been demolished! They just don't build things to last these days. Not like my 1978 Sony Trinatron TV.

#6 Posted by Sir Ano on 12 Nov 2019 at 17:27 PM

Nonsense

#7 Posted by Asimov on 13 Nov 2019 at 11:26 AM

#5 You know that this is a 1-year student exercise taken out of the drawer, laying there since 1999? Slow news day, still facepalm-worthy.

#8 Posted by Robin B's Discount on 13 Nov 2019 at 13:09 PM

@#7. Gotta say, that student had great foresight to so accurately imagine the hydro from back in 1999. I believe that his name was Martin McFly.

#9 Posted by David on 13 Nov 2019 at 17:24 PM

What a sloppy excuse of an effort. There is no real thought in this other than let's cover loads of the horizontal surfaces in this photo with trees. I hope no-one was paid to do this.

#10 Posted by Andy Pandy on 14 Nov 2019 at 16:08 PM

Post Apocalyptic or what...I'm sure I can see Rick and the gang down there...

#11 Posted by Gordon on 16 Nov 2019 at 16:59 PM

The priciple of greening cities is sound enough. But most cities won't afford to look after the greenery they already have. Glasgow is no exception. The level of maintenace input required for green spaces is astonishingly high and the priorities of dim witted councillors (and senior officials) simply don't recognise the issues.

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