Four minutes to change the city: hear from Isla Jackson at UDG’s panel event
What can we gain from retrofitting and reimagining aging infrastructure, so it works harder for people and place?
What role should the M8 play in Glasgow’s future? Hear more from Isla Jackson, director and head of our Scotland studio and a brilliant line-up at Urban Design Group’s ‘Four minutes to change the city’ panel event on Wednesday 7th October.
The event will take place at The Haberdashery in Glasgow from 5.30pm, ahead of the National Urban Design Conference the following day, and is open to everyone: architects, planners, surveyors and more.
Find out more and register here.
The interactive panel discussion will focus on the M8, one of Glasgow’s most iconic and divisive pieces of infrastructure. Recent engagement around the Woodside Viaduct has raised, for the first time, the prospect of a future without it, and what stands to be gained from reimagining it to work harder for people and place.
It’s a topic Isla frequently shares her insights on, recently commenting: “Across the UK, we’re faced with infrastructure that was designed for a different era that no longer serves the needs of people today. Take the debate surrounding the future of the M8 here on the doorstep of our studio in Glasgow, for example. As parts of its structure age, Transport Scotland has consulted on three approaches to it: repair, replace or remove altogether.
“For me, there is another option for such projects, and that is to retrofit and reimagine aging infrastructure wherever possible, so that it works harder for people and place. We can use such critical projects as an opportunity to improve biodiversity, create greener, healthier streetscapes with active travel, and reduce flood risk with sustainable urban drainage, as we have with our work on Glasgow’s Avenues programme.”
Isla joins a brilliant panel line-up, including:
- Kevin Logan, director at Maccreanor Lavington
- Graham Hogg, director at Commonscape Studio
- Christopher Martin, managing director at Urban Movement
Our team will also lead a walking tour of Glasgow Avenues on Thursday 8th October, as part of the National Urban Design Group Conference. Watch this space for more to follow.
We look forward to seeing you there!
