Springburn Virtual Museum

Springburn in transition

Demolition of tenements in Gourlay Street, 1975

In the 1960s and 1970s, three main policies were implemented to alleviate Glasgow's housing problems. These were overspill, high-rise building, and comprehensive development, in which whole areas of the city were completely remade.

Springburn was declared a Comprehensive Development Area in 1973. Few tenements in Springburn survived the wholesale demolition which took place, both for the purpose of new building and also for the clearance of land necessary to build the new Springburn bypass.

This policy of demolition is now regarded as short-sighted and wasteful. Since the 1980s, many of Glasgow's old tenements have been refurbished into desirable accommodation, rather than demolished.

Source: Glasgow City Archives