CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
"Wealthy areas less 'walkable' for children - except in Glasgow"
(9 posts)-
Posted 9 years ago #
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Here's the report.
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-016-2994-0
Posted 9 years ago # -
Curious headline, I suppose the study requires some thought when you read it? Wealthier areas in the rest of Scotland have poorer walk ability scores compared to poorer areas of the same local authorities (presumably as many more big cars bossing it on the wide boulevards). But in Glasgow the poorer areas are less walkable than the more affluent areas (really just the west end Would be considered affluent and is indeed walkable and a total traffic gridlock). The deprivation is in quintiles but looked to be relative to the specific areas.
So the study is really pointing out the lack of connectable routes in rundown bits of Glasgow. Glasgow has slightly larger population say than Edinburgh but is way more spread out with big chunks of waste ground and distances between different areas whereas Edinburgh is compact as cities go as indeed are Dundee and Aberdeen?
Posted 9 years ago # -
Aye, that sounds about right.
Also Glesca has great big motorways carving the city up, dividing suburbs from one another. Doesn't really happen the same in Edina as the bypass is at the periphery. Dundeh has something similar going on with the Westway but again only certain areas to the north and west of the city badly affected by the division effect.
Maybe that's what they meant by "something about the way the Dear Green Place was planned in the 1950s (?)" - great huge bloody urban motorways!
Posted 9 years ago # -
Between the city centre and Easterhouse the motorway didn't make that much difference to the walkability as it's built on the route of the Monklands canal. The canal had fallen out of use around '42 and in the '60s it probably made sense to use it as a route for the new Monklands motorway as it wouldn't require much demolition at that end of the route.
I suppose Johnny Wiesemuller or itinerant Judean rabbis could cross the canal at any point but other people had to use the bridge. Songs and stories at the time don't see canals as nice places to visit. There was a Morris Minor taken out of the F&C at the Switchback and I have heard that the locals sometimes leave more modern cars, shopping trolleys etc, in the series of locks in Maryhill.
Nobody seems to have expected canals to ever be used again. Even the F&C was culverted in places near Great Western Rd. I'd be interested to know if anyone has information about how it was reinstated there, how much of the stonework is original. On the western side it's stone but the eastern bank looks more modern.
They also had to put in, as far as I know, the only drop lock in the world at Dalmuir.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_(water_navigation)#Drop_locks
Posted 9 years ago # -
I walked from dennstoun to the west end abut 5 a.m. One Sunday morning, slight trepidation, similarly walking back from parkhead with breather at heighlan Jessie's tavern in Bridgeton also tense. The west way in Dundee I have walked alongside but not pleasant.
The competition set by James Joyce was to cross Dublin without spotting a pub. It has the traffic of Glasgow but on the roads of Edinburgh,mwell at bit wider. Cyclists out like they re in London. I suppose there is road rage everywhere but we have it bad in this wee country.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I hope something good comes of the research. I'm glad someone's looking into this and publicising the problem.
Possibly the Glasgow results are different because much of Glasgow isn't in Glasgow? The city has plenty of affluent suburbs, but many of them were gerrymandered out of official Glasgow years ago.
Posted 9 years ago # -
"Johnny Wiesemuller"
Interesting character. Born in Freidorf, now part of Timișoara, which rose to prominence as being the cradle of the Romanian uprising against Ceaușescu in 1989.
Posted 9 years ago # -
He was married to Lupe Velez who became famous again because of Frasier.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupe_Vélez#Alternate_theories_and_urban_legend
Posted 9 years ago #
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