What was it like before?

Anderston Cross was a busy railway and tram route interchange, but the area is completely unrecognisable today.

The station closed in 1959 and was demolished in 1967. The last tram passed by on 1 September 1962.

The comprehensive redevelopment plan of the 1960s and 1970s removed much slum housing but a large part of the area disappeared beneath the new M8 motorway.

​Only 3,800 of the population of 11,430 were re-housed at Anderston Cross.

(Image: Glasgow City Archives)

A 1960's Vision.

After the Second World War, there was a determination by national and local government that something had to be done about the bad housing and overcrowding of the inner city areas which existed in most of the major cities in Britain. The Bruce Report of 1945 led to the concept of 'Comprehensive Development' which meant the total demolition of areas of sub standard housing and slums in the city, so that new, planned communities could be built on the cleared ground. In total, 20 Comprehensive Development Areas were designated in Glasgow, with one of them comprising a large part of Anderston.

Although Anderston's housing problems were no worse than many other areas of Glasgow, Anderston was made an area for priority treatment as the need to improve Glasgow's road network had led to the plans for building a motorway through the city. The route of this motorway was to go through Anderston Cross, the traditional heart of the community, and the plan for the comprehensive development of the area was approved in 1961. The new Anderston would therefore be divided into three zones; a Commercial Zone devoted to office space and commerce on the eastern fringe of the city centre, and bordered on the west by the new ring road, a Residential Zone consisting of new housing estates to the immediate east and an Industrial Zone to the south east.

The area was much changed irrevocably by the construction of the M8 motorway and Kingston Bridge, whose tangle of concrete flyovers and pedestrian bridges destroyed much of the western fringes of Anderston, including Anderston Cross itself, which was replaced by the concrete Anderston Centre - a typical 1960s megastructure combining shops, offices, council housing and a bus station into one development. The idea was not a success.

(Image: Media Scotland)

Today.

The M8 today causes severance for people moving east-west in Glasgow, meaning people have to take on the environments we see here. As a result more people choose to drive when they might otherwise want to walk or cycle.

This project changes that environment, makes for a safer and more inclusive space, inviting people to experience the city once again.

​And this catalyst project is the beginning. Glasgow City Council have also announced plans that could create a 'roof garden' bridge over the M8 at Charing Cross, proposing a cover for the roar of the busy motorway below. Together these projects reclaim some of the area lost to the M8, reducing traffic noise and improving air quality alongside.