Urban Land Uses

The Central Business District

Photos from Gorgeous Geography and Geograph

What shapes a City?

Centripetal Forces Centrifugal Forces

Sort the following…

Maximum accessibility

Lack of space

Clustering of certain functions

Increasing bid rent

Congestion

Prestige of central address

Maximum potentialthreshold population

Proximity of residence to range of entertainments

Restrictions on city centre developments

What do the images tell you about the CBD of Glasgow?

Features of the CBD 1

• Highest Land Values- Intensive competition for space• Centre of routes• Multi Storey buildings• Lack of Space, high road and building density• Commercial and Financial Land Uses ( High Profit)• Large Department Stores – John Lewis, Debenhams, Marks for

large sales turnover• Specialist shops e.g. Argyll arcade for Jewellery• Offices-Banks, Solicitors etc (western CBD of Glasgow for

Finiancial services)• Transport termini – Buchanan Street Bus Station, Central, Queen

St• High Traffic and Pedestrian Flow, especially at rush hour• Historic Core- Old buildings, tourist attractions e.g. Cathedral

Features of the CBD 2

• Variety of Retailers (optimum population)• Entertainment – Cinemas (UGC), Theatres,

Nightclubs• Low Residential Population because of high

land values• Pollution• Traffic Congestion• Grid Street Pattern

Problems of the CBD- Glasgow

• Traffic congestion at bridging points, central areas (grid pattern)

• Poor air quality- fumes from high traffic volume• Pedestrian Congestion• Competition from out of town services• Preservation v Modernisation (Historic Core)• Noise• Crime

CBD solutions

• Decentralisation of functions e.g Greenfield and brownfield sites• Braehead as an alternative shopping venue?• However, CBD loses out, so…• Pedestrianisation- Change the shopping environment, reduce congestion

and air pollution• Bus, Cycle lanes, Park and Ride, Double yellows• M74 extension• Improvement of underground services (Commonwealth?)• Covered Shopping Malls – Buchanan Galleries, St Enoch• Develop Tourism ( Short stay breaks, Hotel facilities built, boom in

restaurant numbers e.g Merchant City)• Associated Conservation of historic buildings• Change in function? – Merchant City housing

                                                  

          How can we tell the position of the CBD on an O.S. map?