Missing the Boat: Port City Planning in Glasgow during World War II

Abstract

The Second World War marked a decisive expansion of planning for port cities in Western Europe and the UK. The study of plans for Glasgow shows that planners failed to prepare for the modernisation of port facilities and of waterfront-related industry and the improvement of transport connections between ports and the rest of the city. A comprehensive assessment of port matters was compromised by politics, first in bringing about government intervention in matters of port administration, and then in generating opposition between the municipal authorities of Glasgow and the central government on whether Glasgow should dominate the Clyde Valley. The Cooper report on the Clyde Estuary dealt with the question whether a unified port authority should be created. This institutional question kept port issues separate from the process of urban renewal. The Bruce and Abercrombie plans differed in their estimation of the importance of the port to the regional economy, but agreed that major changes in the port district were necessary if conditions in the rest of the city were to improve. This analysis shows that the shortcomings of planning during war cannot be attributed to wartime conditions, but reflected established perceptions of urban conditions and expectations of future development.