A 1960’s Vision of Glasgow’s Future – Seen from Today

What did Glasgow’s future look like in 1969?

Opening Tomorrow’s Glasgow, an archival publication produced by R. Nicoll, the booklet sets out a vision of the city to come, one shaped by careful planning, modern living, and an optimism about what urban life could be.

Among its pages, alongside discussions of housing and infrastructure, is a clear message: the future city would need space to breathe. Parks, green areas, and civic spaces were not secondary concerns, but essential to how people would live, relax, and connect.

As part of its work exploring Scotland’s built environment, the Scottish Civic Trust continues to revisit ideas like these. Looking back at Tomorrow’s Glasgow invites us not just to observe the past, but to compare it with the city we inhabit today.

A City Framed by Green Space

The Glasgow described in 1968 was already rich in public space. Turning the pages, familiar places emerge, spaces that continue to define the city. Glasgow Green, established in the 15th century, had long offered a shared landscape for recreation and gathering. George Square stood at the civic centre, while Queen’s Park reflected Victorian ambitions to bring nature into everyday urban life. Other spaces, like the Glasgow Botanic Gardens and Kelvingrove Park feel just as recognisable today. Integral to everyday life – used for leisure, exercise, and often simply as routes through the city. On rare sunny days, these spaces transform again, filling with life in a way that feels uniquely Glasgow.

Designing the Future City

As the booklet unfolds, a clear planning philosophy takes shape. Open space is presented not as leftover land, but as something to be deliberately designed into the city. Parks and recreational areas were seen as essential to support outdoor activity, encourage community wellbeing, and improving the city’s environment and appearance. Developments such as Park Circus offered a model, where landscaped surroundings were integrated directly into residential layouts. The message is consistent: a better city could be created through thoughtful design.

But Tomorrow’s Glasgow is not without its uncertainties. Between its lines, a challenge begins to emerge. 

By the late 1960s, the city was changing. Post-war planning and new housing developments were redistributing Glasgow’s population, moving people away from traditional inner-city areas. The parks remained – but not always where people needed them most.

The question is not simply how much green space a city has, but who can access it. Recognising this tension, a well-supplied city could still be an unequal one if access to open spaces was uneven. Even in a city with abundant green space, distribution matters, ensuring that all communities could easily access recreational space was recognised as a growing concern – one that remains relevant today.

The Present as a Past Future

Today, we are living in the future that Tomorrow’s Glasgow imagined. And yet, many of its questions remain unresolved. Are parks located where communities need them most? Do new developments meaningfully integrate green space? How do people use these environments in their daily lives?

In practice, the city reveals a mix of intention and improvisation. Spaces like Kelvingrove Park serve multiple roles - designed landscapes, but also everyday pathways shaped by habit. The planned city exists, but so too does the lived city.

Why Open Space Still Matters

Open space plays a vital role in urban life. These environments contribute to physical and mental wellbeing, recreation and relaxation, environmental quality and biodiversity, and social interaction and community life. Crucially, the publication acknowledged that these benefits require intentional planning. Green space must be designed as part of the city, not left over from it.

The ideas explored remind us that planning for open space is fundamentally about quality of life. Ensuring that parks and civic spaces remain accessible, well maintained, and responsive to changing communities continues to be a priority.

This vision aligns closely with the work of the Scottish Civic Trust, which promotes thriving, well-cared for places across Scotland while supporting communities in shaping their environments. More than a historical document, Tomorrow’s Glasgow acts as a time capsule – offering insight into how the city’s future was once imagined and prompting reflection on how we continue to plan for it today.

References:
Tomorrow’s Glasgow, R. E. Nicoll, Professor of Urban Planning, University of Strathclyde, 1968

as researched and written by Michelle Edgar