Motorway City

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Archive on 4: Motorway City

BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, Motorway City

The story of how Glasgow became the UK’s archetypal motorway city.

Allan Little explores why Glasgow has more miles of urban motorway than any other UK city, and examines the legacy of constructing the M8 directly through its centre.

Allan Little examines the impact of the motorway era on Scotland’s biggest city. 

Glasgow has more miles of urban motorway than any other city in the UK. Unusually, the M8 directly bisects the urban city centre, encompassing one of the busiest river crossings in Europe, the Kingston Bridge. Work began on the M8 almost 60 years ago in 1965, and was completed just over half a century ago in 1972, fundamentally altering the urban fabric of Glasgow and the central belt as a whole. 

Allan explores the modernist thinking of the time to understand the utopian vision of the 20th century urban planners who reshaped post-war Britain, initiating a nationwide infrastructure project that would see the construction of 2,300 miles of motorway. He speaks to architects and urban planners to hear how modern cities might be transformed once more to better meet the needs of their citizens at a human, liveable scale. 

He also charts the history of motorway protest, from Newbury to London, Glasgow’s Pollok Free State to the rise of modern day ‘locking on’. He hears about Replace the M8, a group that believes the costs of the motorway slicing through Glasgow are larger than its benefits, and are reimagining an alternative future without it. 

Through archival documentary footage and promotional films, Allan looks back on the heyday of the motorway era in Glasgow and beyond, and asks what the future might hold. 

Presented by Allan Little
Sound Design by Joel Cox
Produced by Robbie Armstrong
Executive Producer: Mark Rickards

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4

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