Unfortunately due to some unforeseen circumstances we’ve had to cancel this talk. If you booked a ticket, please check your inbox for more details, and we apologise for any inconvenience this might cause. We hope to see you at another event soon!
Thursday, 15th September | 6pm | via Zoom
GCHT’s Deputy Director Niall Murphy will be giving an online talk on the achievements of the Glasgow City Improvement Trust as part of Doors Open Days 2022.
Over the course of the 19th Century, Glasgow suffered explosive city growth, with its population increasing from 77,000 in 1801 to 762,000 by 1901. This rapid growth created problems of overcrowding, poor sanitation and population health issues, with the city’s housing conditions regarded as amongst the worst in Europe.
To combat this, in 1866 Lord Provost Blackie led a delegation including Glasgow’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr William Tennant Gairdner, and the City Architect, John Carrick to Europe to see what lessons could be learned. Having visited Amsterdam and Brussels it was Baron Haussmann’s Paris where they were most impressed by the urban innovations being introduced for Napoleon III.
Upon his return to Glasgow, Carrick drew up the City Improvement Act of 1866 with a programme of slum clearance to clear out and introduce light and air to the medieval heart of the city. This made Glasgow a pioneering city for municipal improvements with the English social reformer, Octavia Hill, leading a parliamentary delegation to find out what the city was up to.
Join us to find out more about the revolutionary work of the City Improvement Trust and its legacy for Glasgow!
Free, booking required, donations welcome.
We are using Zoom to broadcast our live talks. You can join these events as a participant without creating a Zoom account. You do not need to have a webcam or a microphone to join the event as a participant.
All events are subtitled. We aim to make our events as accessible as possible but if you feel that you might need some additional help, please let us know when you book your ticket or get in touch in advance. We’re open to feedback and would welcome your ideas on how we can improve in this area.
You will receive instructions on joining the event by email. If you haven’t received anything by midday on the day of the event, please check your spam folder and then contact us.
All events are recorded and everyone who has booked will be sent a link to the recording to watch again after the event. We are a small team and this can take a couple of weeks so please bear with us!
You might also be interested in…
Glasgow Historic Environment: A Snapshot – 2019
Ever wondered which buildings in your neighbourhood are listed, or even on Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register? Our new interactive map shows data collated between February and April 2018 which gives a snapshot of the current state of Glasgow’s historic built environment.
Blog Post: Ghosts and Zombies
Read our latest blog post about our Ghost Signs of Glasgow project, pondering the nature of ghost signs and what they tell us about the urban landscape.
