Karen Anderson (l), Derek Mackay MSP & Bailie Liz Cameron (r) announced the national roll-out in the Greyfriars Garden Stalled Space in Glasgow’s Merchant City
The Stalled Spaces initiative was introduced in 2011 by Glasgow City Council with a view to encouraging the creative use of vacant and derelict land throughout the city. The programme provides funding for a wide variety of temporary uses that promote wellbeing, such as public art exhibitions, exercise spaces and community gardens. In 2013, over 12 hectares of land were brought into temporary use through Stalled Spaces, and the project’s success was recognised internationally as winner of the 2013 City to City FAD Barcelona Award for urban transformation processes.
This month, the Scottish Government announced that Architecture + Design Scotland (A+DS) will lead a national roll-out of the initiative, called Stalled Spaces Scotland. As part of the Commonwealth Games Legacy Programme, A+DS will work with local authorities and communities to create innovative temporary uses of vacant land across wider Scotland.
In alignment with the Scottish Government’s recently adopted Town Centre First Principle, which SURF contributed to the development of, priority support will be given to projects that seek to make use of vacant land within town centres. SURF was a member of the External Advisory Group of the 2013-14 National Review of Town Centres. The group’s final report featured the adoption of a Town Centre First Principle as a key policy recommendation.
Karen Anderson, Chair of A+DS, said: “With the Stalled Spaces Scotland programme, we are looking to support communities to reactivate vacant or derelict spaces within town centres all across Scotland. The projects can range from art installations and growing spaces to temporary events and pop-up play spaces that can help the community to come together. We will welcome innovative ideas and will be providing support to local authorities who will run the day to day delivery of the locally based Stalled Spaces programmes.”
A+DS are currently welcoming expressions of interest on local authorities interested in developing local Stalled Spaces programmes. To find out more, click on the following link:
