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Review of Scotland's Cities - The Analysis

4 CITIES FOR LIVING

4.1 BETTER CITIES FOR ALL

4.1.1 Demands on Places

The previous chapter was concerned with the economic roles and potentials of Scotland's cities. The future offered the prospect of reductions in worklessness and income growth but with significant inter and intra-urban inequalities. Major policy efforts to reduce inequalities, and to reduce or remove the causal factors that reinforce 'the gap' are required. This review does not intend to downplay the importance of problems that face too many residents in all of our cities. Just as the economic performance of Scotland's cities varied, equally there is diversity in the quality of cities as places for the diverse groups that use them. The city is the terrain on which we meet family and friends but above all have the prospect of wider ranges and networks of social and personal contact. Cities are where we recurrently meet and mingle. Whether and how we do so is influenced by the activities available and the character and accessibility of the built environment. Pleasant and safe surroundings encourage interaction. The city reflects our private choices about homes and travel and how to spend time and money. But it also reflects, and shapes, how we behave socially and whether we are at ease with each other.

The real hallmark of a city is its diversity; large city scale permits social and economic variety. Variety can facilitate progress and change. Scale allows internal differentiation within a city so that overall diversity may be reflected at the local or neighbourhood scale as different, specialised places. The city exists as a set of different districts and as a rather complex patchwork of neighbourhoods. This mosaic may reflect differences in preferences, for example two-adult, affluent households can be found in the outer and inner suburbs, and in renovated city centres. However the city mosaic is also shaped by differences in incomes. Inequalities in incomes are sharply reflected in the housing locations, tenures and qualities that face the poorest and richest Scots within our city-regions. In examining city issues it is important to interrelate people and place policies. This is not just a matter of fostering well functioning neighbourhoods, but also assessing how the range of neighbourhoods serves the interests of different income, age (places that are 'good' for childless couples may be 'awful' for teenage children), ethnic and other minority groups. We have to be sure that allowing space to be different does not leave room to discriminate.

In this chapter the emphasis is upon our cities as places to live, whilst the subsequent chapter considers the interests of other groups, such as tourists and shoppers, although there are of course mutual interests. The next section examines overall 'quality of life' in Scotland's cities, to set a comparative context. The housing systems that underpin residential choices are then examined and this is followed by identifying the features and patterns of neighbourhoods in our cities which influence where people choose to live and how satisfied they are with the outcomes. Particular attention is paid to the effects of school provision and crime on neighbourhood choices and satisfactions. The chapter then concludes with a brief review of the challenges posed by present patterns and processes.

4.2 THE QUALITY OF SCOTLAND'S CITIES

4.2.1 Indicators for Change

The previous chapter noted the absence of any systematic benchmarking and monitoring of city economic performance. Consistent, regular measures of city quality are also desirable. They would have to embrace the price, quality and variety of private spaces, the quality of amenities and facilities, and their accessibility, as well as the quality of the built environment and the public realm. Indicators of the costs and availability of systems for connecting within the city and the ease and 'buzz' of social contact are also required. The Executive has made considerable progress in recent years in identifying milestones and indicators for key programmes and is working to improve Neighbourhood Statistics and encouraging local authorities to improve information in relation to housing and other services. However there is clearly a case to be made for the development of a set of key city, and city-region, 'quality' indicators, potentially drawn from the presently extensive, if dispersed data already collected by a range of bodies.

This review has worked with what is already available. To set Scottish cities in context it is essential to note that they are not only growing as economic locations, but, as noted in Chapter 2, expanding as housing demand locations. Household numbers are generally rising within the cities. More owners and renters are choosing to live there. Whilst it is important to recognise that some neighbourhoods are declining in quality and occupation rates, they are atypical. It would be wrong to claim, as some have for English cities, that there is a process of middle-income 'flight' from our cities although there is significant out-migration of such groups. It would be equally wrong to pretend that all is well within the cities and that there is now a universal urban renaissance ongoing. City issues are of sufficient importance that they deserve a less general, more evidence informed approach.

Assessing city quality is notoriously subjective and contentious. However recourse can be made to some of the indicators from the European Urban Audit, which was completed by the EU in 2000 and only included Glasgow and Edinburgh as Scottish cities, and to a range of peripatetic surveys of the 'quality-of-life' in British towns and cities.

4.2.2 Europe: Neither Best, Nor Worst

The European Urban Audit was a good attempt to follow earlier World Bank and OECD work on cross-city indicators. None of these approaches appear to have touched urban policy in Scotland. The results of the audit should only be used to open discussion and promote further analysis, because the statistics have comparability limits. The match between functional cities and statistical collection areas clearly differs from city to city, countries vary in their definitions of items such as housing quality or recorded crimes and census or data collection years differ from place to place. Scores on some of the core indicators for Glasgow and Edinburgh, a group of comparator UK cities and a similar (by size) group of North European cities are presented in Table 4.1.

TABLE 4.1: Broad Indicators of Urban Activities

Source: European Urban Audit
The key contrasts and commonalities are:

• Glasgow no longer has the highest density of population within Britain; rather the density and built form (proportion of apartments) of the two Scottish cities is more similar to European than English cities;
• The Scottish cities are remarkably closed to external immigration; only Helsinki has a lower proportion of non-native born residents;
• Edinburgh performs well on crime and health indicators whereas Glasgow scores relatively poorly on both;
• Edinburgh has the highest rate of political participation in national elections of the UK cities, though significantly lower than European cities, and Glasgow the lowest in Europe, Liverpool excepted;
• Both Glasgow and Edinburgh score well by UK standards in the number of museums, but contrast poorly with European competitors; and
• Both Glasgow and Edinburgh score well on the use of cinemas and public libraries.

These are large and sweeping contrasts. However, as for the pattern of relative economic performance, they suggest not only the marked contrast across Scottish cities within a small country (the wellbeing of Edinburgh and the extensive challenge in Glasgow) but also that our cities are by no means poor performers in the international and UK domain.

4.2.3 UK: Better Than Most

Within the UK the quality of different places has been on the agendas of governments and the public since the 1960's. Despite the usual caveats, 'quality of life' surveys are a useful indication of the relative performance of different cities, enabling comparison of similar sized places across the world.

In general, surveys within the UK produce results not dissimilar to the European Audit and suggest that Scottish cities offer a relatively high quality of life, with Edinburgh and Glasgow comparing favourably to other large UK cities. Edinburgh is consistently ranked as one of the top cities in the United Kingdom for 'quality of life'. Its setting of hills, waterfront and historic centre offer its relatively educated, healthy and high earning population a range of housing options, from period dwellings to waterfront apartments, good state sector and private schools and an impressive cultural offering.

It is unsurprising that Edinburgh is rated highly by residents and visitors alike. Conde Naste Traveller readers, for example, recently voted Edinburgh their favourite UK tourist destination; knocking London off the top spot from last year's survey. This trend arguably reflects the growing popularity of regional centres as high property prices, high crime rates and congestion and pollution make larger centres, notably London, increasingly unattractive. The 2002 DKNY Energy Index, for example, which assesses city 'buzz' by analysing factors such as birth rate, schooling and job vacancies, ranked London only 9th in UK terms, citing negative effects associated with its size to account for its poor performance. Edinburgh was ranked as second only to Cambridge, whilst Glasgow achieved seventh place.

Glasgow also does well compared to other UK cities, reflecting the presence of positive attributes which more than offset the inheritance of poor public housing neighbourhoods. There is a wide range of relatively affordable housing options within the city-region. Wages are relatively high compared to the rest of Scotland. The city centre is vibrant with a range of cultural and retail services set amidst fine architecture and open space, as reflected in awards such as City of Architecture and Design (1999) and European City of Culture (1990). The 1999 Healey and Baker survey of Britain's Best Working Cities, which measures amenities and living standards, ranked Glasgow number one in the UK for transportation links, modern office space, shopping and eateries. Congestion and pollution problems are also less severe than in other large cities. A 2002 global survey of cleanliness ranked Glasgow the cleanest out of the three UK cities considered by the survey. At 62nd cleanest out of 215 cities considered, it easily beat London at 102nd place. In terms of overall quality of life however, this survey which considered crime, schools, health services, and recreational opportunities amongst other factors, ranked Glasgow 57th - compared to London at 41st place.

The smaller cities of Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness tend to figure less prominently in UK rankings, though anecdotal and other evidence suggest that they too offer a relatively good quality of life. More extensive research ³⁴ from the University of Strathclyde, that includes smaller centres, suggests that these cities are high quality environments, ranking Inverness 5th, Aberdeen 22nd and Dundee 142nd. Scottish cities have many of the attributes which research has shown strongly influence how people perceive the quality of their lives in cities (Table 4.2). Crime and pollution are relatively low compared to other UK centres. The cost of living and home ownership also compares favourably. Scenic quality and access to the countryside is good compared to the densely populated regions of England. Employment opportunities are expanding, and if wages are lower than other UK regions, this is often more than offset by the lower cost of living. Travel to work times are also significantly lower than in the UK as a whole.

Source: Kearns, A.J. et al, The Determinants of Neighbourhood Satisfaction in Scotland, Communities Scotland.

All these factors contribute significantly to the quality and desirability of Scottish cities. They are both past successes and future potentials, but they sit beside three worries. First, there are patterns of unequal neighbourhood quality within all of our cities, and in Glasgow and Dundee in particular, which mean that there are significant proportions of city populations who have a miserable quality of life. For many, the Edinburgh image is not that set out above but lies closer to 'Trainspotting'. These geographies are real gaps in wellbeing and opportunity, not just statistical patterns, which divide and scar our cities. Secondly, despite the quality and variety of Scottish cities, we fail to attract and retain sufficient numbers of people from outside our own borders. We must consider whether this is a matter of more than employment and income opportunities, but also reflects lack of connections, access and an inward orientation. Parochial cities lack 'buzz' and so do the societies and economies which sustain them. Thirdly, there is still a propensity for middle and upper income households with children to leave the core cities and for developers to provide little new family housing except in the suburbs. Cause and effect have to be addressed and understood.

4.2.4 Matching User Demands and City 'Supplies'

Our cities, or at least the developers, owners, citizens, entrepreneurs, communities and politicians who live there, offer a complex range of 'products'. They are different, diverse 'suppliers' to different 'user' groups. The city is not a single entity, but a mosaic of diverse and specialised districts and neighbourhoods. Given the 'macro' evidence of some successes in securing city quality we have to ask how effective is the mesh linking demands and supplies, needs and opportunities. We need to know in more detail how the mosaic of neighbourhoods is changing and how it serves our aims and is influenced by our policies.

4.3 RESIDENTIAL CHOICES AND FUTURES

4.3.1 Putting Housing in its Place

Housing systems really matter in our cities. The housing system determines the shape, layout and design of the city. Housing covers three quarters of the built city space. If most rural Scots live in a landscape shaped by fire, ice, water and agricultural policy, then the influences of architects, planners, developers and housing policies have most fashioned the landscape of cities. There is often, in public debate, a presumption that the Scottish housing sector is in some state of permanent or pervasive crisis. However, looked at as a whole, the Scottish housing system:

• Produces broadly, each year, the same number of new homes as there are new households;
• Has a generally favourable balance of household numbers and housing units;
• Has disrepair rates around 3% of the estimated value of the stock;
• Moderate house price and rent to income ratios, by UK standards;
• Results in more than four out of five households satisfied with their homes; and
• Sees a rising proportion of Scots living in their preferred housing tenure.

These are favourable system outcomes. However, there are at least three important sets of policy concerns about Scotland's housing and housing systems. The first, and long recognised, is that there are sharp concentrations of poorer households in the most severe housing and, in the worst cases, in no permanent housing at all. Secondly, there is a recognition that poor housing and poor neighbourhood conditions are often positively correlated and that in the last three decades there has been a growing concentration of the poorest households in our worst housing, and much of that is in the council sector. So housing issues and neighbourhood conditions, as they are for poor households, have become increasingly inseparable for policymakers and local practitioners. In policy making the emphasis is no longer housing, but 'housing and', 'housing with'.

The third recognition is that it is the housing system of markets and bureaucracies, which most shapes the geography of where people live and whether communities are mixed or segregated. Investors, builders, planners, prices, queues and allocation rules, all influence which homes are built and where and how households of different economic, age and social groups choose, or are allocated, more or less segregated housing options. It is not just that disparities in the quality of homes and neighbourhoods are key components of the gap in wellbeing between rich and poor, but it is the housing system which often means that the gap becomes real in terms of distance and social space.

Arguably there may be a need in Scotland to give more emphasis to how and why housing systems and policies may fail to build communities and places. We cannot have sensible policies for cities or social justice unless we have clarity of housing policy, not just for affordable housing quality, but for ensuring that housing markets and social sectors work effectively to produce not just bricks and mortar, but deliver the communities and connections that are needed within our cities. Housing needs put in its place.

In this section of the chapter we review the main characteristics of residential choices in the Scottish cities, examining housing outcomes and neighbourhood conditions. We then consider how policies, systems and outcomes need to change to meet the social justice, competitiveness and environmental challenges the nation faces.

4.3.2 Housing Choices and Their Outcomes

Housing systems are by their nature local; the inheritance of provision and the balance of supply and demand varies from place to place. Policy variety also means local variety. The British housing system is distinctive within Europe, Scottish policy has often differed from English emphases and the formation of the Parliament has led to further Scottish innovation. Further, considerable choice in housing policy is devolved to local authority and city levels. Indeed, since 1999, not only have local authorities been given greater roles in housing planning, but they also have the prospect of securing control over the allocation of developments previously disbursed by Scottish Homes (either where they transfer their own stock or key stakeholders and investors agree that such change would be beneficial). Much of the future challenge in Scottish housing is for the cities themselves and that it is for the cities to respond, to develop coherent visions, to draw up sound financing plans, to involve tenants and communities and to be imaginative in securing and using resources. There are obviously key areas in which the Executive has to support housing change, but it must be for councils to engage communities and lead change.

Not only does housing in urban Scotland differ from that in rural areas but there is also considerable variety in provision and approach across the five cities. Any evaluation of the housing system in our cities has to have regard not just to the conditions that citizens enjoy or endure and what they pay for housing but also have a core concern for those are not housed.

4.3.3 Halting Homelessness

The 1990's witnessed a sustained rise in rooflessness and homelessness in Scotland and the Scottish cities. Research has shown that the causes of rooflessness often go beyond the lack of personal resources, the solutions beyond housing and the consequences well beyond no shelter. Street living erodes most of the capacities for sustaining an adequate life. Homelessness, which is usually associated with the applicant having inadequate, impermanent or insecure accommodation, highlights the gaps that exist in social justice outcomes and the extent to which they erode the capabilities of individuals for economic and social activity.

In the decade from 1991 onwards homelessness applications in Scotland rose by 58%. However, homelessness applications rose less rapidly in the cities than in the surrounding areas. In Aberdeen, for instance, they rose by 4% compared with a near 100% increase in Aberdeenshire. In 1991, two thirds of the city-region's homeless applications were in the city, but that proportion is now nearer a half. Similar trends are apparent in Dundee. Applications in Glasgow and in Edinburgh rose by almost a quarter. However homelessness applications had risen faster and earlier in the cities, from the early 1980's onwards, and it is still in the cities that the highest rates and volumes of homelessness exist. It is important to recognise that homelessness is a universal problem in Scotland and not simply a city issue.

Since the advent of the Scottish Parliament the Executive has made major resource commitments and introduced new legislation and procedures to reduce rooflessness and homelessness in urban and rural Scotland. Rooflessness has fallen sharply since 1997 and there are signs that homelessness applications have peaked. However the rise of homelessness, particularly for young single persons and especially young men, requires significant attention as an emerging policy issue.

The situation in Edinburgh may be a case in point. As the population of the city grows and housing costs rise sharply there are signs that real homelessness is not reducing. Homeless applicants in Edinburgh are more likely to meet priority criteria than in other parts of Scotland and in 2000 some 15% of priority homeless were not housed in permanent accommodation by the time they had progressed through the 'system'. So whilst provision to address homelessness may be making inroads into the problem across Scotland there is a growing sense that a growth cost of Edinburgh's success is that single person homelessness is becoming more acute. Over the 3 years 1997/98-1999/00 applications from single person households have increased 12% in Edinburgh, compared to the Scottish average of 11%, and an 8% increase in Glasgow. (Applications fell by 11% and 4% in Aberdeen and Dundee respectively.)

Amidst overall system balance and rising private and public housing expenditures, the issue of city homelessness persists. How we deal with it will be a marker of our commitment to real social justice and of our competence in meeting some of the inevitable pressures of urban renaissance on the poorest households. This is a clear challenge for the future, but how are those who are permanently housed faring within the cities?

4.3.4 Housing: Physical Conditions

The historic connections of Scotland to Western Europe have influenced traditions of housing design and the framework of property law. From early stages of urbanisation, high land values induced tenement rather than back to back terraced building (as in England). Despite intensive slum clearance in three of our cities, largely meaning the removal of old, small tenements, the share of flats in the cities has not fallen significantly in modern times. Prior to 1980 much of the extensive new construction in council housing was in flats and in the subsequent decades private building on city brownfield land has also largely developed flats.

In consequence Scotland has a higher proportion of its housing stock as flats than England and Wales and this is particularly marked in the cities (Chart 4.1). Aberdeen and Dundee have almost half their stock as flats, Edinburgh has 59% and Glasgow had almost three-quarters of the stock consisting of flats in 1999. Inverness is distinctive in having only 17% flats and has proportionately ten times as many detached houses as Glasgow. Significant proportions of flats are older tenements, for instance more than a third of the dwellings in Dundee are pre-1919 tenements. In all of the main cities the social rental sector (largely post-1919) is now dominated by flats, not least because they have been least likely to have been bought under the Right To Buy. Of course flats vary enormously in size and quality but they also have particular characteristics of density and proximity which are not to the liking of all residents. In consequence this inherited product-mix in Scotland's cities may not be entirely appropriate to the market dynamics of the decades ahead. This issue is discussed later.

In the past, higher residential structures usually meant both smaller parcels of unused land and higher population densities. Indeed figures around the middle of the last century revealed the extent to which Scottish cites, and Glasgow in particular, had very high densities (for instance, in 1951 net residential density in Glasgow was 66 persons per hectare compared to 31 per hectare in Manchester). There are no data available for the cities that show the density of homes or people living on land designated for housing (which would convey information about the density of residential arrangements). Table 4.3 shows population densities which can be used as a proxy, and which measures density across all the land in a city including vacant land, parks etc. It shows, for the five cities, population density for localities in 1981 and 1991 and density of urban settlements in 2000. In 1981, the highest density was to be found in Glasgow and the lowest in Inverness. By 1991, the major changes were a significant reduction in Glasgow, largely as a consequence of public sector demolitions and movement of people out of the City, and a reduction in the variation of density from city to city. By 2000, the falling density in Glasgow had slowed and there had been a small but significant increase in density in Edinburgh reflecting population increase.

As noted in Table 4.1 above, population densities in Scotland's cities are now broadly comparable not only to European cities but also to similar sized English and Welsh cities. However there is still a sense that the residential development on Scottish brownfield sites is still, in the main, of denser flats than in the English experience outside of London.

TABLE 4.3: Density of population 1981, 1991 and 2000

Source: GRO(S)

Note that comparisons of 2000 with earlier years are problematic because of changes in area definition. The 2001 Census estimates imply that in the above table densities, after 1991, will be over-estimates for Glasgow and Edinburgh and under-estimates for the other cities, but the broad pattern is likely to be unchanged.

TABLE 4.4: Dwelling Condition (% of stock)

Note: Surveyor assessed dampness and condensation
Source: 1996 SHCS

Scotland's cities have not only shed an older reputation for unduly high density but they can no longer be regarded as the locus of disproportionately poor housing conditions. Housing quality in the cities is generally good (Table 4.4) and broadly comparable to the rest of Scotland, although the urban stock tends to be older and there are more private flats giving rise to communal repairs issues. Indeed it is all too clear that flats purchased under Right To Buy and other flats with elderly owners, commonly with low incomes but substantial housing equity, now constitute a major component of the population living in homes with severe housing disrepair. With respect to Below Tolerable Standard (BTS), the cities historically had high recorded rates but now all have incidence rates below the national figure of 1%. In effect, this reflects national housing policies, which have favoured the removal of BTS in cities faster than in rural Scotland. In the Aberdeen city-region, for instance, the city BTS rate was 0.8% at the end of the 1990's but the rate in Aberdeenshire was more than triple the city score at 2.7%.

There are high levels of dampness and condensation in Scotland's homes. 30% of dwellings in Glasgow and Inverness had some dampness or condensation in 1996 compared to the national figure of 25%; Aberdeen and Edinburgh had lower levels of about 20% and Dundee 25%. The figures for serious dampness or condensation alone however are much lower, for instance the Aberdeen score was 1.5% and the prevalence of serious house condition problems was not high. In all of the cities, and all of Scotland, the rate of dampness and condensation and the shares of serious problems were higher in the council sector than in housing as a whole, and for other rental housing.

The adequacy of insulation and the presence of central heating are key variables in the prevention of condensation and dampness. On the basis of the information in the Scottish House Condition Survey in 1996, across Scotland as a whole some 35% of all households were estimated to be in fuel poverty. The Scottish Executive, through its central heating initiative (which provides the resources to ensure that all households in the social rented sector and all pensioners irrespective of tenure can have central heating) and through the continuation of the Warm Deal which provides funding for home insulation, has made our cities better places to be housed. Other local housing investment policies, some driven by councils modernising homes, improve city housing conditions. And stock transfer also releases investment funds - for instance, the Glasgow Housing Association proposes to provide central heating (to all homes that have a long term life) within 4 years of transfer. These measures are ensuring that the internal physical quality of council and former council housing is being restored after decades of neglect, and the needless, expensive use of fossil fuels, with their associated greenhouse effects, reduced significantly ( see Chapter 7).

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