ACROSS Europe city centre spaces are changing.

With growing concerns over air pollution and congestion main streets and public squares are being redesigned.

A movement towards places designed for people is becoming commonplace across some of the biggest cities and health is a big factor.

The legal limit for Nitrogen Dioxide levels is 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

According to the council’s Air Quality Progress Report, the worst street is Hope Street. In 2017, it was recorded at 72mg

George Square was also above the legal level at 41mg but in one month, December 2017, it was as high as 64mg per cubic metre.

Where city centres have been for decades choked with cars as new roads were created and old streets were redesigned to allow traffic to flow through, attitudes in municipal halls have been changing.

Barcelona, Dublin, London, Manchester and Milan are just some who have embarked on creating more car free spaces and unlocking the potential of their city centres to allow movement of more people.

While Glasgow may be behind some others in traffic being managed better with people in mind, one city street is decades ahead of others.

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Glasgow residents have their say on George Square revamp plans

Buchanan Street is the most successful retail street in Scotland and one of the top shopping destinations in the UK.

It has been pedestrianised from Bath street to Argyle Street since 1978 along with part of Argyle Street and Sauchiehall Street.

Then with the Buchanan Galleries development and the Royal Concert Hall the north part of the street was car free to link up with Sauchiehall Street. There has never been any serious suggestions to reverse those changes.

Now the city council wants to hear from citizens what they want from George Square, the most famous public space in the city.

And a car free square or partial pedestrianisation could be part of the plans.

A car free space effectively linking Sauchiehall Street and Buchanan Street to the Merchant City and Argyle Street could be possible.

In other cities the move has been done to improve health but also to create more attractive spaces to bring more people onto the streets creating more footfall, with people spending more time and creating opportunities for businesses.

With the plan to redesign George Square comes an opportunity to provide Glasgow with a modern 21st century public space.

The George Square redesign is one of a number of issues that can address pollution but also changing patterns of behaviour in the city centre.

Professor Brian Evans, Glasgow’s recently appointed City Urbanist, said that the design of the city centre should change in favour of people.

He said: “I support the proposition that we change the balance of space between the vehicle and people. Glasgow has that aspiration.”

However Prof Evans said it is not as simple as just banning private cars form the city centre of even certain parts of it.

He added: “You need to take into account patterns of use, how do people move around the city, the climate and the culture of the city.”

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He said: “The avenues programme is a very good example of what Glasgow should be doing.”

The Sauchiehall Street project creates more space for people to walk and cycle but still allows vehicles to move.

Prof Evans added: “For most of the major streets it’s possible to adjust the balance between vehicles and pedestrians to introduce more space for people, for cycling and trees.”

However he added, it was important to engage rather than consult on a proposal, stating that whatever plans emerge for the square they need to be inclusive.

The Professor added: “It needs to be a compatible space, not one designed just for one demographic. It needs to be for children and older people as well and enable interaction between the ages.”

With other cities already completed or embarking on plans he said that there is a trend that the UK cities have not been as “quick off the mark” as a number of European cities.

Often the council can be accused of being anti car or anti driver with bus lanes, bus gates and parking restrictions and charges.

He added:”It is not about being pro or anti-car but figuring out how you create a balanced response to people moving around the city centre.”