Area initiatives and the SDA : the rise of the urban project

Boyle, Robert M and Wannop, Urlan (1982) Area initiatives and the SDA : the rise of the urban project. Quarterly Economic Commentary, 8 (1). pp. 45-57. ISSN 0306-7866

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Abstract

The allocation of central government resources on a geographical basis through special agencies has a well-established history in Scotland. The Scottish Special Housing Association was supplementing the capacities of small authorities unable to mount local housebuilding programmes to support economic development prior to 1939 when the Scottish Industrial Estates Corporation was also at work. Government intervention in the post-war period continued this spatial - as distinct from sectoral - focus, with policies and programmes developing the physical and social infrastructure thought necessary for the attraction or expansion of manufacturing industry. In the 1940's and 1950's, new towns at East Kilbride, Glenrothes and Cumbernauld, the rapid construction of public sector housing by the SSHA - particularly in response to the overspill policy of the City of Glasgow - and the continued development of modern, serviced factories by the SIEC in areas such as Clydebank and Newhouse, all provided central government with a major opportunity to shape the strategic location and scale of new urban development in Scotland. This paper explores the origins of Scottish area initiatives, including the economic and political factors motivating their implementation. The impact of these initiatives is also considered.

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