A rear view of houses in Shawbridge Street, Pollokshaws, photographed in 1957. Pollokshaws was an independent burgh until it was annexed by Glasgow in 1912, and much of the area retained a semi-rural character even after it became part of the city.
This scene was soon to change dramatically. In 1958 Pollokshaws was declared Glasgow's second Comprehensive Development Area. This often-controversial status allowed Glasgow Corporation extensive powers to order widespread demolition. The old village was almost entirely obliterated during the 1960s.
Shawbridge Street was the main thoroughfare in the housing estate that was built in its place, with a shopping centre and thousands of new homes in the shape of slab blocks of high-rise flats of sixteen to twenty storeys, set alongside medium-rise buildings of five storeys.
Reference: Pre-war and war time housing, A/27/F/79
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
backcourts, backstairs, burghs, Comprehensive Development Areas, Glasgow Corporation, houses, urban regeneration, villages