City Strolls.com "Big Issue Article "
"Glasgow User Manual " Big issue article

 

Bob Hamilton stands beneath the Kingston Bridge on Glasgow's Clydeside and laughs. He's pointing at a big, flat, circular arrangement of bricks that some planner decided would be an artful touch to the wide swathes of concrete that define the riverside walkway. "What's that supposed to be?" Hamilton points. "Where's the humanity in that? Some guy was paid to put those bricks there and I bet he was like, what the fuck am I doing?"
It might seem a bit of a strange reaction to a variation in the pavement, in fact most people would walk past this brick circle without a second thought. But Hamilton walks past nothing without thinking about it. He's been walking the streets and alleyways, docks and parks of Glasgow since he was a boy, taking in the changes that happen almost overnight to his city. He's now created City Strolls, a concept he hopes will encourage others to do the same.
"The Victorians were into strolling," he explains, as we set off from Govan underground station on a brilliant blue morning. "It's a kind of meditation. If you're sitting bored in an office just go out round the block, go and walk, and you'll always feel better afterwards.

My theory is that when you go for a walk in the city, you engage with what's going on, you chat to people - it's about much more than putting one foot in front of the other. Things happen when you go out for a walk."
A joiner by trade, Hamilton was born and brought up in the Bridgeton area of the city. After moving to London, he went to Liverpool to attend art school as a mature student. He says that everywhere he's been - London, New York, Mexico, he's always sought out the weird and wonderful by foot, discovering things no motorist or head-down commuter would ever dream of. "It's work that does it to people," he says. "You bump into people on their way to the office and they just speed by, and when they come back from work they just sit in front of the telly. But if you get people out walking like this, taking their time, at the weekends, it's like a holiday. People can see things better. They get to know their own city."

For Hamilton, getting to know your city is vitally important. He's seen the streets of Glasgow being ripped up in the 1970s to make way for motorways, while town planners let magnificent buildings disappear left,
right and centre in the name of progress. In 2004, as Glasgow's city fathers rub their hands in glee at the prospect of shiny new conference centres, hotels, and yet more luxury flats, Hamilton wants us all to take a step back and ask ourselves if this is really what we want.

"When I walk into town and look at all the new buildings going up, I wonder how I relate to this? But it's a lot to do with me because it's my tax money. I think if people realise how much of their money went into this they'd put it right." As we head through Govan docks the skyline of Glasgow sparkles in the sun - the SECC and surrounding 'river city' developments glinting with the confidence of hard cash. Hamilton explains the American 'FIRE' theory - Finance, Insurance and Real Estate, the rules by which modern development seems to work. There's no room for the people of Govan, or any other real community, in that.
"I can see it happening in the docks, with the yuppification of the area and the BBC going up, and all the wee bits of green space getting built over" says Hamilton, "but if people don't engage with it nothing's going to change. I think half the time people don't even know it's happening.

The government could house the homeless a hundred times over in these buildings, some are even lying empty so the developers don't have to pay tax on them. You can make money on empty buildings! Isn't that crazy?"
Hamilton takes me to the workshop of Gal Gael, a boatbuilding venture set up by a group of unemployed people who wanted to do something positive. Gal Gael has been incredibly successful, launching a traditional hand-made boat for the millennium, and bringing a bit of do-it-yourself style community spirit back to Govan docks. You'd never know they were there, unless you happened to be strolling by. Hamilton knows the boatbuilders well. "This is the kind of thing that brings people together and gives them confidence again," he says. "It's all very well ranting about what's wrong but they're taking small steps in the right direction and getting on with it.

"You need to get the community active, and all that's involved is walking down the street. If you stand at a corner long enough people will pass and you'll find some who agree with you." We're actually standing talking at a corner now, and people walking by shoot us curious looks.
"None of the people I've met agree with all this stuff going on in Glasgow. But it's like the TV - you may not agree with what's on it but you'll sit and watch it anyway. It's a kind of inertia, and the way to tackle that is to get out and communicate with other human beings."

On Hamilton's new website, citystrolls.com, he advises people on walks around the city as well as providing a bit of background to the issues he's been talking about. But, he says, he's still looking for a way to get like-minded people together who will be able to do something positive to take the city back into their own hands. He dislikes the word anarchy for its negative connotations, but says that the true sense of the word - a people's society - is something that he'd like to see.
We're standing now outside the City Inn, where a portion of the public riverside walkway has been sectioned off for the hotel terrace. You can still access it, but for the average Glaswegian, it isn't too welcoming. Indeed, passing businessmen look down their noses at us as we stand and chat on the super-shiny marble. That annoys Hamilton. "They don't want normal people here," he says. "They don't want poor people walking around, God forbid."

Hamilton's greatest fear is a city that's been sanitised to within an inch of its life. He describes a recent trip to New York as a huge disappointment - he'd visited Manhattan in 1980, pre-Giuliani and the zero-tolerance policies, and had been amazed at the culture, the characters, the fascinating things happening on every street. Last time, however, he says the graffiti had gone, there was no sense of excitement, no 'New York, New York'. "Of course it's good that you're not going to get mugged so easily now. But I think that's come at a cost. What New York was famous for is now gone - and it's sterile. I came back to Glasgow and it was refreshing to see some graffiti on the walls. I just hope the same doesn't happen here."

Across the UK there are people like Hamilton, strolling around, watching their own cities fall into the hands of big business. He plans to visit Manchester soon and meet some of them there.While there are easily accessible groups such as Hidden Glasgow, a website and forum run by Sharon Halliday which looks at unusual landmarks and unexpected architectural gems, for the most part these aren't the kind of people you can find in the phonebook or even on a website. You just need to go out and look.

We stroll into town past a gorgeous old building topped with a stone bull and a stone horse, which I have to admit I've never noticed before. There's one thing I have to ask Hamilton. Is all this just because he's afraid of progress? "Ah," he smiles, "that's what everyone says." He points out a small show flat for a new block of luxury homes. It's two storeys, chunky, and brilliantly designed, but the difference between it and the finished product next door is that it's on a human scale. "Show me a decent bit of contemporary architecture and I'm all for it," says Hamilton. "But with so much of what's going up I just don't feel there's a place for ordinary people. Even when you're shopping - everyone gets herded into these shopping centres now, but you don't have any rights there. The guards can chuck you out of these places whenever they like."

So what's the answer? How can we start to reclaim our cities? On a gorgeous sunny day like this one, it's easy to be optimistic. But the best way to start, says Hamilton, is by taking a stroll and getting to know the place. "If in doubt," he quips, "get out and walk."

Go to: www.citystrolls.com www.hiddenglasgow.com

Issue 466 Clare Harris