Glaswegian health was poor compared to other similar post-industrial cities in Scotland, and Maantay (2017) pointed out that the health indicators of residents were related to the number of abandoned and vacant land in the town. According to the survey of vacant and derelict land survey map 2021 (VDL Map 2021), VDLs are mainly concentrated on the banks of Clyde River, and 10% of VDLs were abandoned for more than 30 years before 1980. But these vacant lands have a unique value. Kim et al. (2018) found the potential value of VDL in wildland surveys in the United States. VDL can have different values depending on its attributes and location. For example, in the post-industrial and transport hub areas, VDL can be used as an ecological corridor to enhance the green space network system. Areas with natural conditions can be used as species breeding gardens, which play a positive role in promoting regional ecological integrity. For some small areas of VDL, community residents can develop community farms and sports facilities to encourage communication between neighbours.
The Dalmarnock is located on the east side of the Clyde River and has always been considered a poor region. The region was a famous industrialised area in the past, but the de-industrialisation movement in the 20th century plunged the region's economic development into a quagmire. Thus, the 2014 Commonwealth Games was seen as an opportunity for Dalmarnock to get rid of the plight of regional development. The Clyde gateway program is associated with this sports game to refurbish VDL and provide work and housing opportunities for residents. However, the project is not smooth. A728 highway, the birth of the Clyde gateway plan, ruthlessly tore the Celtic Park into two parts. This crack is physical and in the residents of the two places who lack contact due to the broad highway.
The project aims to defragment Vacant and Derelict Land and break the crack impact of the A728 road on the community. The ecological corridor of the area is rebuilt to connect the community green network system and promote the health of residents. The VDL in Dalmarnock can be integrated into a complete ecosystem in the future.
"Defragmentation" refers to the reintegration of small and fragmented landscape patches into a unified system. In the literature, transportation systems are considered the leading cause of landscape fragmentation, and landscape fragmentation can hurt biodiversity conservation because it is not conducive to the restoration of ecological habitats and leads to population reduction. In my project, integrating scattered VDL around highway A728 can reduce the number of branch roads. Traffic can alleviate the ecological damage caused by traffic; however, as A728 Highway is the main road connecting Dalmarnock's surrounding areas, we cannot eliminate the function of A728 Highway.
Therefore, I add aquatic plants around the small ponds and river banks in the central park and keep the area moist to create conditions for future wetlands. At the same time, I designed a bridge with sandstone as the primary material to connect the communities divided by the A728 road. In addition, the broad-leaved forests planted on both sides of the road, which will mature in the next 60 years, can cover the road, providing an ecological connection between the areas in a three-dimensional space for the birds of the site. Install seed bank walls in the central park to collect wind-borne seeds and enrich grassland vegetation. The A728 road is also designed as a greenway, and the main park has added artificial hills for sports to meet the residents' needs and promote physical health.
