ABSTRACT
The public housing in the Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal (GEAR) area is very varied in type and age. The predominant dwelling type is the tenement which has the advantage over most other types of flatted housing of being built on a relatively human scale, usually three or four storeys high with six or eight households sharing one common stair. The GEAR area's housing does not fit many of the widely held assumptions about inner cities. It is clear that it does not present the difficulties that are often associated with public housing in inner city areas and is unproblematic compared with the peripheral estates in Glasgow. Improving the condition of the existing housing stock in the GEAR area was seen as central to the objectives of stemming population decline and improving the quality of life for residents. Attempts to improve the stock in the public sector have been affected by the imposition of cuts in capital allocations by central government.
