There is one thing most Aberdonians will all agree on. We all agree that Union Street is frankly a bit sad.
However, we also almost all agree that we want to love it again.
Now the context of this piece is that it isn’t all bad, I am not talking down efforts being made by the council made nor am I ignoring what is being done by others.
Around Aberdeen city centre, things like Nuart are brilliant and being delivered on a limited budget. On our Silver Mile the street is cleaner than before, there are more events, and the planned works for Union Terrace Gardens are important (more later).
In addition to these public realm type improvements there has been significant investment from the private sector. To the West End, the Capitol and Silver Fin offices are impressive buildings and make a real statement. In addition they bring footfall and day-time spend to the area. To the East End we have Marischal Square, Miller and Carter, Brewdog and Mac’s Pizzeria soon to open. If the success of No.10 is anything to go by then I’d expect the latter to be a decent place to go.
So with having set out what is good I now need to set out what isn’t going to be good enough. In June, my fellow columnist Len Ironside wrote about missed opportunities of the past. He said there had been an opportunity to deliver ‘something special and memorable’ in the city centre.
Without dwelling on specifics we have missed opportunities, but he also inferred a lack of boldness. It is a lack of boldness which I fear most when we look at Union Street. We cannot love Union Street as it was, we have all changed and so has the world in which Union Street operates. With that in mind I believe improving the current offer will not work, we need to take a risk and be much more confident.
There have been numerous studies and discussions on Union St and even in my introduction it looks clear that thinking of Union Street as a single mile is outdated. There are different parts of Union Street and we need to embrace that now. So for simplicity I’ll split into three parts: Castlegate to Market Street; Market Street to Union Terrace; and Union Terrace to Holburn
So the first bold idea is to make a surprising statement for visitors and residents I would like to create a contradiction. Could we make Aberdeen’s city centre the cleanest and greenest in Europe. What a statement to say that the Oil Capital of Europe holds that title. Of course that is only achievable by taking cars off the road and that leads to part or full pedestrianisation. I’m going to suggest that takes place in the middle third which gives the opportunity for the West to become business focused and the East to become high quality leisure space. Over lunch the other day a smart lad suggested that could be our Grass Market, which is feasible with an improved Castlegate.
However, I don’t think just having a pedestrian area is enough, its too safe, too boring. So let’s surprise again. Some people have suggested a glass roof on Union St, but it feels like the centre part of Union Street may have seen its glory days as a retail area with indoor centres to North and South. To steal an idea from Boris Johnson why not create a city centre woodland or something similar. This would link nicely into Union Terrace Gardens, give an area to dwell and relax and give a public space we don’t currently have. This could create the bold link to the improved gardens as the current plans are nice but lack a wow factor.
Now there are probably many reasons not to implement any of these ideas, including technical and financial barriers. However, there are strong reasons to do something not least for the thousands of north-easters ready to fall in love again. There are other positive reasons such as the fit with our economic strategy for the region, renaissance and diversification. In addition bolder (green) plans create a clearer statement of intent and provide a more credible narrative as the region tries to move from being the Capital of Oil to the Capital of Energy. I also believe investors would welcome a stronger and bolder approach.
Of course my suggestions will pretty much do-away with the Silver Mile as it once was. However, things change and while everything else is changing it seems Union Street is sadly staying the same. This is why we’ve fallen out of love and why if we aren’t bolder there is a risk that the relationship is broken forever.
James Bream was research and policy director at Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and is now general manager of Aberdeen-based Katoni Engineering
