Well, what are faced with here is that something 'that must be good' i.e. a big bright regeneration project, and people asked how they can carp and complain about such a wonderful thing. So long as the line "but surely its better than what was there before" is accepted, then so long we will have endless big projects that cost a lot in money and environment and fail to provide sustainable and significant regeneration for the neighbourhoods in which they are situated. I repeat some points I made before;
For example the local community were not extended any meaningful participation in the decision-making,
For example the Council that allowed the park to long deteriorate then expects plaudits for 'having' to obliterate a large chunk of it and calls it it regeneration (this
was an important part of the park which helped insulate the core from the surrounding arterial road routes that have now been brought further into the park proper)
For example the attraction of further large volumes of polluting car borne traffic into a poor neighbourhood (and it is one of the lowest car-ownership areas in the UK - heaven help us if we take the numbers of cars parked in a neighbourhood as the measure of ownership).
Moreover, all of this parachuted-in, big-time prestige project does virtually nothing for real regeneration of the neighbourhood. A wee insight into this is the continuing endemic gang warfare and territoriality issues means that many youngsters from adjacent communities cannot use the facility - not a problem of course for kids being brought in by car from further away and more affluent neighbourhoods. Another wee insight - how many officials and guests at the regular high status events held in the centre dally a little while afterwards and avail themselves of the local Tollcross social and cultural 'facilities'... there are some wonderful old gentlemens pubs for example to delight oneself in... Aye that'll be right Jimmy!
However, apart from being too tired to continue having to restate this argument, I would not want to temp the thread off-topic, so I'll end my contribution to the thread here.