Aberdeen Sustainable Urban Fringes

The River Don Corridor Spatial Framework (RDCSP) was developed to address issues and opportunities presented by Aberdeen’s urban fringes, the often neglected areas between urban and rural landscape, recognising these could be under threat from future development pressure. The project focused on the River Don corridor, an underutilised environment asset that currently presents a barrier to connectivity and movement.

Some of the communities close to the river corridor, such as Tillydrone, are recognised as some of most disadvantaged and socially challenging in Scotland.  

The project was led by LUC and aimed to develop and promote innovative methods for assessing and managing open spaces along the River Don Corridor, for the benefit of the local economy, environment and communities.  A key element of the project was bringing community, organisations, landowners, recreational users and stakeholder groups together in a series of collaborative charrette style community meetings to influence the Spatial Plan which was adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance by Aberdeen City Council.

RDCSP focused minds and action on the things that deliver multiple benefits across the themes of sustainable development: economy, people and environment.  It embedded these within a statutory planning framework, delivering planning guidance and enabling learning on ways to unlock value in the urban fringe.