In a remarkable turn of events this September, a controversial award that once cast a shadow over Scottish towns has been officially retired, thanks to the spirited resistance of Port Glasgow’s community leaders and residents. The Carbuncle Award—infamously known as the 'Plook on the Plinth'—was designed to spotlight what its organisers considered the worst in architecture and urban planning. But this year, the people of Port Glasgow, led by regeneration campaigner Kevin Green, refused to accept the label of 'Scotland’s most dismal town,' sparking a wider conversation about community pride and the power of positive change.
For over a decade, the Carbuncle Awards have been a source of both notoriety and embarrassment for their recipients. Handed out by Urban Realm magazine, the award has previously targeted cities like Aberdeen and towns such as New Cumnock and Glenrothes, highlighting perceived failures in urban design and planning. After a ten-year hiatus, the award returned in 2025, with Port Glasgow in Inverclyde selected as its latest—and, as it turns out, last—recipient.
But the story took an unexpected twist when Kevin Green, head of the Port Glasgow 2025 regeneration project (PG25), was approached to accept the trophy. Instead of quietly taking the criticism on the chin, Green chose to challenge the premise of the award itself. As he recounted to Urban Realm editor John Glenday, "We both agreed that Port Glasgow has massive potential and that potential is not squandered. We have the regional park, the retail park, and the Clyde. We do have plans but we need money and we need external investors. People are waiting for someone else to do it and waiting for permission. We need people creating small projects that will coalesce into something bigger. It’s not me that changed John's mind, it’s the people of Port Glasgow."
Green’s refusal was more than symbolic. When Glenday arrived in Port Glasgow to present the award, Green instead offered him a different kind of trophy: the Heart On Your Sleeve Award, crafted to celebrate positivity and resilience within communities. The gesture resonated, and after what both men described as “productive conversations,” the Carbuncle Award was effectively binned—literally and figuratively.
"John thought I would accept it on behalf of Port Glasgow but halfway through our discussion, I said he could put it in the bin as that’s the best place for it. No town should get it again. I would like to see it binned completely," Green told The Times. He later reflected, "Getting it now post-2008 [financial crisis], post-Covid—it was the wrong award at the wrong time for the wrong town." His stance was echoed on the PG25 social media page, which declared, "It was the wrong award at the wrong time. We are delighted that no other town will be awarded this. We will continue to punch up not down."
For the organisers at Urban Realm, the pushback was a wake-up call. The magazine had described Port Glasgow as a “town of squandered potential” in its 250th anniversary year, lamenting the dominance of a retail park and dual carriageway over the town centre, as well as the demolition of historic sites like the B-listed Clune Park School and Church. According to Urban Realm, “the built environment at large fails to do justice to what could and should be a jewel in the Clyde’s crown.”
But Green took issue with this assessment. In an interview with the BBC, he stated, "It's not the most positive thing when someone comes and says you're the most dismal town in Scotland. I think where we can agree is on the word 'potential'. I disagree with the word 'squandered'. For me potential is just potential." The sentiment is clear: Port Glasgow’s story is far from over, and its future will not be defined by outside judgments.
John Glenday, editor of Urban Realm, acknowledged the shift in perspective. "While born from a negative, the story of the Plook on the Plinth has always been positive and we are happy to work with those on the ground with the first Heart On Your Sleeve award to celebrate the community, while calling out squandered potential. Whether starting from a positive or negative perspective our destination is the same—a better Port Glasgow. We are happy to play our part in getting there," he told the Mail. Glenday also noted that after Green’s “symbolic binning” of the trophy, organisers decided to “develop an alternative design that the community was willing to accept.”
The retirement of the Carbuncle Award marks the end of an era in Scottish urban criticism—one that many felt was overdue. Critics of the award, like Green, argued that it amounted to “poverty tourism,” unfairly singling out communities already struggling with the legacy of deindustrialisation, economic downturn, and the challenges of post-pandemic recovery. The notion that Port Glasgow should be defined by its difficulties, rather than its aspirations, struck many as both outdated and counterproductive.
Yet, even as the Carbuncle fades into history, the issues it sought to highlight remain pressing. Urban Realm’s concerns about the impact of retail development, the loss of historic buildings, and the need for thoughtful regeneration are echoed in towns across Scotland. The question now is whether the shift from shaming to celebration—embodied in the Heart On Your Sleeve Award—will inspire the kind of grassroots innovation and investment that Green and his fellow campaigners envision.
Port Glasgow’s journey is emblematic of the broader struggles and hopes facing post-industrial communities throughout the UK. Once a proud shipbuilding hub, the town has weathered economic storms, population decline, and the often-painful process of reinvention. The 250th anniversary year, which could have been overshadowed by the Carbuncle’s negative spotlight, has instead become a rallying point for local pride and ambition. As Green put it, "We need people creating small projects that will coalesce into something bigger."
For the residents of Port Glasgow, the message is clear: their town’s identity will not be dictated by outsiders or by the scars of the past. Instead, they are choosing to "punch up, not down," embracing their potential and challenging others to see the value in what they have to offer. The Heart On Your Sleeve Award may be new, but the spirit it represents is anything but.
With the Carbuncle Award consigned to the dustbin of history, Port Glasgow stands as a testament to the power of community resilience—and a reminder that sometimes, the best way to fight negativity is to refuse to accept it in the first place.
