Glasgow is struggling but best days could be yet to come

The Herald Scotland

25-07-2025

But it's not all bleak, far from it.
There are promising signs that Glasgow is starting to rediscover its stride. City centre footfall figures have been steadily improving, a clear indication that people are returning, whether for work, shopping, hospitality or cultural experiences. This isn't just anecdotal. The data shows a gradual yet encouraging return of vibrancy to our streets. For the first five months of this year footfall is up by 9% on last year with some months almost matching the pre-Covid performance.
Recent events such as the Glasgow Mela, TRNSMT, Pride, and quite frankly a summer of warm weather, have all encouraged people back into the city to rediscover all that it has to offer.
The City Council has taken a lot of criticism for the city's appearance, but it would be wrong to suggest that they have not been responding.
Returning visitors will find a considerable amount of work is being done to freshen up our city centre through The Avenues programme, a major £120m infrastructure investment initiative which is designed and driven by Glasgow City Council. Funded chiefly by the UK and Scottish Governments through the Glasgow's City Deal, the Avenues Programme aims to make the city centre more attractive, especially for pedestrians, and it will set a standard for the quality of the public realm we would like to see rolled out across the city centre.
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George Square is perhaps the most visible project now under way, but the City Council has also published plans for streets in the retail heart including Argyle Street, Queen Street, Ingram Street and George Street. A good example of what the finished product could look like is on Holland Street and Pitt Street around the Moda Living housing development on the site of the former police station. The broken and patched up pavements are gone and have been replaced with good quality stone, more pedestrian space and fresh green landscaping. Rethinking the access for buses along Argyle Street is also helpful as it will take pressure off surrounding streets.
These works will only succeed in the longer term if they are well maintained. If after a few months paving stones are broken, or street furniture is left unrepaired, the decay will quickly set in. It was therefore encouraging that the City Council budget for this year allocated an additional £20m for the upkeep of roads, pavements and parks alongside funds for increasing the staff devoted to cleansing. Admittedly these new resources are for use across the entire city, but the message from citizens is getting through, more needs to be done to get our city centre back into shape.
However, city recovery cannot depend solely on the City Council. Local authorities and public agencies play a pivotal role but so must the local business community. The current process to put a city centre Business Improvement District (BID) to a vote reflects a shared ambition among many businesses to contribute proactively. A successful BID would mean businesses contributing could direct funds to deliver improvements. Depending on their choices there could be a higher standard of cleanliness, greater security and better maintenance of street furniture, more than the City Council can currently afford to deliver on its own.
More importantly is the role of the private sector in funding the repurposing of empty offices and redundant shop units. The public sector doesn't have the funding needed, but the public sector can make decisions and set policies that make investment attractive to the private sector.
Even as we make progress locally, decisions from the [[Scottish Government]] can disrupt or delay that momentum. The recent calling-in of planning approval for the ABC site, a critical site for the regeneration of Sauchiehall Street, is one such example. The site next to the Mackintosh building is sensitive and high profile. Seven years have passed since the fire that left it destroyed, and it is a blight on [[Sauchiehall Street]]'s recovery.
Local decision-making, grounded in local understanding and expertise, must be respected if we're to make real strides. Over £70m of private funding is now on hold as we await the Scottish Government's review. If the decision is over-turned or even if the review process is drawn out, that investment will be lost and the site left derelict for many more years ahead. If substantial public money was made available different options could be explored but no offer has ever been made.
Similarly, the Housing Bill's impact on investor confidence has been a serious concern. At a time when Glasgow is grappling with vacant properties that could be repurposed into much-needed homes or mixed-use spaces, policies that deter investment are undoubtedly stalling regeneration. It's frustrating to see opportunities slip away when the city is otherwise ready to act. We know anecdotally that investors who were previously keen to invest in Glasgow have turned their attention to other cities because of the uncertainty that the Housing Bill has created.
Ultimately, the story of Glasgow today is one of cautious optimism. The challenges are real (and visible) but so too is the energy to address them. Local leadership, business engagement, and targeted investment are starting to make a difference. What we need now is alignment of local ambition matched by national support. If we get that right, Glasgow's best days needn't be behind it – they're still to come.
Stuart Patrick is chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce