16 Aug 2023
By Stuart Patrick, Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
That the Merchant Hall was standing room only on Monday morning at the launch of a report into the future for Glasgow’s Golden Z confirms just how important the fate of Glasgow’s city centre has become. They may only be three amongst many city thoroughfares but I have regularly been made aware that the condition of Argyle Street, Buchanan Street and, especially, Sauchiehall Street is seen by many to be a touchstone of Glasgow’s wider economic success.
While Buchanan Street remains an effective shopping destination with strong demand for the majority of any empty units, the same cannot be said for Argyle Street or Sauchiehall Street. Both are blighted by derelict sites with Sauchiehall Street in particular suffering two major fires and the closure of prominent stores such as BHS and Watt Brothers.
Together, Threesixty Architects, Kevin Murray Associates and Stantec have produced over 400 pages of analysis and recommendations as a vision and plan for the Golden Z. Their work is one, albeit significant, contribution to a wider city centre action plan due to begin consultation in the autumn. That will draw on earlier proposals for repurposing empty shops and offices, plans for doubling the residential population and thinking on the evolution of Glasgow’s public transport systems. Much of this work has been funded by the Scottish Government and commissioned by the City Council or the Chamber of Commerce.
At the risk of over-simplifying a highly detailed piece of work, the climax comes in five priority actions. A handful of prominent sites such as the former ABC cinema next to the Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh Building and the BHS building on Sauchiehall Street are designated as deserving proactive intervention by the City Council. More widely, the study suggests a zero-tolerance approach towards ‘neglect and deterioration’ with statutory powers being deployed as required. The importance of world class public realm is also emphasised and supported by the City Council’s long-standing Avenues programme and a fresh proposal for St Enoch Square.
The most distinctive recommendation is for the establishment of a Cultural District in and around Sauchiehall Street which would draw in Glasgow School of Art, the Royal Conservatoire, Glasgow Film Theatre and several others. This is potentially among the most exciting and relevant recommendations, demonstrating the scale and diversity of opportunity often only found in a strong city centre.
Finally, the report argues for new mechanisms for achieving collaboration between government, business and the community. One suggestion is for Glasgow to establish a Business Improvement District matching similar initiatives found across the UK.
The report is a fundamentally worthwhile examination of the prospects for a fresh life for the Golden Z. There is an underlying theme urging a more diverse range of uses including leisure, housing and contemporary office space with adjustments proposed for planning regulations and policies that currently make that difficult and expensive to achieve.
There is, however, one major question outstanding: how is this to be resourced? There is no doubt that the private sector will be the primary provider of investment funding given current public sector budget constraints. There is enough evidence that private investment is available with Landsec at Buchanan Galleries, Sovereign Centros at St Enoch and Bruntwood SciTech at Met Tower all evolving their plans. Chris Stewart at LoveLoan on George Square and Drum Property Group at Candleriggs Square are both very large projects already well underway.
These projects are shaping a positive future for the city centre but to unlock the prominent sites the report highlights and facilitate conversion of the myriad smaller vacant buildings into residential and other fresh uses needs a dedicated team of economic development experts. That team should be led by the City Council and must include new resources at least partly from our national governments as the Council’s most experienced officials are already sorely stretched.
The scale of the challenge the Golden Z report sets out is substantial. The response must be the same.
This article was first published in The Herald on Wednesday 16 August 2023
