Don't let the ugliness of construction sites make you think otherwise, Glasgow has a bright future.

Sauchiehall Street has been disembowelled for over a year. Chain-link fencing encloses the on-going works, which have transformed it into something of an archaeological site. BT’s digital ad boards emerge from the rubble like the ominous monoliths from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001.

Further up the street, the legendary O2 ABC concert hall has been finally deemed unsalvageable following a devastating fire five years ago. Tourists on the open top City Sightseeing buses can peek behind the white fencing that surrounds the building and see a veritable cross-section of the city’s architectural bones, as diggers peel back layer after layer of wood, steel, and bricks, revealing the building’s history as a cinema, theatre, circus, and even ice-skating palace. The ABC is set to be replaced by private student accommodation. One could easily suggest that this scene is Glasgow in 2024 crystallised.

Sauchiehall has become emblematic of Glasgow’s supposed decline, with the usual suspects using it to bash the council or the SNP. Indeed, back in January when I last wrote a column like this, I also used Sauchiehall as an example for why the city needs new leadership in the form of a mayor.

Since then, the policy has seemingly become Scottish Labour’s main proposition for the 2026 Holyrood election. Paul Sweeney MSP, who I mentioned as a potential candidate, penned an application for the position, cleverly disguising it as a column in the Glasgow Times. Maybe that could bring change, but for now we’re still stuck in the same rut.

It’s hard to be expected to be optimistic about the state of the city in this context. And yet, I think there’s hope. We are doing so much better than most cities of this size in the UK.

We have two great universities, pioneering in their different areas. Glasgow University is expanding rapidly, and reducing its reliance on international students, in the face of so many obvious geopolitical challenges.

New restaurants are thriving, and pubs seem to stand strong against the overall collapse of the sector across the country.

Housing is developing rapidly. Merchant City continues to grow with the new Candleriggs development. The land left behind by the demolition of St Enoch station back in the 60s, which has been a grim car park since, is set to be redeveloped as a lovely walkable community. It could even feature a direct rail connection if the Clyde Metro project ever comes to fruition.

New restaurants are thriving, and pubs seem to stand strong against the overall collapse of the sector across the country. The Barras get busier every weekend.

Buchanan Street is alive and well, while the new Buchanan Galleries could prove to be a new kind of resilient, nimble shopping centre for the post-Covid era.

Local journalism is thriving too, with the Glasgow Bell providing a brilliant alternative to the AI slop served up by Glasgow Live, while student journalism is faring better than ever, as exemplified by this up-start outlet.

And even on Sauchiehall Street there’s hope to be had. City officials promise the fencing will be down in time for peak Christmas shopping season next month, with the project finalised

early next year, while developers have applied to convert the vacant St Columba’s Church on St Vincent Street into a new music venue, to replace the gap left on the city’s music scene by the ABC’s demise.

There’s lots that’s wrong with Glasgow, yes. But the city is a better place than ever to be a student in, and perhaps, like me, to stay after you graduate. It’s still miles better.

Published 27 November 2024