A city centre “deep clean", growing Glasgow’s cafe culture and tackling the number of vacant shops are all planned after a £2 million funding boost.
The work is set to be carried out to help recovery from the pandemic, with a city centre task force keen to increase footfall. Local and international marketing campaigns are also being developed to encourage visitors.
Funding, of £1.95 million, has been provided by the Scottish Government from its £6 million city centre recovery fund. The council's SNP administration has welcomed the money and believes the planned activities will revitalise the city centre.
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It will be used to dress and find temporary uses for vacant property and contribute to a deep clean of key city centre streets and public spaces, including graffiti removal and more community enforcement officers.
There are also plans to subsidise businesses operating outdoor areas with a 50 per cent reduction in the cost of roads and licensing permits to encourage an increase in al fresco dining and a ‘cafe culture’. The marketing campaigns will target visitors from Europe and North America and UK residents seeking a weekend break as well as promoting attractions, such as the reopened Burrell Collection, to local audiences.
Councillor Angus Millar, who represents the Anderston, City, Yorkhill ward, co-chairs Glasgow’s city centre task force, which brings members of the public and private sector together to respond to Covid and longer-term challenges for the city centre.
He said: “The city centre is not only Glasgow’s economic hub but it has helped define who and what we are as Glaswegians. It’s an internationally renowned centre for business, for retail, culture, hospitality and learning, a symbol of the changed city Glasgow has become in recent decades.
“So, this Scottish Government funding is a really positive and constructive contribution towards our recovery and understands the particular attention demanded by Scotland’s city centres at this critical time.
“Glasgow city centre, like our peers across the world, has suffered tremendously during the pandemic. Its revitalisation is crucial for Glasgow’s economic, social and cultural re-emergence after these devastating couple of years.”
Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow’s Chamber of Commerce, also co-chairs the city centre task force. He said the funding will help improve general cleanliness across the city centre and prevent anti-social behaviour with help from Police Scotland.
He added public transport discounts and plans for small events across the city are also being explored.
Mr Patrick said: “We all know that Glasgow city centre has suffered badly from the pandemic and businesses will be keen to see footfall return.”
“The Centre for Cities high street tracker shows that Glasgow’s footfall is still well below its pre-pandemic levels, leaving the city centre in the bottom 10 for recovery out of the 60 UK towns and cities being monitored, while official data suggests that city centre retail vacancies have nearly doubled since the pandemic began but that understates the impact.
“These new funds will not only help improve the centre’s look and feel but will actively support a marketing campaign to draw consumers back to enjoy our retail, hospitality and leisure offerings.”
Councillor Millar added the funding would help take “practical steps” to address the “short-term lift the city needs” and also to look “towards the longer-term and how the city centre adapts to those changes which the pandemic has accelerated.”
“The city centre of 2030 is going to be a different place to that of 2010,” he said.
“We’ve a lot to build on but we need to make sure our city centre is a world-class place to visit, do business, shop, socialise and live.”
