Glasgow’s city centre should be buzzing with life.
Instead, too many streets remain in decline.
Sauchiehall Street is lined with shuttered windows, Argyle Street feels fragmented, and empty offices cast a shadow over the heart of the city.
Yes, there is some good news.
Footfall is creeping up, with the first five months of 2025 showing visits 9% higher than the same period last year.
But the truth is that May’s footfall was still 7% lower than in 2019.
Weekends are busier, weekdays are thinner.
Tourism is strong, but locals are not lingering.
And the city centre population, now just over 28,000, is still far below the 40,000 target needed to bring real life back.
Behind every darkened shopfront is lost opportunity for jobs, services, and civic pride.
The SNP point to strategies and masterplans.
Glossy brochures, bold promises.
But for businesses and residents, the reality is slow delivery, stalled projects, and streets that do not feel any busier.
Nowhere is this clearer than the Avenues programme.
Years of disruption, long delays, and missed deadlines have left many traders struggling.
What should have been a showcase for regeneration has too often become a source of frustration for businesses and residents.
Labour’s approach is simple: put people first, and the economy will follow.
First, homes.
Glasgow Labour’s alternative budget backed expanding affordable and social housing across the city, and the principle applies to the city centre too.
Instead of letting empty offices and upper floors sit vacant, we should be converting them into homes that people can actually afford.
That means mid-market rents and social housing.
More residents living in the centre means more people on the streets day and night, spending in local businesses, and making the city feel safer and more vibrant.
Second, the basics.
Clean streets.
Safe streets.
A city centre that feels welcoming at all hours.
That is why Labour’s budget backed a Clean Up Glasgow Fund, a new fly-tipping enforcement team, expanded CCTV, and more cleansing staff.
Because you cannot build an economy on litter and graffiti.
Third, backing business.
We need independents, cafés, music venues, and creative start-ups to sit alongside the chains.
But too many hit red tape before they ever open their doors.
Labour proposed a Business Transformation Unit, a one-stop shop to cut through the bureaucracy and help entrepreneurs bring life back to empty units.
Finally, make the centre a place for everyone, every day.
That means more late-night culture, safer transport, and events that draw people mid-week, not just on a Saturday.
Glasgow has everything it needs: world-class universities, proud heritage, and a thriving tourism base.
But without urgency, the risk is clear: drifting into permanent decline.
The choice is stark.
We can keep waiting on strategies that never land.
Or we can act now, put people back at the heart of the city, clean up our streets, and back the businesses that make Glasgow unique.
Labour’s plan is about delivery, not delay.
Bring people back to live, work, and study in the city centre, and Glasgow’s heart will beat strongly once again.
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