ONE of Glasgow’s most prominent business leaders has thrown his weight behind moves to encourage more people to make their home in the city centre as part of wider efforts to maximise its economic fortunes.

Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, has declared the future vibrancy of the city centre depends on it being attractive as a location to live, as well as its pull as a place of commercial activity, leisure and tourism.

In that regard, he fears efforts in past decades to “decentralise” the population to the suburbs and towns on the outskirts of the city may have “gone too far”.

Mr Patrick highlighted that a growing number of buildings have become available for potential residential use as technological change has reduced the amount of physical buildings required by retailers.

Buildings have also become vacant as commercial activity has coalesced around the International Financial Services District (IFSD) close to the banks of the Clyde.

The chamber chief’s calls for more people to live in the city centre, which will be challenged by the provision of high-quality schooling, echoes the long-term economic strategy set out for the city in 2016. That has the ambition to deliver 25,000 new homes in the city by 2025.

Mr Patrick said the drive to invest in Glasgow’s residential housing stock was a marked contrast from 20 years ago, when investment in city centre offices and hotel beds were the chief priorities.

“To support the vibrancy of the city centre, whether that is night life or retail community or more generally to create a more attractive city centre for everyone to work and live, [it] needs a better mix,” he said.

“Doubling the population within the city centre postcodes is a reasonable aspiration, partially to help re-utilise buildings that no longer have the functions they once did.

“But equally [it is important] to have these new-build [projects]; we are very supportive of the Get Living, Moda Living build to rent proposals that have been working their way through planning.”

One factor city observers believe to be crucial in building Glasgow’s attractiveness as a residential location is the continuing development of its riverside.

In recent years, steps have been taken to regenerate the northern banks of the Clyde, notably with the development of the Scottish Event Campus, including the SSE Hydro, the construction of the Riverside Museum, and the development of the IFSD.

However, Angela Higgins of Resonance Capital, the property manager at the Skypark business complex in Finnieston, believes the city should be making much more of the river as an asset.

Ms Higgins is a passionate advocate of directing investment on to the riverside to help Glasgow emulate cities such as Copenhagen and Berlin, where rivers are a major focus of commercial and cultural life.

“I would really like to bring that ethos here,” she said.

“The river is a natural [asset]; it is a geographical asset for us to have such a big river and we should use it.”

Glasgow City Council has committed £50 million of investment for riverside infrastructure works as part of the City Deal. That will include work to reinforce quay walls and boost pedestrian and cycle access on a stretch between Albert Bridge on Glasgow Green and the proposed Govan to Partick bridge.

And Ms Higgins said she was excited by proposals drawn up to regenerate the Broomielaw, a stretch of the riverside stretching from the Central Station to Central Quay via the area below the Kingston Bridge. A masterplan has been drawn up by architects Austin Smith Lord.

Ms Higgins would like to see investment to ensure the area is developed for commercial, residential and entertainment uses, suggesting a cultural attraction, such as a smaller version of Dundee’s V&A, could spearhead the regeneration.

“As was highlighted in the draft masterplan, it [Glasgow] is one of the cities with the least amount of life at night,” she said. “It’s not just office development – we need [investment] in leisure, things for people to do.

“A parallel issue is how we use the waterfront to bring more people into Glasgow [for activities]. The two things are equally important.”

Meanwhile, Mr Patrick highlighted other priorities he said Glasgow has to address if it is to fulfil its potential. He is enthusiastic about the “assets” the city has to offer, be its higher education institutions, tourism sector, airport and the general strength of its employment base.

However, he said there are areas in which the skills base has room for improvement, including in the digital technology, engineering and parts of the financial and hospitality sectors.

“The extent and range of skills shortages means that there is an opportunity to tackle some of those long-term labour market issues we have had in the city at a rate and a level we perhaps haven’t had for about 30 years,” Mr Patrick observed.

“That feels like a big-ticket item for us to get to grips with, in making sure the right kind of training and support for folks coming into the labour market for the next 10 years.”

He also flagged the importance of building a company base around areas of research expertise, such as health and life sciences.

While stating that precision medicine has emerged as a “real strength in research and academic terms”, he called for more companies to coalesce around the discipline.

Mr Patrick said: “The success of the innovation district has to be measured partially by the level of investment that comes to the business community, either in setting up branches of existing companies and, even more importantly, a whole new generation of SMEs.

“So, whether it is in precision medicine, quantum imaging, satellite applications or advanced manufacturing and materials, we want to see that base of businesses grow.”