How Scotland's cities can thrive in a new AGE of prosperity

Brodies LLP's Elaine Farquharson-Black

THE recent Scotland's Urban AGE 2022 (SUA2) report– a major study on the future of Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh (AGE) and their respective city regions– has highlighted the need for innovation, investment and informed leadership to address the shocks which Scotland's urban system faces in light of the challenges of climate change, Covid-19, Brexit, the war in Ukraine and the financial crisis. 

The report – commissioned by the Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh Chambers of Commerce and supported by Brodies and AAB – found that the centripetal position of the AGE cities means that they have been hit hardest by the pandemic, which hollowed out shared spaces, devastated high streets and accelerated societal change. 

Given their concentrations of population, wealth and knowledge, SUA2 stresses that the success of the three cities is a litmus test of Scotland's future. 

As such, the academic report makes several recommendations based on the key themes of developing our human capital, climate leadership, city centre regeneration, flexibility within planning frameworks and the reshaping of business rates. 

The overriding message from the authors of SUA2 is that our cities need to be dynamic to avoid decline. 

They need to be empowered to respond to local needs and opportunities.

Funding will be key in that regard and the report recommends that devolving meaningful tax raising and other fiscal powers to our cities would allow for the delivery of programmes that reflect those local needs. 

That, of course, is a matter for policymakers, but it is clear that change needs to happen and happen fast.

The report advocates not only a design-led approach to regenerating the AGE cities, but also a systems and service design approach based on the quality of people's lives and their places.

It suggests various scenarios for the potential futures of the business sector; the retail industry; cultural venues; the transportation system; and office property market (all of which are changing at the same time) to help understand the threats and opportunities which we face in finding new, more creative ways to make our cities safe, just and sustainable spaces.
SUA2 highlights that the cities face greater challenges than previously due to the flux in all market sectors in terms of societal need, location, use and design. 

The report calls for a more flexible, agile and responsive planning function to support greater and faster change. 

Policy, economic development and design must work together to decarbonise the built environment and create a new vibrancy within the each of the AGE cities. 

This will require retrofitting on an unprecedented scale.

Cities excel at bringing people together and SUA2 provides a framework for how we can, and indeed must, work in partnership to ensure the economic recovery and ongoing success of the AGE cities. Change is often difficult, but it is easier if we are all working to a common goal of making our cities better. 
 

Download the full Scotland's Urban AGE 2022 report at www.brodies.com/regeneration

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Evolution not revolution: reimagining Glasgow for the next generation

Significant regeneration and access to a well educated and highly skilled workforce will be key to the resurgence of Scotland's largest city, writes Johane Murray, partner and head of real estate, Brodies LLP

Scotland's Urban AGE 2022 report comes at a key time for our cities. With offices in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh – and clients operating across all of Scotland's key sectors – Brodies LLP has witnessed first-hand the challenges outlined in the report. 

But there are still good stories to be told, and Glasgow is no exception. One only needs to count the number of cranes visible in the Glasgow skyline to know that development is happening, across various sectors.  

And, notwithstanding that new build activity, the continuing scarcity of Grade A stock and the growing focus on the ESG agenda (accelerated in part by Glasgow's hosting of COP26) are combining to create a meaningful repurposing agenda and in certain instances a deep retrofit of the existing built environment.

Taking the residential sector first, the authors of the report highlight 'living locally' as a move away from thinking of our city centres as single entities, to become ecosystems where residents can have their everyday needs served within 20-minutes of their home. 

We can already see examples of new living models in the form of build to rent arriving in various quarters of the city centre, from the Moda scheme at Pitt Street, to Drum's mixed-use development at Candleriggs, to Delancey's Get Living at the east end of the High Street. 

And there is a significant build to rent element at Buchanan Wharf, a particularly exciting mixed-use regeneration scheme for the city, located on the previously under developed south bank of the River Clyde.  

These upcoming developments will contribute to Glasgow's economic growth and in the delivery of the social benefits outlined in SUA2. 

The viability of these schemes is also bolstered by current planning policy in Glasgow, with no requirement on developers to deliver an affordable housing element. 

That policy is, however, currently under review and we do consider that if such a policy is introduced, it needs to be flexible in its terms and in its application so as not to threaten development viability.

Whilst the story of development is a positive one, and real-life examples of the 20-minute neighbourhood are coming to fruition, Glasgow faces the same challenges as all other cities.  

And that challenge is how do we encourage those who live in the surrounding areas and who have local amenities and the ability to work from home – those living in East Renfrewshire or South Lanarkshire, for example – to visit Glasgow city centre? 

One way of doing that has to be in the reimagination of the office. At Brodies, we are already seeing demand for quality buildings that satisfy the requirements of larger occupiers.

That includes more flexible space, more collaboration space, and strong ESG credentials – all designed to encourage people back into the office and into the office community - something that simply can't be replicated at home.  

Offices have to be more now than just bricks and mortar; they need to be communities for office workers in both a micro and macro way.

But this has to be matched with the decarbonisation and comprehensive refurbishment of the older office buildings within the city to meet these occupational needs, for which – as SUA2 highlights – both political will and fiscal impetus are required to facilitate that repurposing and redevelopment agenda.  

Glasgow is currently reinventing itself from a post-regeneration city to a proto knowledge city – and it is a city that is in the very fortunate position of having direct access to a significantly well-educated and highly skilled workforce. 

What really resonated for me in SUA2, is that the city is in the enviable position of having three universities situated around the city core, with innovation districts being promoted by both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities. 

We also have Caledonian University and once you add into the mix the fantastic entities of the Conservatoire, The Glasgow School of Art and the Queen Elizabeth University Teaching Hospital, the knowledge and innovation that we can tap into right in the heart of our city, is really quite astonishing.
According to a recent report from CBRE, Glasgow is now recognised as one of the three leading tech hubs in the UK outside of London. 

We have an exceptional opportunity on which to, quite literally, build. 

The last few years have disrupted many areas of our lives, challenging established ways in which we work, spend our leisure time and access goods and services. 

SUA2 provides a framework for how we can work together to ensure the economic recovery of our city centres and ongoing success of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the wider city regions. 

As part of the business community, at Brodies we are acutely aware not only of the challenges faced by each of the AGE cities, but also the importance of their success to the national economy. 

The AGE cities need to be vibrant places for people to live, work and visit. 

There is now a collective responsibility to implement the recommendations of Scotland's Urban AGE 2 and through collaboration, investment and commitment, reimagine our cities for the next generation.