Images by TERRY MURDEN
The decline of Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, one of the most famous thoroughfares in Scotland, has raised concern among architects, business people, politicians and local residents. The Scottish journalist Andrew Neil lamented its current poor condition, describing it as a “national scandal”.
With funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund UK-wide Heritage Places programme, and in partnership with Glasgow City Council, there is a plan to renew a street that was once the pride of the city.
Sauchiehall Street is said to be the spine of the project, bookended by the Mitchell Library and The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. The project also takes in the adjacent streets: Bath Street and Renfrew Street, as well as the Garnethill community.
But progress is slow and hardly inspiring.
Today, exploring just a short stretch of the street, it is a sorry picture with boarded up premises, graffiti, litter and a general air of neglect and dereliction. The family shops, theatres, cinemas, clubs, cafes and other businesses that once made it a much-loved destination been replaced by bargain stores and fast food shops.
If the street is undergoing a rejuvenation then these pictures tell a different story, or at least one that shows how the promised change is a long time coming.
While Buchanan Street recently achieved a 100% occupy rate, the vacancy rate on Sauchiehall Street went from 18.1% to 16.4% over 2025. Of 171 units, 28 are vacant.
The city will host the Commonwealth Games next year, and if it wants to put on a positive show then it needs to tidy it up or let visitors leave with a vow never to return.
A litter bin outside an empty and derelict store declaring Sauchiehall Street as a culture and heritage district.
The West Campbell Street approach to Sauchiehall Street: crumbling tarmac, broken paving, graffiti, litter, empty units, and an ugly modern building.
Graffiti has been removed from the upper floor of the former Bhs building, but part of it is now boarded up and new graffiti has appeared.
People love Glasgow so much that graffiti is everywhere and discount shops now replace the family businesses that once thrived in Sauchiehall Street.
Perhaps nothing symbolises the decline of Sauchiehall Street more than the demolition of the former Art Deco Marks & Spencer building, now destined to be home to yet more student apartments.
The council has been planting trees in a vain attempt to improve the environment though this one is struggling for attention amid yet more graffiti and a vacant shop unit.
Glossy advertising contrasts with another empty shop unit.
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