Growing pains - Steve Inch Interview

Steve Inch has been charged with the economic development of Glasgow since 2005. Glasgow Business Guide talks to him about his ambitions for the city at a time when there is plenty to shout about.

What are the main challenges facing Glasgow?
The first challenge is how we actually achieve a step change in the economic performance of the city. We need to understand what is our economy like and what it will be like in the future. The second challenge is to see that those that have limited access to opportunity have more access to opportunity. I\'m interested in how cities can operate for the benefit all of their residents, rather than simply some of their residents. The third challenge is how we maximise the heritage, conservation opportunities in the city given that we have so many listed building and structures - it\'s such a huge opportunity for the city.

How do you engineer a step change in the
economic performance of the city?
When I came to Glasgow we were losing jobs hand over fist. The work we did back in the mid 1980s involved identifying Glasgow\'s future as an international trading city and a city with an extensive Higher and Further education infrastructure. Since then I think the strategy has been working out what Glasgow\'s city specialisms. There\'s a range of industries that work well in a city environment; all the things called collectively the creative industries and the financial services industry because it\'s based on the interchange of companies. That has been helped over the past few years by the trend of re-urbanisation.
The trend in inward investment has been to move away from the sort of companies that will go to greenfield sites. What we have now got is an economy based on intellectual capital and knowledge. On the back of that the universities and colleges are developing a range of training courses and skills development programmes so graduates coming out of the universities can be employed by companies provide career paths.

Where do you see the main challenges at a geographical level?
How do we actually capitalize on the Urban Regeneration Company in the East End, the Clyde Gateway is important. The URC has got a substantial budget, it\'s now got a board and a business plan. We also need to capitalize on the economic strength of the city centre both as a commercial centre in its widest sense, with the tourism and commercial infrastructure. How do we actually make the city centre a place where people want to live? What is the next stage in the life of the merchant city, for example? We also need to keep the momentum of riverside regeneration moving forward, making sure that all parts of the river benefit from investment which is either underway or planned.

What progress has been made so far in the East End?
We are now seeing significant housing investment jumping across the high street into the east end. We are likely to see a start to the Collegelands project in the very near future, hopefully in a couple of months. The fact that land values have risen means that many of the historic factors that have stopped development happening have been taken away by the movement of the market. And there are financial incentives such as; the Derelict Land Fund for decontamination and site preparation. The Scottish Government has just given us a further