It’s time for the rhythm to return to the heart of our cities

GROWING up, going into town was always an event. There were shops to visit, cafes to dine in, the growl of the traffic, the noise of the crowds.

At Christmas, twinkly lights wreathed lamp posts, while festive displays gleamed enticingly from department store windows.

As I got older there were trips with friends to buy makeup or clothes, the illicit thrill of being out unchaperoned in a place that felt exciting, different and alive.

I was reminded of those days this week as I walked down Glasgow’s Buchanan Street – the heart, or so we’re told, of the city’s shopping district – to one of my favourite shoe shops. Because town, or to be accurate, the city centre, seems like a pale shadow of what it once was.

The crowds, if not quite gone, have thinned out considerably. The streets are quiet, the buzz of old distinctly silent. When I arrived at the door to find my favourite shop was gone, I wasn’t even that surprised.

It’s not the only store to have pulled down the shutters. The roads around Buchanan Street are littered with empty storefronts. The ones still trading are eerily quiet.

Later, I walked the length of the fragrance and beauty hall in Frasers without seeing another customer.

The pandemic has undoubtedly changed the way we shop, the way we live and our relationship with city centres. Why trek all the way in to town when a new dress is just a few clicks away? Why go for a drink in a bar when you can have perfectly decent (not to mention stronger and cheaper) G&T at home?

But these things were all true long before Covid hit. Indeed, part of the reason our city centres have thrived so far into the convenient modern age is that so many of us found ourselves in them anyway, because they were also our places of work.

We would pop out at lunchtime to shop and pick up a sandwich, meet friends after work for drinks or dinner. The city centre felt alive because we kept it alive, an essential component in the rhythm of our days.

Now should be the time when that beat returns. From last Monday, regulations on working from home in Scotland were cautiously dropped. The Government, perhaps wisely, has recommended a phased return, with hybrid working in place as we ease ourselves back into office life. And yet, even with this caveat, it would appear that little has changed.

A Scottish Daily Mail audit this week found that barely 500 people turned up at Scottish Government offices which can hold more than 10,000. Why? Surely our government should be leading the way?

Like most modern office staff, I thoroughly embrace the idea of flexible working, but that’s what it should be – flexible. That means time in the office as well as at home.

The Government should be aware that there are dual priorities here. It’s not just about allowing people to skip the daily commute, it’s about keeping our economy going.

If our city centres don’t fill up soon we risk the collapse of hundreds of retailers, restaurants and bars. Thousands of jobs will be lost. Our economy will be plunged into the doldrums and our city centres will be left to rot.

ACROSS the world, cities are trying to reconcile themselves to a dreaded new normal of low footfall and empty tills, abandoned offices and shuttered storefronts. Perhaps in the long run we will see city centres recommissioned, office buildings converted into residential properties, once busy streets turned into green spaces.

But such ambitious plans take time and money. In the meantime, if we are not careful, our city centres and the excitement they once contained will wither away and die.

I understand the Government’s caution, I really do. But as ever, it needs to balance the risk. And if the vast majority of its employees are still installed at their kitchen tables, then the chances are others will follow suit.

It’s time to step up to the plate and lead by example before the city centre as we know it vanishes for good.