ABSTRACT
Local agencies are reputed to have improved Glasgow’s competitive position through their responsive approach towards external opportunities, pragmatic collaboration and active pursuit of new ideas in economic regeneration. During the 1990s the rate of economic inactivity in Glasgow City stopped rising. Demographic trends are another key indicator of city performance. A falling population diminishes the use of buildings, infrastructure and public services, the stock of local skills and knowledge, and the availability of public funds in the form of local taxes and government transfers to reverse a general trajectory of decline, since these are largely population driven. Greater Glasgow’s population has been declining since the 1960s, along with all of Britain’s northern industrial conurbations. Growth in Glasgow’s population of students in higher education may also be a factor. Reporting an average for Greater Glasgow’s prosperity over the period 1993–1998 obscures what appears to be a notable change during this time.
