Scotland's city centres must be saved from a long, slow death – Scotsman comment

Scotland’s city centres have been in trouble for some time, with boarded-up shops and bargain stores replacing many historic high street names as they fell victim to the rise of internet shopping and the Covid pandemic.

Edinburgh's Princes Street appears packed with shoppers but many people now buy products online (Picture: Jane Barlow/PA)

On Aberdeen’s Union Street, a recent survey recorded 23 per cent of the ground-floor shops were vacant, which was actually an improvement on the previous count.

Argyle Street in Glasgow – once heralded as part of the ‘Style Mile’ – has seen retail giants like Topshop and Debenhams depart and the arrival of shops selling sweets and tourist tat.

And in Edinburgh, Princes Street, which has seen a similar trend, is on the “cusp” of sliding into a significant decline unless action is taken, according to council leader Adam McVey, who has ordered a major rethink of the city centre in an attempt to safeguard its future.

“City centres need a strong and vibrant offer to attract visitors, residents and tourists. They need to feel welcoming, safe and pleasant. Vacant units can undermine these aims,” he warned in a speech to an Edinburgh tourism industry summit.

Many argue that the way forward is to turn our city centres into places focused on entertainment, rather than simply retail, or a combination of the two.

And this does appear to offer real hope of an effective solution. But, however we tackle this problem, one thing is clear: we must not allow the beating hearts of Scotland’s cities to become hollowed out. No vibrant suburb could ever compensate for the loss of the iconic and historic streets known and loved by so many for so long.

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