Project Context - Sauchiehall Street: Culture and Heritage District

In October 2023, Glasgow was one of nine locations chosen to receive support over the next 10 years as part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s new UK-wide Heritage Places programme, which is designed to boost local economies and instil pride in place in towns and cities across the country.

In March 2024, Glasgow Life was awarded £350,000 funding from the fund. This initial funding is to support an 18-month development phase of ‘The Sauchiehall Street: Culture and Heritage District’. The project is now is underway and will focus on engage communities, businesses and cultural organisations on and around the street in conversations identifying and celebrating the street’s heritage through a programme of activities.

This work is a partnership project between Glasgow Life and Glasgow City Council. The project team will also be working with stakeholders including Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, the University of Glasgow, Glasgow Film Theatre and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, working together with a collective aim to use culture and heritage to drive the economic and social renewal of Sauchiehall Street.

Once famed for it’s international association with culture, music, film, heritage and entertainment, Sauchiehall Street has been in decline due to compounding factors, including the death if the high street, the covid pandemic, and arson. Strategies such as Glasgow City Council’s ‘Golden Z Report’ have highlighted these issues, calling for a new solution.

‘The Sauchiehall Street: Culture and Heritage District’ is both a new approach and an opportunity for using community engagement, culture and heritage as drives to inform regeneration and urban planning.

The development phase will run from April 2024 to October 2025, laying the foundations for culture and heritage to be at the heart of the renewal of Sauchiehall Street.