Tomorrow's Digital City Center: The Glasgow Agenda

Take a walk around your downtown and what do you see. Most people are attached to their mobile phones, using them for directions, searching, and texting. See how can cities leverage digital technology to create a more engaging city center.

5 minute read

July 17, 2015, 2:00 PM PDT

By Jennifer Evans-Cowley @EvansCowley


Glasgow City Center

Brendan Howard / Shutterstock

I am in Glasgow, Scotland with students and faculty from around the world learning about Cities and Citizens in the Digital Age. The sessions have been wonderful, and I am sharing in installments a number of the key sessions that would be of interest to the Planetizen community. 

Alex Maxwell, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Strathcylde in the Urban Design Studies Unit, is exploring how digital technologies will influence consumer behavior and shape the city center experience in the next five years.  

Glasgow has a bold aim to be a world-leading digital city. The Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Urban Land Institute came together to create Think Digital Scotland, which is an effort to imagine the future of a city center, using a technology o create a "vibrant, digitally integrated and successful city centre." The white paper shares thoughts on key technologies, the importance of city centers and the potential for the future. To launch the report and highlight how technology is changing our cities, the chamber of commerce literally delivered the white paper via a drone.

Glasgow's Buchanan Street

Glasgow's Buchanan Street is an important pedestrian street in the city center and also a place with free wifi.

Why all the fuss over city centers? City centers are some of the most complex and influential places, with high levels of density, diverse ownership patterns, and a variety of places where people want to live. The success of city center investments in Glasgow depend on joint partnerships with the public and private sector, given limitations on public funding. 

Glasgow city center has 150,000 jobs, the largest student population in Scotland, and 2.2 million visitors per year. It's also the United Kingdom's second most popular retail destination. This is a budding smart city, selected as the U.K's smart city demonstrator, Future City Glasgow to bring technology to the city.

Experience, surprise, scale, look and feel—these are key for city centers. The internet is about convenience shopping, but people are looking for experiential shopping. The city center is perfect for that. 

Connectivity is key to creating an interactive experience in city centers. Glasgow became the first city in Scotland to offer free wifi in the city center. The Urban Wireless program access to the wireless network in the city comes through the lease of the city’s street furniture and property, such as street lights. The city provides a license to allow a network operator to build the wireless network. The network is designed, built, and operated by a provider. The city's buses also offer free wifi and there are plans to extend wireless into other areas of the city. The free wifi improves people's experiences while visiting the Glasgow city center—providing information to tourist and event information and local businesses and services.

CCTV cameras are being used to track the flow of people and traffic. This helps city centers become more efficient with a more tailored police response. Live dashboards provide the city with information on criminal activity or a traffic accident.

The city hopes to be able to add smart parking. They would like to be able to communicate with people about where parking is conveniently located. They are thinking about incentives for people to leave their parking spots early during peak demand. This is a short-term solution with retailers being strong promoters of the strategy.

Glasgow recognizes workplaces are changing to, people need less office space. By 2020, there are expected to be five generations in the workforce in Glasgow, with young generations focused on chatting online, while older generations prefer to communicate by email. To address the diverse digital workforces, workspaces need to change. Glasgow is busy talking about co-offices—a place with good internet connectivity, good coffee and places for interaction with others.

People Make Glasgow

People Make Glasgow is a key marketing campaign – promoting the friendliness of residents and the welcoming environment in the city.

"You still cannot drink your coffee online… the experience is still in retail, but the convenience is now online," says Anne Ledgerwood, General Manager St. Enoch Centre. People are researching services online before visiting a location. Retailers are learning to navigate the online and physical world. How often do you use Yelp or another online tool to research a menu at a restaurant or find out about sales at a store?

Okay great we have free wifi downtown, but how do you create more engaging digital experiences? Near field communication offers potential. Near field communication allows communication between smartphones. This allows users to gain more information through their phone. For example, the ability to send you a notification that there is free face paining in the park you are walking by.

Retailers are also jumping into digital technologies, creating a stronger, more memorable experience for shoppers. Virtual mannequins allow customers to see their chosen garment on a mannequin. The retailer Tesco is experimenting with scan as you go technology, allowing the consumer to keep a running total of your grocery bill as you shop and speed your checkout time.

Macy's is using iBeacons—when a shopper enters the store the Shopkick app alerts shoppers about deals and items they may be interested in. At Burberry's London store they are using RFID technology that when you pickup an item it triggers catwalk footage of some products when taken into the fitting room.

Beyond Glasgow

Other cities are thinking about how to digitally engage citizens in the downtown. For example, in Madrid a plaza was activated at night by providing the opportunity for people to play a game with their mobile phones and a giant screen—the result CityFireflies.

New York City provides free wifi in many public parks, subway stations and outdoor spaces, see the city’s wifi map. Boston similarly provides free wifi in popular tourist locations such as Faneuil Hall and Hyde Park. San Francisco provides free wifi in public spaces such as parks and museums. Smaller cities such as Powell, Ohio and Newton, North Carolina are providing free wifi in their downtown. And Arcata, California is an example of a small city providing free wifi on their transit system.

What is your city doing to promote a digital city center? Share your experiences and ideas for how to make an engaging digital city experience.


Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Jennifer Evans-Cowley, PhD, FAICP, is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at th eUniversity of North Texas. Dr. Evans-Cowley regularly teaches courses to prepare candidates to take the AICP exam. In 2011, Planetizen named Cowley as one of the leading thinkers in planning and technology. Her research regularly appears in planning journals, she is the author of four Planning Advisory Service Reports for the American Planning Association, and regularly blogs for Planetizen.

View form second story inside Southdale Mall in Edina, Minnesota with escalators and model cars parked on downstairs floor.

The Mall Is Dead — Long Live the Mall

The American shopping mall may be closer to its original vision than ever.

March 21, 2024 - Governing

Houston, Texas skyline.

Report: Las Vegas, Houston Top List of Least Affordable Cities

The report assesses the availability of affordable rental units for low-income households.

March 22, 2024 - Urban Edge

Historic buildings in downtown Los Angeles with large "Pan American Lofts" sign on side of building.

Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly

The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.

March 18, 2024 - Beverly Press

Amtrak train passing over tall trestle bridge on California coast at Gaviota Beach.

LA-to-San Francisco Night Train Closer to Reality

A train operator has entered into formal negotiations with Union Pacific to move the project forward with a projected launch date of 2025.

March 27 - SFGate

Major League Baseball Stadium

Lawsuit Aims to Stop Dodger Stadium Gondola

A proposed aerial tram project that would shuttle visitors to L.A.’s Dodger Stadium faces backlash from environmental and community groups.

March 27 - Los Angeles Times

ROwn of grey and white townhomes with gabled roofs and front porches.

Why Parking Reform Goes Hand in Hand With More Housing

To achieve the full benefits of ‘missing middle housing’ and make way for small-lot construction, cities must rethink parking mandates.

March 27 - Sightline

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Write for Planetizen

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.