Glasgow’s new night-time commission is a welcome start, but saving the city’s nightlife will require action on transport, licensing, planning, costs and the systemic failures that have pushed activity away from the city centre, writes Herald Columnist Marissa MacWhirter.

This week, inside the swanky new Arthouse Hotel on Bath Street, senior council officials and leading nightlife figures gathered to launch a new commission with one goal: reclaim Glasgow’s night time economy from the jaws of death.

The motley crew crunched on lasagne fritti and toasted to the city’s newly appointed night tsar, Mike Grieve. Outgoing council leader Susan Aitken gave a speech. But as the last drops of fizz were gulped from their flutes, the reality of the gruelling job ahead rang louder than a brass last order bell.

Scotland’s largest city doesn’t have a nightlife problem for lack of talent or community. We have an incredible underbelly of world-class musical talent spanning genres, and a population that wants to enjoy nights out, gigs, festivals and the like. The problem is costs, licensing laws, inadequate night time transport, planning decisions and policymakers whose decisions imply they think going out for a boogie on a Saturday night is antisocial behaviour.

The first task for the new Night Time Economy Commission is to set out a plan for action. How can the city improve transport, make the streets feel safer, safeguard venues, and inspire people to linger in the city centre after 6pm? The dream is to turn Glasgow into a 24-hour city by 2030, but there is only so much the commission can do. It’s essentially an advisory, cross-sector body tasked with bringing order to the bureaucratic chaos that batters the city at night worse than potholes batter your Corsa’s suspension.

Can Glasgow really become a 24-hour city? Yes it can - so........

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