The stones and the streets, they mean something. At the bottom of the hill was the Grassroots cafe, where I ate many plates of chips, and along the road was The Arlington, where I drank many pints of beer, and at the top of the hill were the offices of The Daily Express, where I wrote many headlines warning about something or other. I’ve been fed there, and I’ve been drunk there, and I’ve even done some work there. It’s one of my favourite parts of Glasgow.

But it’s fragile, and wounded. Think of Woodlands and you’ll probably think of Park Circus, its elegant coronet, but the area has also been sliced at by the M8 and its flyovers and underpasses; there were some who said at the time that it was a scar that would never heal and they were right. There’s also development happening at the edge of the neighbourhood, on St George’s Road, and further development proposed, which is causing disquiet among the people who live and work there. And it’s worrying too for anyone who cares about where the city’s going. If we can’t get this road right, we really are screwed.

The development underway already is accommodation for 262 students on the corner of Grant Street. Developers like their acronyms and jargon so the new building is known as PBSA (Purpose Built Student Accommodation) made up of Cluster Flats (four or five rooms with a kitchen, like student halls) with Quality Fenestration (windows). The developers also say they “hope the influx of students will be welcomed as a financial and social benefit to the community”.

They hope wrong. The developer says the building will raise the student population percentage in the........

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