Travel might well broaden the mind, but it can also make you painfully aware of the shortcomings of your own home town.

A recent trip, which included a few days in Melbourne, showed exactly how good a city can look when it embraces its waterfront.

All along the Yarra river that bisects the city are bars and cafes, walkways and cycle paths to encourage people to embrace the outdoors.

And yes, Australia is blessed with a much better climate than ours, but you can look closer to home to see another city that has made much of its industrial past in its beautifully restored architecture – Glasgow.

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Mary Kelly: Why can’t we have nice waterfront life in Belfast?

That city used to be synonymous with poverty, violence and a sense of grievance that it was the poor relation to posher Edinburgh. But a trip there last week for a concert was an eye-opener.

Like Belfast, Glasgow’s shipbuilding industry declined and unemployment rose but the city fought to rebuild its economy through cultural growth, culminating in being chosen by the EU to become European City of Culture in 1990.

The accolade acted as a catalyst for regeneration. Just two years........

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