By Niki Spence, head of sustainable communities at Clyde Gateway
EVERY host city promises a lasting legacy. New venues are built, investment is announced and ambitious commitments are made about transforming communities. The real test, however, comes long after the closing ceremony.
Twelve years on, as the Commonwealth Games return to Glasgow, we finally have the opportunity to answer the question every host city eventually faces.
What does a lasting legacy actually look like? For me, the answer isn’t found inside a stadium. It’s found by following the River Clyde through Bridgeton, Dalmarnock and into Rutherglen.
Travel that route today and you’ll see how places have changed. Former industrial land has become thriving neighbourhoods. New homes stand where dereliction once dominated. Businesses have invested, while blue and green spaces including Cuningar Loop, Malls Mire, Pigeon Park and the River Clyde itself have become places where people choose to spend time, supporting health, wellbeing and biodiversity.
Those changes matter. But after more than a decade working in regeneration, I’ve learnt that the most important changes aren’t always the ones you can see.
When Clyde Gateway was established, we inherited more than vacant and contaminated land left over from heavy industries of the past. We inherited communities facing entrenched challenges around health, unemployment, skills and inequality that spanned generations. Regeneration couldn’t simply be about creating better places. It had to create better opportunities for the people already living there.
That’s why one lesson has stayed with me throughout the past decade. Good jobs support good health.
A secure, meaningful job doesn’t just provide an income. It builds confidence, strengthens families, tackles poverty and creates opportunities that can be passed from one generation to the next. That’s why attracting investment has always been only part of the challenge. Ensuring local people have the skills, confidence and support to benefit from that investment is what ultimately determines whether regeneration has succeeded.
The physical progress has been remarkable. Across Clyde Gateway, almost 290 hectares of derelict and contaminated land have been transformed, more than 4,000 homes have been delivered and over 8,500 jobs have been created.
Those achievements matter, but they’re milestones, not the destination. Today, our understanding of success has evolved. Alongside measuring homes, commercial space and inward investment, we’re now placing greater emphasis on tackling child poverty and creating sustainable communities. That’s because regeneration shouldn’t ultimately be judged by what we build. It should be judged by whether people live healthier lives, whether children grow up with greater opportunities and whether communities are stronger than they were before.
That work is never finished. Communities constantly evolve and regeneration must evolve with them. The challenge isn’t simply to create successful places; it’s to ensure the people who have lived there for generations share in that success.
As Glasgow welcomes the Commonwealth Games once again, I hope visitors enjoy the sport and celebrate everything the city has achieved.
But I also hope they look beyond the venues. Because the greatest legacy of the Commonwealth Games isn’t found in the stadiums, or even in the skyline. It’s found in the opportunities created for the people who call these communities home.
