HOW IT RATES
Heart of the Scottish economy and source of leading artistic personalities, Glasgow is a lively mix of contrasts: significant migration of home- grown talent is combined with a large immigrant population, while cutting-edge design and biotech innovation sit beside a rock-bottom standard of living in some areas.

ARCHITECTURAL GEMS
The City Chambers on George Square is glorious inside and out. Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s famous Glasgow School of Art building spearheaded Art Nouveau’s integration into UK design. Mackintosh’s building and the Baroque Kelvingrove Art Gallery were designed as the result of architectural competitions around the start of the 20th century.

WHAT’S NEW
The Clydeside Harbour projects; Capitol Park has ten flats left and is due to complete in April (Knight Frank 0141-221 9191). Bishop Loch (0141-353 6800) is leading the pending five-year Graving Docks project. Divided between two extremes. The West End contains one of Europe’s top universities, thronging with bright young people in cafés and boutiques. Across town, areas of the East End struggle with deprivation and the accompanying torments of bleak tenement blocks and violent crime. The drive from Glasgow to London takes about seven hours using the M74 to Carlisle, the M6 to Birmingham and the M1 to London. There are regular sleeper trains to London Euston; fast trains on the West Coast Main Line take 4½ hours. Flights to Heathrow take about an hour. In 2004 the population was 577,670. This is predicted to shrink marginally to 577,367 by 2014, as people are having fewer children.

SMARTEST STREETS
Park Circus is a popular sweeping crescent built in 1860. Thornton Hall, on the South Side, is full of millionaires, and there are gorgeous terraces in the West End, particularly G12; a honeypot for wealthy intelligentsia.

BEST RESTAURANTS
Rogano is an elegant Art Deco place with a classic fish menu, popular for champagne and oysters. A chic basement space on West George Street houses Rococo, where subtle dishes come with a touch of flair. The Ubiquitous Chip is an established favourite, famous for Scottish fare served with panache.

TOP NIGHTLIFE
Princes Square is a focal point with stylish bars. The Royal Scottish Arts and Drama Centre and Scottish Opera at the Theatre Royal offer rich pickings. The Citizens’ Theatre is also world-class. In city has spawned a number of rock bands; see the next generation at King Tut’s Wa Wa Hut, where Oasis were first offered a record deal.

EDUCATION
Glasgow University is the seventh oldest in the world. Glasgow HIgh School is the top private school. Jordanhill School is the only fully grant-funded school in Scotland, setting a template for Labour’s educational reform.

WORKING LIFE
Unemployment is high at 6.2 per cent; 19 per cent of workers are in business and property, 15 per cent in health and social work, 15 per cent in wholesale, retail and car trade.

UPSIDE
Scotland’s creative hub has an incredibly rich variety of art, from the Gallery of Modern Art to the House for an Art Lover designed by Mackintosh. Major works abound, including DalÍ’s John of the Cross at the Kelvingrove and pieces by Degas and Cézanne at The Burrell Collection. The West Highland Way is a 95-mile route, from Milngavie to Fort William, popular with walkers.

DOWNSIDE
The regeneration of Clydeside has continued to struggle for years. Not having the weather to support a waterside café culture and saddled with the decline of its shipping industry, Clydeside is only just coming into its own as a positive feature of the city.

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