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  • Pages
  • Editions
01 Cover
02 Declaration
03 A New Chapter
04 Business Credentials
05 Why Glasgow?
06 A Growth City
07 A Knowledge City
08 An Entrepreneur City
09 A Business City
10 An Innovation City
11 An Education City
12 A Connected City
13 An Events City
14 A Lifestyle City
15 A Sustainable City
16 Share your Inspiration

Glasgow's digital, energy and transport infrastructure underpins a more resilient and competitive region.


Glasgow has the scale and capacity of infrastructure to access much wider markets and also achieve regional resilience. An important node in the Scottish, UK and European transport network, Glasgow matches international connectivity via its airport and rail connections with an efficient and ambitious internal network based around the world’s 3rd oldest subway. The cluster of national renewable energy groups in the region makes it a global leader in green energy sources, while a post-Covid shift in travel preferences means the region is also ripe to emerge as a leader for micromobility. Glasgow is also a gateway city, home to the UK's 2nd busiest non-London railway station, and a digital ready city. As the city with the highest long-range IoT coverage and a nationally competitive 4G/5G infrastructure and fibre rollout, Glasgow has the digital backbone to support a more flexible and hybrid future of work and lifestyle and the communication solutions required for sustainable, attractive and resilient cities.


"Glasgow City Region has now benefitted from more than £250m of infrastructure investment since the City Deal was signed."

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"Pre-COVID, Glasgow ranked 2nd in Europe among cities of its size for the strength of local and international transport connectivity and accessibility."

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"Despite a significantly reduced passenger throughput due to Covid-19 restrictions, Glasgow Central is Scotland's busiest station, and the 3rd busiest outside London after Birmingham New Street and Leeds."

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"Glasgow has the fastest 5G everyday download speeds in the UK on Vodafone and O2."

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"Pre-COVID, Glasgow ranked in the top 3 among major UK, US and German cities for the potential of urban micro-mobility (shared bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters) to replace short-distance car trips in the near future."

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"Glasgow's subway - the 3rd oldest in the world after London and Budapest - carries 13 million passengers annually, and is currently undergoing a £288 million modernisation programme and is on its way to implementing driverless trains."

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"Glasgow has the highest Long Range (LoRa) IoT coverage of any UK city, with 99% coverage across 22 gateways installed across the city."

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"The University of Glasgow is setting out to build a world-leading facility to test 6G communications systems after securing a £2.6m equipment grant."

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"Over the past decade, Glasgow Airport has increased its freight throughput significantly, overtaking Prestwick as Scotland’s main freight airport."

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"Glasgow was the first city in the UK to provide a combined Wi-Fi and cellular network in all of its subway stations paving the way for future-proofed smart ticketing systems."

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"Emirates offers both worldwide passenger and simplified cargo connectivity with Glasgow Airport a key node in their global carrier network."

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"Glasgow is to be home to Europe’s first ever ‘Smart Canal’ as part of an innovative £17 million project designed to mitigate flood risk and enable regeneration."

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"In 2019, Glasgow-based firm Boston Networks (North) launched a £6 million IoT network for Scotland."

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"Glasgow is home to Scotland's International Technology and Renewable Energy Zone (ITREZ) and the UK's Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult."

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"Glasgow's Queen Street station is currently undergoing the final phase of a £120 million refurbishment as Scotland's third busiest station."

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"In 2021, Glasgow has the 3rd highest 5G coverage among UK combined authorities and major cities."

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"Glasgow Prestwick is the only major airport in Scotland which has a rail station with direct access."

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"Pre-Covid, the number of passengers passing through Glasgow's airport was increasing at a rate of nearly 3% per year (between 2012 and 2019)."

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"Glasgow is home to over 800 NextBike rental bikes in over 79 locations."

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"Glasgow ranked 7th of all Large European Cities of the Future 2022/23 for Connectivity."

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"AGS Airports (owner of Glasgow Airport) is to lead a consortium developing what will be the UK’s first distribution network using drones to transport medicines, blood, organs and other supplies throughout Scotland."

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"CityFibre’s total investment of £270m in Glasgow is one of the largest ever made for a city-wide Full Fibre rollout in Europe – once completed in 2025, it will cover more than 500,000 premises across Glasgow City Region."

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"As part of CityFibre’s roll out of fibre broadband, more than 2,600km of fibre optic infrastructure is being laid – equivalent to the distance from Glasgow to Moscow."

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"Glasgow was recently voted the best city for Heavy Goods Vehicles drivers to deliver to, in recognition of its perceived friendliness and easy-to-navigate road system."

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"Glasgow Airport has announced plans for what will be the largest solar farm at a Scottish airport. The 30-acre onsite, ground mounted solar farm will give the capability to generate enough power for the airport campus and neighbouring businesses. This is equivalent to powering almost 20% of homes in the city of Glasgow (approximately 52,000 households)."

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"The Glasgow Riverside Innovation District will deliver a 5G-enabled Smart Campus at the University of Glasgow. £5.3m of Scottish Government funding will help equip the Gilmorehill campus as an urban 5G testbed for the communication solutions required for sustainable, attractive and resilient cities."

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"AGS Airports has formed a Scottish wind energy consortium with Katrick Technologies and the University of Strathclyde to enable a faster transition to clean power by exploiting low-level wind energy."

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"The University of Strathclyde, Cisco and the Scotland 5G Centre will deliver a pioneering new private 5G Cloud Core network to specifically support and underpin research into private networks in rural connectivity projects."

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"Glasgow is the top city in Scotland (6th in UK) for its digital and physical connectivity (fibre availability, capacity, and performance, mobile network capabilities and proximity to data centre services)."

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"Glasgow Caledonian University’s Smart Connectivity and Sensing Research Group are leading a project on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITU) that would allow cars to use 5G technology to be able to “talk” to each other to warn about dangers on the roads, such as ice or potholes."

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"A new partnership will see Glasgow Airport become the UK’s first ‘Connected Airport Living Lab’, testing new technologies designed to enhance an inclusive innovation approach to passenger experience, boost productivity, and hit sustainability targets."

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"Glasgow has ranked 6th for Digital Infrastructure in the UK Nations and Regions index which captured internet speeds (superfast, ultrafast and gigabit) including the percentage of properties with access to 4G data."

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