Since the early 1970s, Glasgow has been characterised by substantially below average GVA growth and employment decline, lodged in a group of northern cities with similar trajectories. Based on absolute and relative change in GVA and employment compared to national (Great Britain) levels, Glasgow’s economic path can be divided into three main episodes:
- Episode 1 (1971-1983) continued steep decline;
- Episode 2 (1984-2007) stabilisation and low/slow growth; and,
- Episode 3 (2008-2014) crisis and weak recovery
Structural change, economic evolution and adaptation of the Glasgow economy can be explained primarily by the socially and spatially uneven unfolding of the processes of deindustrialisation and transition towards a service-based economy.