Building a Wellbeing Economy in Glasgow
17th April 2026
The Role of Community Wealth Building
Author: Pauline Gordon, Partnership & Engagement Manager
Glasgow is increasingly asking a bold and necessary question: what is our economy actually for? As the city faces rising family poverty, widening inequality, and the climate crisis, there is growing recognition that traditional economic models focused narrowly on GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth are no longer delivering for people or communities. Instead, they often exacerbate inequality and place unsustainable pressure on the environment.
Through the GALLANT partnership, the University of Glasgow and Glasgow City Council are exploring how a wellbeing economy in Glasgow could drive systemic change, improving health, reducing inequality, and delivering better environmental outcomes alongside economic performance.
This shift was brought to life through a screening of Purpose: A Wellbeing Economies Film. The film follows Katherine Trebek and Lorenzo Fioramonti as they challenge the idea that economies must prioritise endless growth. Instead, they examine how economic systems can better serve people and planet, asking a simple but powerful question: what would it look like if our economy worked for us, rather than the other way around?
Pauline Gordon from our Policy & Engagement Team joined the post-screening panel discussion, bringing her expertise in community wealth building, ethical commissioning, and procurement. Her contribution highlighted that this conversation is not theoretical; it is already shaping how we design and deliver policy in Scotland, highlighting Glasgow’s potential to lead the transition to a fairer, more inclusive wellbeing economy.
Why does a wellbeing economy matter in Glasgow today?
Despite decades of economic growth, many communities continue to experience:
- Persistent poverty and inequality
- In-work poverty
- Local business fragility
- Increasing climate pressures
This raises a critical challenge: growth alone is not enough. We must rethink how wealth is created, distributed, and retained within our local economies.
Scotland has already taken important steps in this direction, including a focus on ‘inclusive growth’ and its commitment to becoming a wellbeing economy government.
The Scottish Government defines inclusive growth as “growth that combines increased prosperity with greater equity; that creates opportunities for all; and distributes the dividends of increased prosperity fairly”.
The introduction of Community Wealth Building (CWB) legislation this year marks a significant milestone, offering a practical framework to reshape the economy so it works better for people, place, and planet.
What is Community Wealth Building (CWB) and how does it work?
Community Wealth Building is about ensuring that wealth generated in a place stays there and benefits the people who live there. It shifts the focus from extraction to retention, and from concentration of wealth to fairer distribution.
In practice, this means public bodies and anchor institutions such as councils, health boards, and universities use their economic power differently to support local communities.
CWB is typically delivered through five interconnected pillars:
- Spending: Using procurement and commissioning to support local businesses, create jobs, develop shorter supply chains and maximise community benefit
- Workforce: Promoting fair work and strengthening local labour markets that support the strength and resilience of communities
- Land and property: Ensuring communities gain long-term value from local assets
- Inclusive ownership: Supporting cooperatives, social enterprises, and employee-owned businesses, generating community-wealth
- Finance: Redirecting investment so it benefits local people and economies
Together, these pillars provide a more joined-up and practical approach to building resilient and inclusive local economies.
Community Wealth Building examples from Scotland, Preston, and Canada
There is strong evidence that this approach can work.
- In Preston, a deliberate shift towards local procurement and fair employment practices has helped retain wealth within the local economy while improving working conditions.
- In Ayrshire, a coordinated programme is supporting local businesses, promoting fair work, and investing directly in communities through targeted funding and support.
- Internationally, cities such as Vancouver, Toronto, and Ontario, use procurement and community ownership models to support local jobs, secure affordable spaces, and prevent displacement through community-benefit contracts, land trusts like the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust, and partnerships that promote local hiring, training, and investment in community infrastructure.
These examples show that when local institutions work together with a clear purpose, they can begin to reshape their economies in meaningful ways.
Developing a Wellbeing Economy in Glasgow
Glasgow is well placed to build on this momentum. Public sector organisations already play a major role in the local economy, with billions of pounds spent each year through procurement, employment, and investment.
The opportunity now is to use that spending power more intentionally, ensuring it delivers not only economic value, but also social and environmental benefits.
The Scottish Government will develop a CWB Statement and needs to lead by example by embedding CWB principles across all levels of its work. From budgets and investment to procurement and reporting practices across current and future legislative frameworks, to ensure greater policy coherence with relevant national-level strategies, such as the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, Scotland’s National Performance Framework, and Public Service Reform.
Legislation alone cannot deliver this change. Achieving a fairer wellbeing economy will require:
- Strong leadership and political will
- Collaboration across sectors
- A shared vision that resonates with communities
- A focus on measurable outcomes and real impact
Most importantly, it will require a shift in culture, towards thinking differently about how our economy works and who it should serve.
How Glasgow can build a fairer, inclusive local economy
Community Wealth Building offers a practical route to tackling some of Glasgow’s biggest challenges. But its success depends on collective action.
For this approach to be meaningful, it must engage all parts of the economy, from public institutions and businesses to communities and citizens. People need to feel connected to the decisions that shape their local economies and have a genuine stake in the outcomes.
Glasgow has a real opportunity to lead the way in building an economy that is fairer, more inclusive, and more sustainable. The question now is not whether change is needed, but how boldly and collaboratively we are willing to pursue it.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog and want to have a chat about community wealth building contact Pauline Gordon at pauline.gordon@gcvs.org.uk.
Watch Purpose: A Wellbeing Economies Film for free online, and learn more about our work in this area:
This content was written by our team, with AI tools used only to support review and refinement.