• The initiative is to conduct a study to assess introduction of a mixed passenger/freight tram or electric vehicle freight delivery scheme in the city centre. (This does not use the dreaded word 'trams')

• The Council to consider introducing charges for lorry and van movements in the city centre. This could be phased to coincide with the introduction of a freight tram system and/or an electric vehicle delivery system

• The initiative to consider the potential impact of varying council tax as an incentive to reduce car ownership. If appropriate propose to the Scottish Government that new powers should be provided to local authorities to vary council tax rates in line with car ownership.

• The Council to develop cycle paths in conjunction with district heating and in pedestrianised areas.

• The initiative to work with major employers in the city to encourage them to develop employee travel strategies that encourage use of public transport, the creation of car pooling schemes, and ensures provision of salary sacrifice schemes for bicycles

• The Council to review existing parking provision and regulation in the city with the objective of reducing availability/attractiveness of city centre parking.

• The Council to seek additional powers to regulate the provision of all types of car parking in the city.

• The Council to re-examine congestion charging as an option for reducing traffic in the city centre – with exemptions for low carbon vehicles, and potentially car club vehicles.

• The initiative to work with transport providers to examine how the costs of certain journeys by public transport can be made comparable with the cost of driving.

• The initiative to work with the Transform Scotland Trust and others to examine options for expanding use of car clubs in Glasgow.

• The Council to consider requiring new housing and commercial developments to introduce strategies that actively promote use of public transport and reduce use of road freight.

• Creation of Low Emission Zones in the city centre

• The adoption of public procurement policies that favour the procurement and use of low carbon vehicles

• The adoption of lower congestion charges for lower carbon vehicles

• Low cost/reserved parking for electric and biogas vehicles

• Variation in business rates to penalise companies not adopting lower carbon transport strategies, and to reward companies that do.

• Incentives for car clubs to adopt low carbon vehicles

(Below left: Scottish & Sourthern map the city's solar potenial)

• Free licensing for electric/biogas taxis.

• Licensing conditions that require taxi emissions to be below a certain carbon benchmark

• Promoting the creation of charging points for electrically powered vehicles in public authority, company car parks, and multi-story car parks (through planning policy)

• Consider a planning requirement for the creation of electrical vehicle charging points as an integral part of the development of any CHP facility

In the hot seat of the amazingly sweeping Sustainable Glasgow initiative is programme director (right) Richard Bellingham senior research fellow at Strathclyde University. His speciality is energy policy & sustainable energy issues. He joined the Fraser of Allander Institute in 2007 on secondment from the Scottish Government, where he was Head of Energy Policy.

Working as a fast stream policy analyst he has experience in policy areas across government and also several years in IT, digital inclusion and e-government, working as Head of Corporate IS Strategy, and Head of e-Government policy.

He may need fast stream persuasive powers, because while City leaders believe the initiative could regenerate 'the dear green place' creating thousands of jobs and attracting investment, some of the ideas have (inevitably) already sparked opposition – particularly those penalising car use.

Graham Bell (left)  spokesman for the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, had concerns about some of the proposals, such as congestion charging. "Anybody would welcome the dear green place becoming greener. What we might not welcome is it becoming dearer. It is not so much whether the principle of 'polluter paying' is right or wrong, but the fact that if Glasgow did it on its own, it would disadvantage the city in comparison to others."

Colin Borland, Federation of Small Businesses (right) in Scotland, added: "Congestion charging is a tax on those that can't use public transport, and that includes many of the self-employed. The plumber or builder can no more take his tools on the bus than the baker and printer can deliver their goods on the train."

The report has done an immense amount of homework into Glasgow, its energy usage, its facilities and there are some interesting if perhaps slightly difficult to interpret findings emerging in relation to change in company stock by sector from 2001-2008 (left).

This shows a depressing decline in manufacturing, construction  not to mention retail wholesale, transport and finance against what are felt to be considered growth sectors but with no indication of revenus or employment numbers.

Another curious graphic is (right)  on the proportion on residents supporting "charging car owners for driving in the city centre" as the note1 says, this is based on a survey of some 600 Glagow residents conducted for Infosurve for the University of Strathclyde, September and October, 2009.

However, where one really does have to admire this report in its unashamed psychological approach, that has both support and opposition already analysed and targeted both by income and by age.

The enabling, engaging, encourage (carrots & sticks) and exemplifying list:

would by applied to both income categories:

  as well as to age categories:

From a very fast perusal of the report, however, one sector does look worrying and that is in Creating Supportive Public Policies. Here it appears that only the promotion of the development of low carbon heating ticks all the boxes. The rest have been left in limbo...as community involvement, use of public transport and reducing use of private vehicles.  Something as sweeping as Sustainable Glasgow is going to need every ounce of a supportive public behind the supportive public policy.