Glasgow’s Evolving Urban Landscape and Gang Formation

Glasgow has long been synonymous with gangs, yet literature remains limited. This article seeks to contribute twofold by first analyzing how the evolving urban landscape of Glasgow during, and immediately after industrialization, contributed to gang formation and reformation in the form of razor gangs, and then what McLean (2017) terms the Young Street Gang (YSG). Second, by examining both gang types, the author is able to demonstrate how in the corresponding wider urban context, gangs respond in kind and questions whether or not, situated within a new era of urbanization, we are witnessing the emerging new face of Glasgow gangs.