By 1850, Scotland had become more urbanized than any European country except England and Wales (Anderson, 2018), and Glasgow was its principal city.
Rapid population growth and expansion of the built environment was accompanied by new transport infrastructure.
Glasgow鈥檚 world-class manufacturing economy created large-scale opportunities for business development. Shops proliferated to meet the necessity of providing sufficient food, shelter, clothing and the new consumer goods demanded by city dwellers.