How can we renew the people in our urban landscapes?

I am struck by religious words used to describe political and commercial aspirations: vision, mission, transformation(al), regeneration and renewal. These are not exclusive terms to be used only for religious purposes, but they do express concepts that have meaning beyond their current usage. The spiritual/physical use of these words forms an axis that is self-evident, but when they are used in connection with social policy or commercial geographical ventures in an urban context, the spiritual content seems to seep away, resulting in the very traumatic human experiences we have had in Glasgow's recent history.

Take the peripheral housing schemes which deteriorated as those with skills and health moved out, leaving the young, the old and the sick in a community of "the left-behind". Or the multi-storey blocks with young families and old people being housed without a thought for how life might turn out for them.

It would be unfair to say we have learned nothing from these spiritual/physical mistakes, but the politics of regeneration and renewal is still being driven by the economic imperatives of broadening the tax base of the city. That, to you and me, means getting real people to pay real council tax. It is claimed too many people in social rented accommodation are paying one pocket of the state with a subsidy from another pocket of the state, resulting in a lower tax take from which to provide the quality services expected of a modern city. Such economic reckoning may be good for Glasgow's tax base, but is it socially just and equitable?

Is Robroyston an alternative model? This is a condominium on the outskirts of Glasgow which has been given over to private development without much thought to the spiritual/physical axis, with residents flowing in and out, morning and evening, like a tide, to work, school, cinema, to return home, draw the curtains and watch the telly, repeating the process the following day.

Glasgow is no exception in facing the challenges of how to regenerate and renew by attempting to fulfil the aspirations of its vision and mission statements. In major cities across the country, brown-field sites have been offered for development without consideration of the effect on communities and the spiritual/physical consequences of so-called renewal. The questions remain as to how policy-makers get at the core problem of addressing the injustices at the heart of major programmes of regeneration? Do we really know what it's like to live in poverty and to be powerless to do anything about it? When we talk about the poor having "life-choices", how realistic and achievable is this promise in reality? Is it just socio-politicalspeak?

We are not without opportunity to explore, find and test new models of spiritual/physical regeneration and renewal which will truly involve the communities we are proposing to disturb - because that's what we're doing in this process. On the immediate horizon of the local authority and Scottish Government are the "regeneration" plans for Glasgow's east end. What are the chances of the spiritual/physical axis really making it on to the agenda? The talk is of jobs being brought to the city; of Glasgow's potential construction downturn being averted by the investment in new-build; of small businesses benefiting from increased local activity; of what will happen to the athletes' village when the 2014 Commonwealth Games are over; of how different the streetscape will look; of health improvements and increasing sports activity. In all this, it is implicit local people will benefit.

I have been part of such talk before and still I struggle to find an answer to the same questions. Is this a people-driven or a physical-development-investment-driven venture? Are we working to a proven spiritual/physical template? We all know that unless programmes of regeneration and renewal engage with local people and their spiritual needs, we will merely renew the physical landscape of the east end and fail to regenerate the people who continue to live there - and where will that have got us?

Ruchill Church, on the north side of Glasgow, operates a tea-room where a whole cross-section of Maryhill passes through its doors. I hear the stories of people's lives week in and week out, either in person or, more tragically, when preparing to conduct funerals for those who die prematurely as a result of alcohol, drugs, unhealthy lifestyles and worklessness. There are a couple of dozen men and women who drink at the canal nearby and my conversations with them invariably end with big promises to themselves and to me: "Minister, see when I get my life in order, I'll be in your church." Apart from this being a telling indictment of their perception of the church, there is a heartbreaking wistfulness for reconciliation to a wife, partner, children, grandchildren, but also to the community of the rest of us. This will be the ultimate test of how successfully we regenerate and renew the Scotland we all live in and love.

Rev John Matthews is minister of Ruchhill Parish Church.