If truth be told, it looks slightly out of place: a funky Mediterranean-style pavement cafe amid graffiti-covered shutters and wrought-iron security grills. Across the road stands a disused office turned gallery space, all subtle lighting, whitewashed walls and plump sofas. Passing drivers slow down and stare. Can this really be Govan? Urban regeneration is something of a buzz phrase these days, and the story of the downtrodden area given a new lease of life thanks to some fancy apartment-block development is nothing new. Yet while multimillion-pound initiatives hog the headlines, a quietly ambitious project has been doing something subtly different to improve the lot of a small district near the edge of Govan in the south of Glasgow. The once thriving and bustling community of Linthouse has slid into decline over the past few decades. It was hit hard by the downturn in employment within the shipbuilding industry; then the Clyde Tunnel, with its many approach roads cutting through the heart of Govan, took its toll. More recently, the nearby Braehead shopping centre has had an adverse effect on many small retailers. The Linthouse Urban Village (LUV) initiative hopes to turn all this around. Conceived five years ago by the Linthouse Housing Association, the project takes a grassroots approach to regeneration. Following on from the recent opening of the LUV cafe and art gallery, a team of artists has been commissioned to transform some of the other dilapidated shopfronts that line Govan Road. Think Changing Rooms meets Challenge Anneka, but without the cringe factor. Working closely with the shop owners, the artists - Carol Devers and Tam McGarvey of the Galgael Trust, Geraldine Greene, Laura Spring, Blaise Schumacher and Julia Smith - have devised a series of vibrant, eyecatching designs. There are 12 shopfronts in the frame for what is being optimistically tagged the first phase of the makeover process. Although funding has yet to be secured from Scottish Enterprise, it is expected that work on the project will be under way by the end of this year. But this is more than a quick lick of paint or a new pair of curtains. We are talking complete overhaul: and the contrast between the ''before'' and mocked-up ''after'' images couldn't be more stark. The local butcher's shop, Hobson's, for example, will go from a dull black-and-white store into a chic and cosmopolitan deli; the sandwich and salad bar, Lazy Dayz, will swap its bland grey exterior in favour of a stylish red design; and the newsagent, Friendly Stores, currently sporting chipped beige tiles and gloomy grey shutters, will gain a sleek green frontage with intricate wrought-iron detailing. As an artist herself (and a former window dresser for a major high-street chain), Ingrid Campbell, co-ordinator for Linthouse Urban Village, knows better than most that, when it comes to retail, what's on the outside matters. ''I think you can really improve the whole atmosphere and mood of an area by concentrating on what is visually stimulating,'' she says. ''The shopping experience you get in large retail centres lacks a certain amount of soul. It doesn't have that intimate, community feel. What we are aiming for is based on the Parisian model of shopping, rather than the American super-mall.'' Although many of the shop owners were sceptical - Campbell spent months knocking on doors and cold-calling to gather support - enthusiasm for the project is gathering momentum. June Ellis, co-owner of Headquarters hair salon on Govan Road, was one of the first local business owners to get onboard. ''It is much needed and could really brighten up the whole area,'' says Ellis. ''We renovated the inside of the shop recently, but the outside is still a mess. We freshen up the paintwork every so often, but that only goes so far. If this goes ahead I have no doubt it will be beneficial to business. In fact, I'm sure people will be coming in convinced it's a completely new shop.'' One of the key concerns raised by shopkeepers was security. Many owners are understandably reluctant to open up their premises to the potential for theft or vandalism. ''A lot of the businesses in the area have had problems with spray-painting in the past so they asked if we could look at making the designs as vandalism-proof as possible,'' says Julia Smith, a ceramic artist who has worked on designs for Lazy Dayz, Tara Newsagents and McCourt Computer Consultancy. ''For that reason we had to ensure the designs we came up with not only looked good, but also provided the security the shopkeepers wanted.'' Tam McGarvey, a metal worker for Galgael Trust, also helped devise ways to combine practicality and function. ''These are essentially security grilles,'' he says, pointing to one of his window designs. ''But that doesn't mean they have to look ugly or oppressive. With a bit of thought they can actually help enhance the look of the area.'' Each artist has brought their own speciality to the project. Geraldine Greene, who has worked on designs for Linthouse Barbers and fast-food outlets Kebabish and the Rainbow Chinese Takeaway, looked at different lighting techniques, while Laura Spring, who designed shopfronts for Headquarters and The Bakehouse, used her background in visual communication to come up with the idea of window blinds that can be changed each season. ''It was hard at first to convince the shop owners that there wasn't a catch,'' she says. ''I think a lot of them thought it would be like television shows about DIY makeovers - that we were going to come in and paint everything bright yellow and that they would hate it.'' Stained-glass artist Blaise Schumacher, who was behind the designs for Hobson's Deli and the Tracy Martin Hair, Sun and Beauty Salon, also had definite ideas about how he wanted his work to look. ''My design for Hobson's has something of a French feel to it, but there is also a bit of a cartoon theme too - an element of Tintin if you like,'' he says. ''I wanted to convey the idea of a small, village delicatessen, but for it to work in an old-world way. I didn't want it to have too much of a contemporary look.'' While having such a public canvas for their work is undoubtedly an incentive, the artists are keen to emphasise that the project is more than just a platform to showcase their ideas. ''It is all about bringing back a dynamic to the area,'' says Schumacher. ''I've looked at a lot of old footage of Linthouse and it was once a busy, happy place, but that has now died a death. I really do hope it will help bring back some of the pride to the area that has been lost.'' n

The Creative Shopfronts exhibition, featuring work from the project, is on display at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, until September 19.