SHOULD it stay or should it go? It's one thing to ask yourself that question when you're trying to decide whether to keep a pair of shoes that pinch or a suit jacket that's just a little snug around the waist.

But how do we, as a city, decide what's of value and what is not? How do we know what's worth preserving and what should be torn down?

That question is being asked about the Provan Gas Works. Briefly, the 100-year-old site was last year given listed status by Historic Environment Scotland (HES), including B-listed status for the twin gas holders - more romantically known as gasometers.

The owners of the site, Scottish Gas Networks (SGN) is appealing the decision, saying maintaining the defunct buildings and two towers is not economically sensible.

It will cost too much to keep them. But will it cost more to the memory of our industrial heritage to lose them?

Of course we know that preserving artifacts of the past is important - that goes without saying. And the reason we have expert bodies such as HES is to ensure that which is important is kept and that which is disposable is not.

The row over the Provan gasometers, among the largest of their kind in the country, shows that this isn't an exact science.

Marie Kondo, the Japanese organising consultant, shot to fame with her book about decluttering your home. Her tip was to assess everything you own and ask if it brings you joy. If it does, it's worth keeping.

Maybe we need a Marie Kondo for the city. But that's overly simplistic, of course. Not least because one resident's joy is another resident's unholy eyesore.

There was much excitement last week as the buildings in front of Queen Street Station were torn down. As they fell, they revealed behind them the impressive glass roof of the station.

Old signage from the North British Station Hotel appeared as the 1970s eyesore buildings in front came down. It was a unexpected glimpse of the past, a little slice of nostalgia for a city centre of bygone days.

For some residents, that sort of historic surprise is wonderful. Others simply don't care.

The Provan gas works are important because they are rare examples of impressive feats of engineering, in the words of HES "an important reminder of an industrial process that is now largely redundant.”

SGN called the preservation of the gasometers "illogical" because to keep them is "untenable".

Other cities have turned their gas holders into things of real use and beauty - parks, housing, art spaces. That is how a modern, forward-thinking city behaves.

It makes the most of its past to improve its future. Keeping the gas works would cost money and many would argue that public cash - for surely SGN will try to offload them if they are forbidden from demolishing them - should be spent on necessities at a time when council budgets are tight.

But that's short term thinking.

We can already look around the city and see wonderful historic landmarks left at risk. I can think of the Lion Chambers on Hope Street, built the same year as Provan Gas Works, or the 'Greek'Thomson Caledonia Road Church in the Gorbals.

Our industrial past is just as important as our architectural past. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the SGN appeal and whether Glasgow's past will be fought for or forgotten.