ASK shoppers in Drumchapel how they feel about their community and you often hear the same reply: "I'm trying to get out."

"It is just the way the place is, " said Philip Dolan, 35. "Vandals smashing the windows and all the rest of it."

The scattered litter and boarded shop fronts clearly affect how people feel and there is a sense their future hangs on moving away.

"To be honest I hate this shopping centre, " one mum remarked. "It is all the junkies that hang out and that. With living in Drumchapel, because of the way it is, it does make you feel down over all."

The neighbourhood, along with 11 other parts of Glasgow, is now the focus of a major study probing how the environment affects residents' outlook and health.

Research led by professors Ade Kearns and Phil Hanlon will test whether regenerating the communities, renewing housing and launching new services, has an impact on the optimism, aspirations and ultimately the physical wellbeing of those who live in them.

They know from experience one or two modifications are not enough to help change ambition and respect, let alone life expectancy.

But it is hoped the work will highlight what does make a difference. The statistics paint a clear divide. More than a quarter of those living in the Glasgow Anniesland constituency have a long-term limiting illness. In neighbouring Strathkelvin and Bearsden the numbers are significantly fewer. Self harm, cancer and heart disease are far more prevalent than its wealthier counterpart.

Glasgow Housing Association has already spent GBP11m on Drumchapel, installing heating systems and better security in homes as well as reroofing and recladding properties.

But residents point to other needs.

"They seem to improve the outside of the houses but not the inside, " said mum Michelle Kinnon. "I have got four kids and two bedrooms and no cupboards. When you have a look at the place it feels cluttered. It does affect your whole life, day to day. Life feels chaotic."

She believes her neighbours have also been affected by their surroundings.

"A lot of people I knew when we were younger are alcoholics today, " she said. "They used to be the best dressed. They all usually go that way. There is nothing else to do. There is so much fighting no-one wants to open anything."

More plans are afoot, however, to reinvigorate Drumchapel. In September GHA announced another 100 houses for the community and Glasgow Council intends to bulldoze and then rebuild its shopping centre as part of a multi-million pound scheme. European money for a 200-place training programme in the area was promised before Christmas.

Ms Kinnon said she would be worried if she was rehoused, explaining: "I could be moved to a brand new house with an alcoholic one side and a junkie the other side. I would rather be living in clutter with nice neighbours."

Yet there are inspiring tales of transformation. Ruby Bryden, legal secretary of Drumchapel Housing Cooperative, said in the early 1980s the residents themselves formed a committee and went to the council for cash to fund an official study on the state of housing in the area. An overhaul of homes around South Deen Avenue followed.

"People did find there was a big difference in their health, " she said. "It helped because it was warmer and drier and there was less condensation."

Perhaps removing the stress of trying to heat a damp flat amid running battles between teenagers and the police also had a biological effect that meant people were less likely to succumb to illness.

This is one hypothesis that the Centre for Population Health, which is running the study, is trying to test. Science linking physiological changes, such as tissue inflammation, with mental tension is moving forward and it is hoped the Glasgow investigation will help continue the advance.

On the streets of Drumchapel, locals had a hunch that a stressful life could lead to an early grave, but mostly linked this to the unhealthy choices people take when desperate.

"It's the drink, " said Sam Shankly, 47, with a grin.

James Henry, 63, a retired welder, observed: "I find most people around here are sick with something."

He feels well, however, and is hoping to move away. "People get used to it, " he said. "They think it is all they can get. Their expectations drop. They think 'this will do then' and they are the ones who stay."