tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/host-city-glasgow-11359/articlesHost City Glasgow – The Conversation2014-08-03T20:05:09Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/286192014-08-03T20:05:09Z2014-08-03T20:05:09ZFrom Glasgow to the Gold Coast: what to expect in 2018<p>It’s hard to think of any two Commonwealth Games host cities more different than Glasgow and the Gold Coast in faraway Australia, home to the 2018 Games. </p>
<p>But as our small university delegation discovered after making a 30-hour trip across the world a fortnight ago, Glasgow has set a high bar for the Gold Coast to follow – not just with their venues, but with the warmth of their welcome to visitors.</p>
<h2>From cobblestones to surf beaches</h2>
<p>Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow is a 12th century, magnificent, cobble-stoned place, which is being revived after a long <a href="https://glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3372">post-industrial depression</a>. The Glaswegians I met at the Games were very proud of their city, and keen to tell how they and their ancestors were born there over many centuries. </p>
<p>In contrast, the Gold Coast is blessed with 40 kilometres of beautiful surf beaches and sub-tropical sunshine almost year round. </p>
<p>Not far from the coast, we also have lush, <a href="http://www.queenslandholidays.com.au/things-to-see-and-do/gondwana-rainforests-of-australia/index.cfm">World Heritage-listed rainforests</a>, and mountainous terrain that will severely test the stamina of the 2018 Games bike riders. </p>
<p>But the vast majority of Gold Coasters – like me – were not born in our city, which is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Australia_by_population">Australia’s sixth largest</a>. It’s a mobile and multicultural population of <a href="http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/thegoldcoast/default.html">more than half a million residents</a>, including a <a href="http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/thegoldcoast/indigenous-people-894.html">proud but relatively small Indigenous population</a>. </p>
<p>It’s also a tourist mecca for both Australians and millions of people from overseas, with particular appeal for surfers, backpackers, and Asian and Middle Eastern tourists.</p>
<h2>The Gold Coast’s long and short history</h2>
<p>Senior members of the Glasgow City Council asked us how old the Gold Coast was. Our answer? Somewhere from tens of thousands of years old – with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Gold_Coast,_Queensland">archaeological proof of Aboriginal occupation</a> going back at least that far – to as young as just <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Coast_City">66 years old</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">Where today’s skyscrapers stand: an aerial view from the beach end of Cavill Avenue looking south to Broadbeach, 1955.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.surfersparadise.com/about-surfers-paradise/history">Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library</a></span>
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<p>A bemused council member then asked about the Gold Coast’s oldest public building. After scratching our heads for a while we couldn’t come up with an answer – perhaps because none of the five-strong delegation was a born and bred Gold Coaster. Both sides decided it was time for a drink.</p>
<p>Having thought about it since, there’s good reason why we couldn’t name any historic public buildings: there are none, at least not by Glaswegian standards. Some of our oldest buildings include beachside bathing pools, like <a href="https://heritage-register.ehp.qld.gov.au/placeDetail.html?siteId=16028">the Main Beach Pavilion</a>, built in the 1930s to cater for the influx of people after the First World War who were not yet comfortable in the surf. </p>
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<h2>Let the next Games begin</h2>
<p>The Gold Coast is in the middle of a massive building and redevelopment boom. (You can watch the <a href="http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/sport/imagine-gc2018-take-a-look-at-how-the-gold-coast-will-be-transformed-when-it-hosts-the-commonwealth-games/story-fnj94ixl-1227009462025">Gold Coast Bulletin’s new video and photos of the major Games venues here</a>.)</p>
<p>But it’s not all for the Games. The world-class Gold Coast University Hospital was only opened in the last year and overlooks the site of the 2018 Games Village. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.griffith.edu.au/">Griffith University</a>, established in 1971, is the largest and best-known of the city’s <a href="http://www.studygoldcoast.org.au/gold-coast-learning/universities">three universities</a>, and sits next to the Games Village. Its contemporary architecture is a long way from the centuries-old spires of Glasgow University.</p>
<p>Together with the hospital, the expanding university forms the heart of the new <a href="http://www.griffith.edu.au/health/griffith-health/gold-coast-health-and-knowledge-precinct">Health and Knowledge Precinct</a>, which is likely to be one of the main legacies of the 2018 Games. </p>
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<span class="caption">The Commonwealth Games Village site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Queensland Government</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>A sunny Scottish surprise</h2>
<p>Coming to Glasgow from Queensland – known locally as the Sunshine State – we had packed for Scottish weather with rain coats, overcoats and jumpers. </p>
<p>But we were in for a shock: the temperature was 27 degrees, the kind of <a href="http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=40764">weather we enjoy on the Gold Coast</a> for most of the year. </p>
<p>The locals couldn’t believe it either. Strangely to us, hordes of people sat eating in outdoor cafes in the sun, with no umbrellas or shade. Few Australians do this, as we have the world’s worst skin cancers.</p>
<p>So the weather became a major conversation point in a way we didn’t expect: we Australians complained about the heat, while the Scots laughed and warned us to enjoy it, as it surely couldn’t last (<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGlasson/status/494448139307212800/photo/1">and it didn’t</a>).</p>
<p>But we found that Glasgow’s cooler climate is more than made up for by its people. It must be one of the friendliest cities in the United Kingdom and Europe. The Scots are not always known for their roguish charm and hospitality, but that’s what we received, admittedly at Games time.</p>
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<h2>Glasgow’s lessons for the Gold Coast and beyond</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.gc2018.com/">Gold Coast 2018 Games</a> will be very different to Glasgow. For a start, we can’t ask Birmingham, London, Manchester and Liverpool to send 500 buses to assist us with transportation. We can’t conjure up a history we don’t have, or a gritty tenacity that is peculiarly Scottish. We don’t have kilts and bagpipes either. </p>
<p>But we can learn from the best of what the Scots have done, especially the way they have seized the opportunity of the 2014 Games to revitalise their great city. </p>
<p>Glasgow’s long-term legacy programs – conceived of and delivered by locally-based community groups across the city and across Scotland – include the redevelopment of the troubled East End with recreational and housing infrastructure and the Games sporting infrastructure. The sustainable health and fitness projects we saw were truly inspired.</p>
<p>The Scots’ attention to detail especially for security was precise and comprehensive. If any one thing unnerved us, it was the scale and complexity required for the job ahead. </p>
<p>Just as importantly, the way the city hosted the event was friendly and welcoming. Clearly, the ‘how’ was as important as the ‘what’. They were never bossy, never too pushy: it was just constant, friendly efficiency. But you knew you were being watched, that someone was on the job – and that was very reassuring.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I returned to the Gold Coast with new questions to ask, including how we can achieve Glasgow’s level of security, especially establishing a buffer around our Games Village, which will be overlooked by two hospitals and a university. And will our new light rail project match the transport might of 500 British buses?</p>
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<span class="caption">One of the Gold Coast’s new light rail trams at Cavill Station in Surfers Paradise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Simon Morris/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<p>But as the world saw with the successful 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Australians always get the job done. And the exceptionally good 2018 Games Organising Committee is well on the way in its planning, even if it still has only 42 staff. </p>
<p>If you come to the Gold Coast in four years’ time, expect to be dazzled by our beaches, our sunshine and our efficiency in putting on big sporting events. If we can do all that, and give visitors as warm a welcome as we enjoyed in Glasgow, we’ll have done our job.</p>
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<p></p><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/63276004"></a> <a href="http://vimeo.com/gc2018"></a><a href="https://vimeo.com"></a></p><p></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28619/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Madden recently retired as Pro Vice Chancellor (International) at Griffith University. He is the Strategic Advisor to Griffith for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, which involves advising on strategies for the university to assist the state and local government and the Commonwealth Games Committee in the running of the 2018 Games. It also involves work on community engagement, legacy issues for the university, opportunities for students in volunteering, community and cultural engagement, internships and jobs.</span></em></p>It’s hard to think of any two Commonwealth Games host cities more different than Glasgow and the Gold Coast in faraway Australia, home to the 2018 Games. But as our small university delegation discovered…Chris Madden, Strategic Advisor on the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/298112014-07-29T05:15:23Z2014-07-29T05:15:23ZHost City Glasgow: ten things the tourist guides probably never mentioned<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55069/original/2fsp367g-1406574519.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The dear green place, a year or two ago</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>So you’ve travelled to the Commonwealth Games, you’ve done the standard tourist route and you’ve figured out that your English phrase book is not much cop. Panic no more. Here is your essential guide to the real Glasgow. </p>
<h2>1. Preliminary lessons in Glaswegian</h2>
<p>You are not in Glasgow (as in “throw,” and certainly not as in “cow”); you are in Glesga. Get that right to start with. </p>
<p>A dry warm day – any temperature above 55 degrees fahrenheit – means “taps-aff”, where males of various ages will be wandering around the city topless. Tops – often t-shirts or football shirts – are “taps” – and “aff” – well, “off”.</p>
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<span class="caption">Taps aff!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/glasgowamateur/9559730189/in/photolist-5HLjT-8CwUVr-ejr7Po-kuG6Lx-fyL7Ji-pYjtz-7hzsw9-7hvuVV-7hvxAP-7hvuzT-7hztUf-7hvxNg-7hztpN-7hvvj8-7hzt5b-7hvwjk-7hztD3-7hvvAv">Charles Clegg</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>The hot weather at the start of the games led some to proclaim, “yon heat is pure murrderrr, so it is”. Understanding such terms will get you Glasgow bonus points: “Pure” denotes “really”. “Murrderrr” meaning “murder”, popularised by the TV detective series Taggart, means “difficult to take”. “So it is” is added emphasis. </p>
<p>Three other words will also help immensely: “aye”, “wee” and “dead”. The opening ceremony was arguably “dead good” (or “no’bad,” which is also really good); “wee” indicates the pejorative, such as “the wee dancers were brilliant”; “aye” is affirmative, as in, “aye, some of the Scottish stereotypes on display were cringe-inducing, but.”</p>
<h2>2. What is Glasgow? – well it’s no’ Edinburgh</h2>
<p>Lying only 52 or so miles apart, few countries can have two cities that are so different in so many ways. For many in Edinburgh, Glasgow is full of rough, criminal types who are prone to alcoholism and violence; and as they rarely wash, they are “soap dodgers”. </p>
<p>For many in Glasgow, well Glasgow is really Scotland’s capital city. It is more authentically Scottish, less “pan-loafy” (posh) and certainly not “all fur-coat and nae knickers” (superficial). Edinburgh is seen as primarily for tourists who seek the stereotypical Scotland of castles and tartan – hence the nickname “shortbread city”.</p>
<p>It might be nonsense – or “mince” – but many still believe that old Glasgow saying that, “the people of Glasgow have a better time at a funeral than the people of Edinburgh have at a wedding”.</p>
<h2>3. ‘C’moan get aff’</h2>
<p>“C’moan get aff” is a beloved contradictory Glasgow phrase long associated with the city’s bus conductors. On encountering a passenger who had somehow forgotten to purchase the required ticket and who was reluctant to do so on being challenged, the local version of “come on, get off” was the stock reply. </p>
<p>If you are travelling on public transport and someone asks, “comfy?” they are not referring to the quality of your seat. They mean: “where do you come from?”</p>
<p>Beware referring to the Glasgow underground as “the tube”, like you would in London. You will be identified as an outsider – an alien even. It is known as the “subway” – a “tube” in Glasgow is someone who is just plain daft.</p>
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<span class="caption">They don’t make ‘em like they used to.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cliveabrown/5380089179/in/photolist-4ZM4jG-7cvwky-dEipbH-9bPRUn-b9tZNK-51Kvu2-d6Rxh-78mAht-cZZEQJ-5bmQi5-78mzUV-4ExjUP-dzBGSB-9cqn5g-78qCaE-5kxoQf-72LSiN-6M9uqW-9bPJHe-5kLgzU-78qxSy-5kxrrA-5kFF4H-78qw4y-9bSYtY-5RvAb7-5RqL1D-78qhFC-78qmGC-dEETV8-2cR3zx-6M4YSg-7aBE2W-5RFDTC-5RvBQ5-5wiLF8-b9ud4k-6M9d1u-b4UWUr-78qiMA-b9u9r2-5RvGZb-72Du2M-6M9JJz-72LSdW-5Rrjyk-e1rTZQ-b7nWu4-78qyMY-47o4ZL">Clive A Brown</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<h2>4. Chicago on the Clyde?</h2>
<p>Many have commented that both cities share what might be termed a similar sense of place. While the comparison might seem fanciful given Chicago’s size, part of Glasgow city centre is planned on a similar gridiron system. Glasgow’s imposing buildings and architecture convey a similar “feel,” including buildings constructed around iron frames, which have long been used in the largest US cities. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55068/original/sc2258mc-1406573901.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55068/original/sc2258mc-1406573901.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55068/original/sc2258mc-1406573901.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55068/original/sc2258mc-1406573901.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55068/original/sc2258mc-1406573901.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55068/original/sc2258mc-1406573901.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55068/original/sc2258mc-1406573901.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55068/original/sc2258mc-1406573901.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The likeness is uncanny!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/22746515@N02/4854192144/in/photolist-dwEJkj-Js7UM-7cbJbN-brypPD-6uRnG7-nE1uGt-ii7cvk-59ghCi-a9WFqL-8oX1d1-boC7Nm-agpCPQ-5AgBS7-5wCERn-5Ackog-7hiHqU-dKRkMJ-9KEVWW-8TQHzX-bvfTK9-bnwQ5E-bW6YvQ-cTMeJs-8wAp1N-ao4C38-5g7n2S-7VTFyH-aQfTwc-cZCacA-9JTcWi-5gEDFv-fcG2mU-6827Ws-cKkKUJ-6hpRE2-a7qvwy-dpXAxs-cxPi3j-6cGV7R-8UjxNK-6f3ZTx-e88RbQ-9tVgsd-6qvbTG-8pYagL-9u9MmF-be2R9i-df5fTf-iEqRJo-2QQBuX">Bert Kaufmann</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Both have their share of urban wastelands, and are built on important rivers. Unlike the Chicago River, though, the River Clyde has yet to be dyed green to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, or even an important victory for Celtic football club – even if Glasgow translates as the Dear Green Place.</p>
<h2>5. Glasgow’s schemes</h2>
<p>Lying beyond the city centre is a different Glasgow, much of it with a poor yet undeserved reputation for deprivation and dereliction. We are talking here about the schemes – not housing estates, which in Scotland tends to refer to private developments. </p>
<p>Glasgow’s schemes enabled the city to demolish its slum housing, and many were built to house much poorer sections of the population. This was reflected in the quality of housing, the layout and the level of amenities. The largest schemes were built on Glasgow’s outer edges – at Easterhouse, Drumchapel, Castlemilk and Pollok.</p>
<h2>6. The Hielanman’s umbrella</h2>
<p>Glasgow has long been a place of migration. In recent decades communities of Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and eastern Europeans have helped shape the city as it is today. Previous migrations have often been forgotten or overlooked.</p>
<p>Yet following the Highland clearances in the 19th century, tens of thousands of Highlanders came in search of a new life. Largely Gaelic speaking, they brought a bitter hatred of private landlords and the landed elites who removed them from their homes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55066/original/82msyqc9-1406573592.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55066/original/82msyqc9-1406573592.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55066/original/82msyqc9-1406573592.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55066/original/82msyqc9-1406573592.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55066/original/82msyqc9-1406573592.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55066/original/82msyqc9-1406573592.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55066/original/82msyqc9-1406573592.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55066/original/82msyqc9-1406573592.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Watch out for hairy Highlanders!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnasmillie/157494733/in/photolist-5sEyVu-hZ7qHj-jzngwo-bzPuYT-bzPvdT-537pq9-6nKGaY-ctjL19-eVcGr-89Wb8v">Donna Smillie</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Hielanman’s umbrella (“Highland man’s umbrella”) is the area underneath the main Central Station railway bridge as it passes over Argyle Street. It was where Highlanders would meet and shelter from the rain. They helped to shape the city’s culture, dialect and language; as well as its sense of struggle and politics.</p>
<h2>7. “People Make Glasgow”</h2>
<p>Visitors will notice many references to this latest city slogan. While for marketing folks it promotes a dynamic post-industrial city, more importantly Glaswegians have fought long and hard to make a city that is fairer and more equal. In every decade in the past century they have fought everything from poverty to poor housing to racketeering private landlords to racism. People make Glasgow in the sense of its struggle.</p>
<p>The city’s George Square is today a Commonwealth Games hub, but in the immediate aftermath of World War I, tanks circled, accompanied by soldiers determined to combat any communist uprising. This was the heyday of Red Clydeside – an era that spawned the world’s first workplace-based trade union activists.</p>
<h2>8. La Pasionaria</h2>
<p>Glasgow’s history as second city of the British Empire is well known, but other Glasgow international links could be celebrated much more. On the north banks of the River Clyde, close to the main shopping area, a statue celebrates the Glaswegians who fought to defend the Spanish republic in the late 1930s. </p>
<p>The statue – La Pasionaria – was erected in 1980. It is a constant reminder that struggles elsewhere – as with the naming of a city centre street after Nelson Mandela – are seen by some as Glasgow’s struggles too.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55062/original/p2f2ht9j-1406566070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55062/original/p2f2ht9j-1406566070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55062/original/p2f2ht9j-1406566070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55062/original/p2f2ht9j-1406566070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55062/original/p2f2ht9j-1406566070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55062/original/p2f2ht9j-1406566070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55062/original/p2f2ht9j-1406566070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55062/original/p2f2ht9j-1406566070.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">La Pasionaria: one of Glasgow’s more unusual memorials.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/patersor/3333126417/in/photolist-4ZzToH-5izqF2-gtfRdK-bdKo2P-rU16k-rU16o-65x9mR-aADA7y-LGwg2-bCdqkk">Richard Paterson</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>9. The Glesga night oot</h2>
<p>So you want a have a wee night oot in Glasgow? One could start at a famous Glasgow watering hole, The Horseshoe Bar, in Drury Street, close to Central Station. It is said to have the longest bar in Europe – in the shape of horseshoe, of course.</p>
<p>It has catered for Glaswegians since the mid-19th century. These days, it plays host to workers from the nearby commercial firms during daytimes. Later in the evenings the clientele might include political activists, musicians and trade unionists – and, of course, football fans. </p>
<p>If you are seeking a typical Glasgow meal afterwards, that can only mean one thing – time for a wee Ruby – “Ruby Murray” – a curry. Glasgow is one of the top places in the UK for its curry restaurants, boasting the likes of The Wee Curry Shop, Balbirs, Mother India and Richis. Indeed, one would be hard placed to find a restaurant selling everyday Glasgow food. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55067/original/n2rg9qbq-1406573715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55067/original/n2rg9qbq-1406573715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55067/original/n2rg9qbq-1406573715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55067/original/n2rg9qbq-1406573715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55067/original/n2rg9qbq-1406573715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55067/original/n2rg9qbq-1406573715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55067/original/n2rg9qbq-1406573715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55067/original/n2rg9qbq-1406573715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pull oot yer nan and cover her in gravy!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stvphotos/9010743769/in/photolist-5Mvgzu-ezDFxY-55DXV4-eJmAxb-3bAubo-3bvZy6-3bAtZ5-3bAtMq-3bAtf3-3bvZWB-3bAu4J-3bAthQ-3bAu8J-3bvZJt-3bvZAc-3bAu6Q-eJfqcc-4jii96-mnooE-5kTrD">STV</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>10. Glasgow place names quiz</h2>
<p>From the comfort of your trendy wee wine bar in Sauchiehall Street (or maybe the pub), can you say the following Glasgow place names in the Glesga way? </p>
<p>Arden, Auchinairn, Auchenshuggle, Barmulloch, Calton, Camlachie, Carmunnock, Carntyne, Carnwadric, Crossmyloof, Dalmarnock, Garngad, Garthamlock, Robroyston, Ruchill, Roystonhill, Ruchazie</p>
<p>Ask a local to help, and break the ice. Offer to buy them a drink first, of course.</p>
<p><em>To read the other parts of our Host City Glasgow series, click <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/host-city-glasgow">here</a>.</em> </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29811/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerry Mooney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>So you’ve travelled to the Commonwealth Games, you’ve done the standard tourist route and you’ve figured out that your English phrase book is not much cop. Panic no more. Here is your essential guide to…Gerry Mooney, Senior Lecturer, Social Policy and Criminology, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/295212014-07-23T06:46:59Z2014-07-23T06:46:59ZHost City Glasgow: out with shipyards, in with business services and technology<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54549/original/vztpv98y-1406032138.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Glasgow's Broomielaw district plays host to call centres and financial services</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gee01/4270200298/in/photolist-6tPXGq-8c4eJp-7vkTM5-bEeatu-37Dpyn-bEe9g7-rhBhq">Graeme Maclean</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Glasgow is Scotland’s largest city and the centre of its only true metropolitan economy, with a population of around 1.2m. As governments worldwide recognise -– including those in Scotland and the UK – cities and city regions <a href="http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Publications/Menu_TerritorialObservations/TO6_May_2012.html">are increasingly</a> the drivers of economic growth. This is true of Glasgow, which has posted significantly higher population and working-age population growth than Scotland since 2008, as the following table shows. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54471/original/kkypymjn-1405959824.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54471/original/kkypymjn-1405959824.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54471/original/kkypymjn-1405959824.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54471/original/kkypymjn-1405959824.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54471/original/kkypymjn-1405959824.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54471/original/kkypymjn-1405959824.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54471/original/kkypymjn-1405959824.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54471/original/kkypymjn-1405959824.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ONS 2011</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Glaswegian economy of old is as well known as its subsequent decline. <a href="http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3475">The city’s strength</a> in British Empire-era products such as tobacco and cotton gave way in the second half of the 19th century to heavy industry, including steel, chemicals and, in particular, shipbuilding. </p>
<p>The Govan shipyards that made the one-time second city of the empire the envy of the world <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-24820573">went into decline</a> after World War II. This was thanks to Asian rivals such as Japan and South Korean, who began producing ships at prices against which the Scots could not compete. Fast-forward several decades and Glasgow had become a byword for rapid decline in manufacturing; a decline faster than any other city in Western Europe, which was mirrored in both its employment and subsequent health statistics. </p>
<p>The turnaround in the Glasgow economy was partly thanks to a McKinsey report in the late 1980s commissioned by the Scottish Development Agency, entitled <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sobYAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97&dq=McKinsey+Glasgow+1980s&source=bl&ots=r_NihmkkhA&sig=YUDMp2Z4wxMhIn0J_ns7MMvnBOY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vlXNU8uCBsOp0QWgnoGYCA&ved=0CFcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=McKinsey%20&f=false">The Potential of Glasgow City Centre</a>. It was a blueprint for a new phase of economic activity to be based on services, particularly financial services, software and tourism. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54550/original/b5t5pw9j-1406032285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54550/original/b5t5pw9j-1406032285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54550/original/b5t5pw9j-1406032285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54550/original/b5t5pw9j-1406032285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54550/original/b5t5pw9j-1406032285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54550/original/b5t5pw9j-1406032285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54550/original/b5t5pw9j-1406032285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54550/original/b5t5pw9j-1406032285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The international financial services district.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gee01/4270200298/in/photolist-6tPXGq-8c4eJp-7vkTM5-bEeatu-37Dpyn-bEe9g7-rhBhq">Jeroen Mul</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It led for example to the creation of the city’s <a href="http://www.ifsdglasgow.co.uk">international financial services district</a>, which has attracted a number of big blue-chip players such as Tesco Bank, Shell, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Direct Line Insurance. They initially set up call centres, though several have developed global IT, software and other specialist functions (JP Morgan has one of its global software centres in the city, for example). Business services now makes up 35% of the city’s economy. </p>
<p><strong>Glasgow’s economic activity</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54547/original/b7dkcmfx-1406030029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54547/original/b7dkcmfx-1406030029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54547/original/b7dkcmfx-1406030029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54547/original/b7dkcmfx-1406030029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54547/original/b7dkcmfx-1406030029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54547/original/b7dkcmfx-1406030029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54547/original/b7dkcmfx-1406030029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Glasgow is also home to the headquarters of a number of major international companies, a fact that is too often overlooked. There are FTSE 100 companies such as engineers Weir Group and temporary power specialist Aggreko; big internationally-owned players such as Scottish Power and Clydesdale Bank; and private groups such as industrial manufacturer and venture capitalist Clyde Blowers Capital and whisky (and now premium rum) maker Edrington. Partly thanks to the presence of Edrington, Whyte & Mackay and Chivas Regal, Glasgow ships more Scotch whisky through its docks that anywhere else in the world. </p>
<p>There are also a significant number of smaller high-growth companies such as components maker Castle Precision Engineering and luxury hi-fi specialist Linn Products. These kinds of companies link Glasgow firmly to international markets and use and develop Glasgow’s enviable skills and graduate base as well as attracting global talent to the city. Glasgow has a higher number of graduates in its workforce and <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDAQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ons.gov.uk%2Fons%2Frel%2Fregional-accounts%2Fregional-gross-value-added--income-approach-%2Fdecember-2012%2Frft-gva-nuts3.xls&ei=N03OU9eyK-2p7Ab-5YDYBQ&usg=AFQjCNEvyuzEIDw6Hgn91JEyls7zc0M7aQ&bvm=bv.71198958,d.ZWU">significantly higher levels of productivity</a> than many of the large UK cities and city regions with which it compares itself. </p>
<p>On the eve of the Commonwealth Games, there is a feeling that the city has moved past the first wave of regeneration foreseen in the McKinsey report and into a new second wave. This builds on the previous advances while refocusing on the wider city region’s historic role as Scotland’s engineering and technological heartland. The city has become a base for renewable energy technologies, not least after becoming the headquarters for the UK government’s <a href="https://ore.catapult.org.uk/">renewable energy catapult</a>. It has also become important in life sciences, especially stratified medicine and medical technologies, while in the engineering sector it boasts both manufacturing and engineering services (the Jacobs group is a good example of the latter). It is also Scotland’s pre-eminent centre for the creative industries, particularly print, broadcasting and film-making. </p>
<p>Working hand-in-hand with the city’s colleges and universities (which educate a third of Scotland’s students) is seen as vital to these developments. It will help to bring the innovation to the table seen as necessary for long-term growth across all sectors – including digital and web-based technologies. The city also houses by far the biggest shopping district in Scotland, the most recent addition to which is the Forever 21 mall in the centre, completed several years ago. It also goes without saying that the city has also received a major boost from the Commonwealth Games. <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/extent-of-glasgow-2014-economic-boost-revealed-1-3390997">According to the Scottish government</a>, getting the city ready has created about 6,000 jobs and boosted the economy by about £52m. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54552/original/cn5dsz98-1406032550.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54552/original/cn5dsz98-1406032550.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54552/original/cn5dsz98-1406032550.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54552/original/cn5dsz98-1406032550.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54552/original/cn5dsz98-1406032550.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54552/original/cn5dsz98-1406032550.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54552/original/cn5dsz98-1406032550.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54552/original/cn5dsz98-1406032550.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Forever 21: Glasgow’s latest church for retail worshippers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gee01/4270200298/in/photolist-6tPXGq-8c4eJp-7vkTM5-bEeatu-37Dpyn-bEe9g7-rhBhq">Lis Ferla</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Naturally there is still <a href="http://www.understandingglasgow.com/indicators/economic_participation/overview">much needing to be achieved</a> in the city. Glasgow still only employs 63% of its working-age adults, eight points lower than the Scottish average. It also pays out on higher rates of unemployment and incapacity benefit, albeit these rates have fallen sharply in recent years (unemployment benefit from 29% in 2000 to 20% now; incapacity from 18% in 2000 to 12% now). </p>
<p>Another useful indicator is house prices. According to the <a href="http://www.nationwide.co.uk/%7E/media/MainSite/documents/about/house-price-index/Q2_2014.pdf">latest figures</a> from Nationwide, Glasgow’s average house price of over £169,000 is nearly £30,000 above the Scottish average, though still well behind the likes of Edinburgh and Aberdeen and somewhat below big English cities like Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. This has the advantage of making the city attractive and affordable to investors and their workforces.</p>
<p>But while there are challenges ahead, it is impossible to argue that the Glasgow economy of 2014 is the same as it was 30 or 40 years ago. The city can now speak to a large, strong and deepening financial and business services sector alongside ongoing strengths in innovation, technology, engineering, life sciences and tourism and events. The Glasgow economy is rebalancing and arguably is returning to its economic roots as a global trading city – trading on its skills and talent, innovation, technologies and business acumen. In many ways this was the vision of Glasgow’s Victorian business and civic leaders. It is a reality that they would recognise in Glasgow today. </p>
<p><em>You can read previous parts of our Host City Glasgow series <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/host-city-glasgow">here</a>.</em> </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29521/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Kane does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Glasgow is Scotland’s largest city and the centre of its only true metropolitan economy, with a population of around 1.2m. As governments worldwide recognise -– including those in Scotland and the UK…Kevin Kane, Business Director, Strathclyde International Public Policy Institute, University of Strathclyde Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/291142014-07-15T05:26:29Z2014-07-15T05:26:29ZHost City Glasgow: signs of slavery and the imperial past are never far away<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53806/original/6wvfds27-1405352004.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shipping on the Clyde, 1881, by John Atkinson Grimshaw</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The “second city of empire” was how this year’s host of the Commonwealth Games used to be well known. Glasgow’s imperial past is hinted at by names littered throughout the city centre, in geographic pointers such as Virginia Street and Jamaica Street; and tributes to tobacco barons in the likes of <a href="http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst3032.html">Buchanan</a> Street and <a href="http://www.theglasgowstory.com/image.php?inum=TGSE00950">Ingram</a> Street. </p>
<p>A quarter of the world’s locomotives and a fifth of its ships were built on the banks of the river Clyde in the second half of the 19th century. These were used primarily to transport goods and people around the empire. The route from Glasgow to America was much shorter than the passage from London. As a result, goods such as tobacco, cotton and sugar were all transported and stored by the Clyde. More tobacco was transported through Glasgow <a href="http://www.scotland.org.uk/history/rise-glasgow">than the rest</a> of the United Kingdom combined. This added to the wealth of so-called “tobacco lords”. Beyond street names, the city is still littered with prominent landmarks to these barons’ existence, like the <a href="http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/goma/Pages/default.aspx">Gallery of Modern Art</a>, formerly the mansion of wealthy tobacco merchant William Cunningham. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53802/original/z2tfyfnh-1405350890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53802/original/z2tfyfnh-1405350890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53802/original/z2tfyfnh-1405350890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53802/original/z2tfyfnh-1405350890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53802/original/z2tfyfnh-1405350890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53802/original/z2tfyfnh-1405350890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53802/original/z2tfyfnh-1405350890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53802/original/z2tfyfnh-1405350890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art was a tobacco baron’s house during imperial times.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nina_pic/5797012616/in/photolist-9QgcTo-z6x9U-af961y-3TzXke-7TxTHq-7Ttawh-gikm3-pscGE-gikjr-4E8Pv1-4RFWTu-8z6f2d-4RJ8FY-fZEcKQ-fzbgLG-99cm2f-99cmGo-99cmzN-4RDfHn-7TtQQc-giknQ-gikp3-4RJgRN-4RHZaA-b38cf4-b38cvg-4RDpqM-cHv9dS-8etoJf-5tpheM-5ttAx1-5ri88x-7BfP1S-einXBC-8tP2c3-7n6h7e-jcXbk-821bor-9XYyKM-9XYxYM-81N2Qq-821bon-f79eqs-5GqXDM-5GqXQD-4GiWs9-5tpeyk-5tpcsP-5tpg8z-4MMBgp">nina_pic</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Slavery and subjugation</h2>
<p>This historic prosperity has a sinister side: many goods were produced on slave plantations in America and the Caribbean. What’s more, a number of Glaswegians are recorded to have actually owned slaves. The <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/">legacies of British slave ownership database</a> – created by researchers at University College London – gives the names of all British slave owners who claimed compensation when slavery was abolished in 1833. You can find evidence of 77 individual slave owners in Glasgow, making 241 claims in total. In 1834 at least 15% of British slave owners claiming compensation were from Scotland. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53804/original/zfwjcxxp-1405351406.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53804/original/zfwjcxxp-1405351406.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53804/original/zfwjcxxp-1405351406.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53804/original/zfwjcxxp-1405351406.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53804/original/zfwjcxxp-1405351406.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53804/original/zfwjcxxp-1405351406.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53804/original/zfwjcxxp-1405351406.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53804/original/zfwjcxxp-1405351406.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Glasgow’s Ingram Street is steeped in imperial grandeur.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofhall/5916468748/in/photolist-a1Ps2S-a1LB1t-a1Pt9U-a1PsZ9-a1PtL1-a1PtV9-a1LBYH-a1Puyo-a1Pu5m-a1Lzmp-a1PrdJ-a1Lz8M-a1Pup1-a1LyJ4-a1PqPo-a1LGzX-a1LGMi-fLjpuo-7JyCUJ-cHv9dS-821bor-821bon-81N2Qq-nWiTKy-fLj8ML-fLjtNE-7HSa4L-fhKnm3-7U9et3-afM62k-8mvbsk-7U5ZpM-2t44Pf-fL2SYK-5o8dcx-fL2Nbr-rzJLK-7T9wuk-nWiTGC-77yxAt-56X5R1-bzZUBG-77CqJ3-77yviT-77yxvv-77yxH4-77yvci-77yxQP-77yxnH-77Ctyj">Bob Hall</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Glasgow’s imperial activities also contributed to the Scottish diaspora. Scotland, and particularly Glasgow, sent men and women as government representatives, missionaries and private-sector workers and owners to various corners of Africa, Asia, Australasia and parts of the Americas. There was a particularly rich tradition of sending Scottish-trained medical men to the empire, often as part of the army. Well regarded Scottish regiments constituted a crucial part of military expeditions, which were involved in annexing new parts of the world and maintaining colonial rule. </p>
<p>Popular rhetoric often portrays Scotland as under the subjugation of the English. In fact Scotland played a key part in creating and sustaining the British Empire. Glasgow continued to be involved with, and prosper from, other parts of the British empire well into the 20th century – a fact that is often overlooked. The slavery might have long since ended, but the bureaucratic and trade activities certainly had not. So while the Commonwealth Games may be a celebration of the unity of the 53 member countries, the commonwealth exists as a reminder of how Britain used to dominate and subjugate former colonies. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53797/original/xfpsnjq2-1405349293.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53797/original/xfpsnjq2-1405349293.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53797/original/xfpsnjq2-1405349293.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53797/original/xfpsnjq2-1405349293.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53797/original/xfpsnjq2-1405349293.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53797/original/xfpsnjq2-1405349293.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53797/original/xfpsnjq2-1405349293.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53797/original/xfpsnjq2-1405349293.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Empire Bar in Glasgow’s Saltmarket, one of countless little reminders of the past.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulcoyne/4945401247/in/photolist-8x1tuK-48tkj-4SgB62-4SkgbA-dvRPJV-6grr1n-asVshx-yBoiK-7gYaS4-7gYaS8-6JvmGc-6JLsJr-7R857r-dyoSMC-6FDzq5-4WGoLY-6M9cZa-a9gg4-a9f91-a8q7ff-bpB8p7-dvRPma-3aSLwu-ckVmiS-4FxnLv-bCw2wa-ocFbR-r7F64-bFt7i-8y8MjE-7YGtnc-yBouR-tqnZy-r7Fxt-yBqjp-8tbKKJ-cLjX5o-bCw94T-bpAADU-bpAjvq-cLjLLf-bCvuC2-bpB3bh-bCvyhV-bCvgAX-aoxoh5-cLjQdj-bpA7NL-bCvd4k-A5EBP">Paul Coyne</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Exhibiting the empire</h2>
<p>People living in Glasgow during the 19th and 20th centuries were made very aware of the reach of the British empire. Exhibitions were an important way to encourage imperial support and spirit within Britain. The most notable of these were the <a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/g/great-exhibition/">1851 Great Exhibition</a> at Crystal Palace and the <a href="http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/1924-british-empire-exhibition">1924 Empire Exhibition</a> at Wembley, both in London. </p>
<p>But Glasgow also played host to a number of exhibitions, which displayed both objects and people from the colonies. The first <a href="http://www.studygroup.org.uk/Archives/24/KELVINGROVE.htm">was held in 1888</a> in Kelvingrove park and was known as the International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry. It included collections from all over the world, but the central area was focused on India. As part of this, Indian artisans were sent to Glasgow to provide live demonstrations of their skills. The Irish artist <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-john-lavery-332">John Lavery</a> produced a series of paintings on the exhibition, which included one of an Indian potter. And men from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) were brought over to Glasgow to act as waiters, serving tea to visitors.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53807/original/9c4ktfms-1405352364.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53807/original/9c4ktfms-1405352364.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53807/original/9c4ktfms-1405352364.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53807/original/9c4ktfms-1405352364.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53807/original/9c4ktfms-1405352364.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53807/original/9c4ktfms-1405352364.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53807/original/9c4ktfms-1405352364.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1938 <a href="http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/record/rcahms/44398/glasgow-bellahouston-park-1938-empire-exhibition/rcahms">Glasgow hosted</a> an explicitly imperial event known as the “Empire exhibition” on the south side of the city in Bellahouston Park. The last British imperial showcase, it took place just five years after Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa had become commonwealth members. </p>
<p>Again the exhibition was partly an attempt to boost the pride felt by Glaswegians for their role in building up the empire. Local and national visitors wandered around the pavilions, looking at the fruits of this enterprise. Pavilions included the Canada pavilion, the South Rhodesia pavilion, the colonial pavilion, and the empire tea pavilion.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IDC1_MWJ4yI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>For better and worse, the empire and commonwealth also brought people from around the world together. As a result, people with Glaswegian heritage can be found all over the world. Equally the empire brought people from all over the world to Glasgow, whether to study at the university, <a href="https://glasgowimperialcity.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/indian-lascars-in-glasgow/comment-page-1/">work as “lascars”</a> on the imperial trade ships or seek other forms of employment and refuge. Less directly, the city’s imperial legacy is also one of the reasons why it now houses large groups of ethnic minorities from countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. </p>
<h2>Acknowledgement 2014</h2>
<p>The city’s past has been <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/markets-economy/scotland-the-slave-trade-and-the-abolition-pay-off-which-rewrote-our-economic-history-1.1075272">well discussed by the historian Stephen Mullen</a> in the book “It Wisnae Us: The Truth About Glasgow and Slavery”. When it was published two years ago, Mullen organised an <a href="http://westendreport.com/black-history-month-facing-glasgows-past/">exhibition</a> to coincide, and <a href="http://community-languages.org.uk/scs/conference-2014-city-chambers-reception-and-glasgow-slave-history-walk/">he continues to run</a> guided city walks. </p>
<p>I’m also pleased to report that this past is not being ignored in this key summer in the city’s history. As part of the Glasgow 2014 cultural programme to coincide with the Commonwealth Games, the novelist Louise Welsh and architect Jude Barber are hosting an <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/why-scotland-must-face-up-to-slave-trade-past.24677369">“empire cafe”</a> for a week (from July 24 to August 1) at the Briggait studios at the heart of Glasgow’s Merchant City area. To highlight Glasgow’s links to slavery, they will ask visitors to confront how the city encouraged and profited from the slave trade. Welsh and Barber are also hosting public talks during the games, and public walks by the <a href="http://womenslibrary.org.uk/event/empire-cafe-women-and-the-abolition-movement/">Glasgow Women’s Library</a> as part of the same series. </p>
<p>So the forthcoming games will bring together the descendants of those who profited from and those who were exploited by an enterprise which we now celebrate in the form of the commonwealth. Before a single starting shot is fired, everyone who comes to Glasgow to participate, work at or simply enjoy enjoy the spectacle should be aware of how its past is bound up with the city that we know today. </p>
<p><em>Other instalments in our Host City Glasgow series can be found <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/host-city-glasgow">here</a>.</em> </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29114/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sumita Mukherjee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The “second city of empire” was how this year’s host of the Commonwealth Games used to be well known. Glasgow’s imperial past is hinted at by names littered throughout the city centre, in geographic pointers…Sumita Mukherjee, Lecturer in Econonomic & Social History, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/288222014-07-08T05:10:23Z2014-07-08T05:10:23ZHost City Glasgow: how it set the standard for urban rebirth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53071/original/4y3gn44b-1404494891.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Renewal personified: the Glasgow Merchant City festival</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/delphwynd/9377839971/in/photolist-6rby3R--fhWDKd-cEEm63-cEEkYj-gvdteY-So2rB-d8VVW-fhLC9m-fhurSR-Rv38C-fhFT74-fhW5hE-fhWgHQ-fhWnUS-fhWuXS-fhW2hC-fhWxfU-fhVXbG-fhWe8E-fhW14Y-fhG2vg-fhWqSf-o9iisw-a6oMPo-oghaH-731psJ-72EKuu-72WqXx-4KLmg4-72WrMc-72WrH6-72WrDP-mhdxSx-fmr5q3-fmr3wW-e8bBhH-dSSpTU-5s7L8H-5sc6tG-5s7KBK-dRDDXe-aLNXmD-cFfTwE-a6DRzY-8mf7Ui-5FWYie-Lh1J1-cFfX1N-gwk6b7">Brian Smith</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Welcome to Host City Glasgow, a series of articles that will examine different aspects of the 2014 Commonwealth Games destination as part of our countdown to the main event. To begin, Adam Aitken looks at the city’s reputation for poverty and crime and its recent regeneration.</em> </p>
<p>Glasgow is a city whose fortunes have turned more than many. Its great strength in shipbuilding and other heavy industries waned in the second half of the 20th century, leaving the city with a reputation for poverty, poor health, sectarianism, low life expectancy and crime. </p>
<p>The novel “No Mean City” might have been <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Mean-City-H-Kingsley-Long/dp/0552075833">published in the 1930s</a>, depicting life in the Gorbals slums south of the river Clyde, but the label became synonymous with a city that by the 1960s and 1970s had developed a reputation for violence, knife crime, gangsters, youth gangs and tough housing estates. Glasgow was equally renowned for nightlife, live music, football, newspapers and comedy; but its darker side became central to its wider reputation. The 1990s film “Small Faces” told you everything you once needed to know. </p>
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<p>Many of the problems associated with Glasgow were closely interlinked with the increasing poverty and deprivation which followed economic decline. Unemployment, poor housing, social exclusion, lack of education and limited opportunities for young people created an environment conducive to certain types of crime and criminality. As the renowned American political scientist Edward Banfield <a href="https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4087079W/The_unheavenly_city">once said</a>: “Theories about the causes and cures of crime tend to be variations of ones about the causes and cures of hard-core poverty.”</p>
<p>To at least some extent, this crime problem has survived through to the modern day. As recently as April 2013 the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-22276018">UK peace index identified</a> Glasgow as the “least peaceful major urban centre,” for example. </p>
<p>Yet this index rating, which is based upon homicide rates per 100,000 people, actually hides the fact that crime in the city is decreasing. In 2012 <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/violent-crimes-in-glasgow-fall-dramatically.19768695">there were dramatic falls</a> in violent crimes such as assaults, robberies and attempted murder. In 2013 <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/glasgow-knife-crime-falls-by-a-third-1-3062657">knife attacks fell</a> by more than a third in a year. And since Police Scotland took over as a single force for the country last year, <a href="http://www.spa.police.uk/assets/126884/232805/item18">anti-social behaviour in Glasgow has dropped 10%</a>. </p>
<p>Glasgow remains the most deprived city in Scotland. <a href="http://www.understandingglasgow.com/indicators/poverty/overview">Recent figures</a> show that almost half of the residents – 285,000 people – reside in 20% of most deprived areas in Scotland. Yet the percentage of the total population who are income deprived <a href="http://www.sns.gov.uk/Reports/Report.aspx?ReportId=5&AreaTypeId=LA&AreaId=S12000046&TopicId=2054">has been gradually decreasing</a>. Where in 2002, 28% were income deprived, it had dropped to 21% by 2011. The percentage who are employment deprived decreased from 23% to 19% in the same timeframe. </p>
<h2>Old Glasgow/new Glasgow</h2>
<p>These recent improvements are on the back of several decades of regeneration, which started gathering pace in the 1980s as the need to deal with industrial blight rose up the political agenda. This was reflected by the 1988 Garden Festival and the city being awarded 1990 European City of Culture. </p>
<p>Like many UK cities, much of the regeneration has been consumer and property-led, ranging from the new <a href="http://www.forever21.com/UK/Product/Main.aspx?br=f21">Forever 21 shopping precinct</a> in the city centre; to the <a href="http://www.clydewaterfront.com/projects/pacific-quay--secc/commercial/creative-clyde">Pacific Quay media hub</a> led by BBC Scotland that has replaced part of the former Govan dockyards; to games-related developments in the east end like the <a href="http://www.glasgowvelodrome.co.uk">velodrome</a> and the <a href="https://www.glasgow2014.com/games/venues/athletes-village">athletes’ village</a>. </p>
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<p>Many of the old tower blocks have been pulled down, which nearly became a focus on the Commonwealth Games when the opening ceremony was going to include footage of the demolition of some of the famous Red Road flats. This plan <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-27009806">was scrapped</a> following <a href="https://theconversation.com/red-road-flats-saga-is-a-reminder-that-attitudes-to-council-housing-are-vile-25735">public outcry that it was distasteful</a>. </p>
<h2>Glasgow the brand</h2>
<p>Branding and marketing has naturally played an important role in these changes, helping to remove the negative stereotypes that were a barrier to inward investment in the past. This has partly been about the whole city, starting with the “Glasgow’s miles better” campaign, which kicked off as early as 1983. More recently we have had <a href="http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4768">“Glasgow: the friendly city” (1997)</a>, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3547313.stm">“Glasgow: Scotland with style” (2004)</a> and <a href="http://peoplemakeglasgow.com">“People make Glasgow” (2013)</a>. </p>
<p>A more niche example has been the transformation of the city Trongate, where a dilapidated part of the centre has been refurbished, part-pedestrianised and rebranded as <a href="http://www.merchantcityglasgow.com">Merchant City</a> since the 1980s. Now it is lined with cafes, restaurants, bars and hotels.</p>
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<p>One obvious way of boosting regeneration has been through large cultural and sporting events. This year’s games may be the biggest such event to come here, but the city also housed the 2002 Champions League final, 2007 UEFA Cup final and 2009 MOBO awards. As part of the 2012 Olympics, it hosted eight football matches. </p>
<h2>Linking policies</h2>
<p>Although not often explicitly identified, urban regeneration and crime control measures are heavily interconnected. This shouldn’t be surprising, given that crime and fear of crime can negatively affect a city’s ability to attract investment and people. </p>
<p>Glasgow has used regeneration to “design out” many of the problems that traditional architectural buildings, shops, streets, and pathways were considered to facilitate. It has put heavy emphasis on installing CCTV, fitting alarms inside shops, improving street lighting and increasing security on flat entrances. </p>
<p>This has gone hand in hand with government strategies aimed at promoting order, such as increased police presence in high crime areas – even while <a href="http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/news/2014/janfeb/0130.htm">police numbers and budgets have been cut</a> across the board. </p>
<p>This has been backed up by <a href="http://www.saferglasgow.com">Community Safety Glasgow</a>, a police-council partnership which puts community enforcement officers on the streets. This is aimed at regulating not just criminal activities but also behaviours detrimental to the image such spaces are trying to convey. These officers don’t have police powers, but if you drink in public, spit on the ground or drop litter in Glasgow town centre, they can issue fixed penalty notices. </p>
<p>Other interventions have played their part too. According to one local politician, reducing the presence of youths from the streets in the past few years is partly thanks to grass-roots programmes aimed at helping them develop other interests. </p>
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<span class="caption">Where did all the young ‘uns go?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/42407623@N05/4601031501/in/photolist-81zunk-2bLNgC-33vYAS-98Fag1-51fPnh-Y5qn-PDZHb-dRUq4f-8RyKSA-3uaqp9-jgdEf-3vTtmc-4NMvgP-5Y6CDT-dWMprs-7FdFiK-4sMJJw-5Jf98j-6ZGZy9-52mcSJ-yeqsb-5uEDSQ-aWUAhK-7jwJT8-bALnWH-7ngVNj-4z3X7w-6oz6aG-7EJabz-PKm3E-g6KX1-bALhp6-497q53-h8yW8-aTsVKa-9nhrfR-aPATMg-4r6Y5t-6oz4pW-mbLWvP-mbLPSR-mbN66J-af3zXx-7J7J86-yaZjT-7Xyqcg-4cPUsn-8ZuAxY-7qr4zw-dnymEp">kfcatles</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>The relationship between urban regeneration and crime is complex, though. For example while the night-time economy has been key for Glasgow’s economic regeneration, encouraging more people out at night can increase violence, anti-social behaviour and drug misuse. </p>
<p>Crime rates have also been falling across Scotland, so it’s too easy to draw a straight link between Glasgow crime and regeneration. Urban regeneration’s biggest success in Glasgow has probably been on perceptions of crime rather than actual levels – though for investment and economy purposes that is still important, of course. </p>
<p>As for poverty, in May 2013 Glasgow City Council launched an <a href="http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=9971">anti-poverty strategy</a> aimed at coming up with new ways of tackling the problem. It emphasised taking on board the opinions and experiences of those most closely impacted. As the city seeks to take previous gains to the next level, everyone is hoping it will succeed. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28822/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Aitken receives funding from the ESRC and the Scottish government</span></em></p>Welcome to Host City Glasgow, a series of articles that will examine different aspects of the 2014 Commonwealth Games destination as part of our countdown to the main event. To begin, Adam Aitken looks…Adam Aitken, PhD student, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.