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Glasgow (pronounced /ˈglæzgoʊ/) is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. Fully named as the City of Glasgow, it is the most populous of Scotland's 32 unitary authority areas. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands. A person from Glasgow is known as a Glaswegian, which is also the name of the local dialect.
Glasgow grew from the medieval Bishopric of Glasgow and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow, which contributed to the Scottish Enlightenment. From the 18th century the city became one of Europe's main hubs of transatlantic trade with the Americas. With the Industrial Revolution, the city and surrounding region grew to become one of the world's pre-eminent centres of engineering and shipbuilding,4 constructing many revolutionary and famous vessels. Glasgow was known as the "Second City of the British Empire" for much of the Victorian era.567 Today it is one of Europe's top twenty financial centres and is home to many of Scotland's leading businesses.8
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew to a population of over one million,9 and was the fourth-largest city in Europe, after London, Paris and Berlin.10 In the 1960s, large-scale relocation to new towns and peripheral suburbs, followed by successive boundary changes, have reduced the current population of the City of Glasgow unitary authority area to 580,690.2 1,750,5002 people live in the Greater Glasgow Urban Area based on the 2007 population Estimate.2 The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers approximately 2.3 million people, 41% of Scotland's population.11
Contents |
History
Glasgow has long been famed for shipbuilding and trade due to the city being positioned on the River Clyde. Much of the trade took place in the nearby towns of Greenock and Port Glasgow as the River Clyde is too shallow at Glasgow for larger ships to reach. The present site of Glasgow has been used since prehistoric times for settlement due to it being the forded point of the River Clyde furthest downstream, which also provided a natural area for salmon fishing. The origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotland's second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the tenth and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, Bishop of Glasgow. There had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth and status to the town. Between 1175 and 1178 this position was strengthened even further when Bishop Jocelin obtained for the episcopal settlement the status of burgh from King William I of Scotland, allowing the settlement to expand with the benefits of trading monopolies and other legal guarantees. Sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives to this day as the Glasgow Fair.
Glasgow grew over the following centuries, and the founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to an archbishopric in 1492 increased the town's religious and educational status.
Daniel Defoe visited the city in the early 18th century and famously opined in his book A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, that Glasgow was "the cleanest and beautifullest, and best built city in Britain, London excepted."12 At that time, the city's population numbered approximately 12,000, and was yet to undergo the massive changes to the city's economy and urban fabric, brought about by the influences of the Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution.
After the Acts of Union in 1707, Scotland gained trading access to the vast markets of the British Empire and Glasgow became prominent in international commerce as a hub of trade to the Americas, especially in the movement of tobacco, cotton and sugar into the deep water port that had been created by city merchants at Port Glasgow.13 By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgow's River Clyde, with over 47 million lbs. weight of tobacco being imported at its peak.14
In its subsequent industrial era, Glasgow produced textiles, engineered goods and steel, which were exported. The opening of the Monkland Canal in 1791, facilitated access to the Iron-ore and Coal mines in Lanarkshire. After extensive engineering projects to dredge and deepen the Clyde, Shipbuilding became a major industry on the upper stretches of the river, building many famous ships (although many were actually built in Clydebank). Glasgow's population had surpassed that of Edinburgh by 1821. By the end of the 19th century the city was known as the "Second City of the Empire" and by 1870 was producing more than half Britain's tonnage of shipping15 and a quarter of all locomotives in the world.16 During this period, the construction of many of the city's greatest architectural masterpieces and most ambitious civic projects, like the Loch Katrine aqueduct and Subway, were being funded by its wealth.
From the late 1840s onwards, vast numbers of Irish Catholics settled in Glasgow. Originally forced to flee Ireland due to the Great Famine, the Irish continued to immigrate into the City of Glasgow in huge numbers for the rest of the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries, driven to the city by economic stagnation at home. Many of these Irish Catholics came from County Donegal, a large county in the west of Ulster. This Irish immigration has given Glasgow a large Catholic population.
The 20th century witnessed both decline and renewal in the city. After World War I, the city suffered from the impact of the Post-World War I recession and from the later Great Depression, this also led to a rise of radical socialism and the "Red Clydeside" movement. The city had recovered by the outbreak of the Second World War and grew through the post-war boom that lasted through the 1950s. However by the 1960s, a lack of investment and innovation led to growing overseas competition in countries like Japan and Germany which weakened the once pre-eminent position of many of the city's industries. As a result of this, Glasgow entered a lengthy period of relative economic decline and rapid deindustrialisation, leading to high unemployment, urban decay, population decline, welfare dependency and poor health for the city's inhabitants. There were active attempts at regeneration of the city, when the Glasgow Corporation published its controversial Bruce Report, which set out a comprehensive series of initiatives aimed at turning round the decline of the city. There are also accusations that the Scottish Office had deliberately attempted to undermine Glasgow's economic and political influence in post-war Scotland by preventing the creation of new industries and creating the new towns of Cumbernauld, Glenrothes, Irvine, Livingston and East Kilbride, dispersed across the Scottish Lowlands, in order to halve the city's population base.17
However, by the late 1980s, there had been a significant resurgence in Glasgow's economic fortunes. The 'Glasgow's miles better' campaign, launched in 1983, facilitated Glasgow's new role as a European centre for business services and finance and promoted an increase in tourism and inward investment.18 The latter continues to be bolstered by the legacy of the city's status as European City of Culture in 1990, and concerted attempts to diversify the city's economy.19 This economic revival has persisted and the ongoing regeneration of inner-city areas, including the largescale Clyde Waterfront Regeneration, has led to more affluent people moving back to live in the centre of Glasgow, fuelling allegations of gentrification.20 The city now resides in the Mercer index of top 50 safest cities in the world21 and is considered by Lonely Planet to be one of the world's top 10 tourist cities.22 Despite Glasgow's economic renaissance, the east end of the city remains the focus of severe social deprivation.23 A Glasgow Economic Audit report published in 2007 stated that the gap between prosperous and deprived areas of the city is widening.24 In 2006, 47% of Glasgow's population lived in the most deprived 15% of areas in Scotland,24 while the Centre for Social Justice reported 29.4% of the city's working-age residents to be "economically inactive".23 Although marginally behind the UK average, Glasgow still has a higher employment rate than Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.24
Toponymy
It is common to derive the name Glasgow from the older Cumbric glas cau or a Middle Gaelic cognate, which would have meant green hollow. The settlement probably had an earlier Cumbric name, Cathures; the modern name appears for the first time in the Gaelic period (1116), as Glasgu. However, it is also recorded that the King of Strathclyde, Rhydderch Hael, welcomed Saint Kentigern (also known as Saint Mungo), and procured his consecration as bishop about 540. For some thirteen years Kentigern laboured in the region, building his church at the Molendinar Burn, and making many converts. A large community developed around him and became known as Glasgu (meaning the dear Green or the dear green place).
Heraldry
The coat of arms of the City of Glasgow, as granted to the royal burgh by the Lord Lyon on 25 October 1866.25 It incorporates a number of symbols and emblems associated with the life of Glasgow's patron saint, Mungo, which had been used on official seals prior to that date. The emblems represent miracles supposed to have been performed by Mungo and are listed in the traditional rhyme:
-
-
-
- Here's the bird that never flew
- Here's the tree that never grew
- Here's the bell that never rang
- Here's the fish that never swam
-
-
Mungo is also said to have preached a sermon containing the words Lord, Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the word and the praising of thy name. This was abbreviated to "Let Glasgow Flourish" and adopted as the city's motto. The motto was more recently commemorated in a song called "Mother Glasgow", which was written by Dundonian singer/songwriter Michael Marra, but popularised by Hue and Cry.
In 1450, John Stewart, the first Lord Provost of Glasgow, left an endowment so that a "St Mungo's Bell" could be made and tolled throughout the city so that the citizens would pray for his soul. A new bell was purchased by the magistrates in 1641 and that bell is still on display in the People's Palace Museum, near Glasgow Green.
The supporters are two salmon bearing rings, and the crest is a half length figure of Saint Mungo. He wears a bishop's mitre and liturgical vestments and has his hand raised in "the act of benediction". The original 1866 grant placed the crest atop a helm, but this was removed in subsequent grants. The current version (1996) has a gold mural crown between the shield and the crest. This form of coronet, resembling an embattled city wall, was allowed to the four area councils with city status.
The arms were rematriculated by the City of Glasgow District Council on 6 February 1975, and by the present area council on 25 March 1996. The only change made on each occasion was in the type of coronet over the arms.2627
Governance
- See also: Politics of Glasgow
Since the Representation of the People Act 1918, Glasgow has increasingly supported Left-wing ideas and politics. The city council has been controlled by the Labour Party for 30 years, since the decline of the Progressives. The left-wing support emanates from the city's legacy as an industrial powerhouse, and the relative poverty of many Glaswegian constituencies and wards. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and German Revolution, the city's frequent strikes and Militant organisations caused serious alarm at Westminster, with one uprising in January 1919 prompting the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George to deploy 10,000 troops and tanks onto the city's streets. A huge demonstration in the city's George Square on 31 January ended in violence after the Riot Act was read.
Industrial action at the shipyards gave rise to the "Red Clydeside" epithet. During the 1930s, Glasgow was the main base of the Independent Labour Party. Towards the end of the 20th century it became a centre of the struggle against the poll tax, and then the main base of the Scottish Socialist Party, a left unity party in Scotland.
Scottish Parliament region
- See also: Glasgow Scottish Parliament region
The Glasgow electoral region of the Scottish Parliament covers the Glasgow City council area, the Rutherglen area of the South Lanarkshire and a small eastern portion of Renfrewshire. It elects ten of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituency members and seven of the 56 additional members. Both kinds of member are known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). The system of election is designed to produce a form of proportional representation.
The first past the post seats were created in 1999 with the names and boundaries of then existing Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies. In 2005, however, the number of Westminster Members of Parliament (MPs) representing Scotland was cut to 59, with new constituencies being formed, while the existing number of MSPs was retained at Holyrood.
The ten Scottish Parliament constituencies in the Glasgow electoral region are:-
- Glasgow Anniesland
- Glasgow Baillieston
- Glasgow Cathcart
- Glasgow Govan
- Glasgow Kelvin
- Glasgow Maryhill
- Glasgow Pollok
- Glasgow Rutherglen
- Glasgow Shettleston
- Glasgow Springburn
United Kingdom Parliament constituencies
- See also: United Kingdom constituencies
Following reform of constituencies of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament (Westminster) in 2005, which reduced the number of Scottish Members of Parliament (MPs), the current Westminster constituencies representing Glasgow are:-
- Glasgow Central
- Glasgow East
- Glasgow North
- Glasgow North East
- Glasgow North West
- Glasgow South
- Glasgow South West
Geography
Glasgow is located on the banks of the River Clyde, in West Central Scotland. Its second most important river is the Kelvin whose name was used for creating the title of Baron Kelvin and thereby ended up as the scientific unit of temperature.
Distances
| Destinations from GLASGOW | |||||||||||
| Dumbarton | Kirkintilloch |
Falkirk | |||||||||
| Paisley |
|
Livingston | |||||||||
| Newton Mearns | East Kilbride |
Motherwell | |||||||||
Climate
Weather in Glasgow is not typical of the weather in the rest of the UK for several reasons. Glasgow benefits from a mild south western position; the Gulf Stream currents flow up the Clyde estuary from the Atlantic warming the area. The city is also sheltered by the surrounding Clyde Valley hills keeping the city fairly humid throughout the year.citation needed The temperature is often milder than the rest of the country.
The spring months (March to May) are mild and cool. Many of Glasgow's trees and plants begin to flower at this time of the year and parks and gardens are filled with spring colours. The summer months (May to September) can vary considerably between mild and wet weather or warm and sunny. The winds are generally westerly, due to the warm Gulf Stream. The warmest month is usually July, the daily high averaging 20 °C (68 °F). (Highest recorded temperature 31.2 °C/88 °F 4 August 1975.) Despite some infrequent clear or dry days, winters in Glasgow are normally damp and cold. (Lowest recorded temperature −20 °C/−4 °F 29 December 199528). However, the Gulf Stream ensures that Glasgow stays warmer than other cities at the same latitude such as Moscowcitation needed. Winds and rainfall are often fairly chilling and strong, like the rest of western Scotland. Severe snowfalls melt within days and rarely lie in the city centre. December, January and February are the wettest months of the year, but can occasionally be sunny and clear.citation needed
 Weather averages for Glasgow, United Kingdom  |
|||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 13 (56) |
12 (55) |
15 (59) |
23 (75) |
27 (81) |
29 (85) |
30 (86) |
31 (88) |
25 (78) |
21 (70) |
15 (59) |
13 (57) |
31 (88) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 6 (43) |
6 (44) |
8 (47) |
11 (52) |
15 (59) |
17 (63) |
18 (66) |
18 (65) |
15 (60) |
12 (54) |
8 (48) |
6 (44) |
12 (54) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 1 (34) |
1 (34) |
2 (36) |
3 (38) |
4 (43) |
8 (48) |
11 (52) |
10 (51) |
8 (47) |
5 (42) |
2 (37) |
1 (35) |
5 (41) |
| Record low °C (°F) | -17 (1) |
-12 (9) |
-8 (16) |
-4 (24) |
-3 (25) |
1 (33) |
3 (38) |
1 (35) |
-2 (27) |
-7 (19) |
-10 (14) |
-17 (1) |
-17 (1) |
| Precipitation cm (inches) | 8.69 (3.42) |
7.9 (3.11) |
7.44 (2.93) |
4.65 (1.83) |
3.35 (1.32) |
3.86 (1.52) |
4.95 (1.95) |
5.26 (2.07) |
5.66 (2.23) |
8.48 (3.34) |
8.48 (2.62) |
7.49 (2.95) |
6.35 (2.44) |
| Source: Weatherbook29 May 2008 | |||||||||||||
Demography
The population of the Glasgow City Council area peaked in the 1950s at 1,200,000 people and before that for 80 years was over 1 million. During this period, Glasgow was one of the most densely populated cities in the world. After the 1960s, clearings of poverty-stricken inner city areas like the Gorbals and relocation to 'new towns' such as East Kilbride and Cumbernauld led to population decline. In addition, the boundaries of the city were changed twice during the late 20th century, making direct comparisons difficult. The city continues to expand beyond the official city council boundaries into surrounding suburban areas, encompassing around 400 square miles (1,000 km2) of all adjoining suburbs, if commuter towns and villages are included.
There are two distinct definitions for the population of Glasgow; the Glasgow City Council Area (which lost the districts of Rutherglen and Cambuslang to South Lanarkshire in 1996) and the Greater Glasgow Urban Area which includes the conurbation around the city.
Since the 1840s to present day, massive numbers of Irish immigrants have settled and contributed immensely in the city. Numerous Scottish Highlanders also migrated to the city as a result of the Highland Clearances. The Irish, and to a lesser extent Highlanders, contributed to the explosive growth of Roman Catholicism in the city.3031
In the early 20th century, many Lithuanian refugees began to settle in Glasgow and at its height in the 1950s there were around 10,000 in the Glasgow area.32 Many Italian-Scots also settled in Glasgow, originating from areas like Frosinone and Lucca at this time, many originally working as "Hokey Pokey" men.33 In the 1960s and '70s, many Asian-Scots also settled in Glasgow, mainly in the Pollokshields area. These number 30,000 Pakistanis, 15,000 Indians and 3,000 Bangladeshis as well as Chinese immigrants, many of whom settled in the Garnethill area of the city.citation needed Since 2000, the UK government has pursued a policy of dispersal of asylum seekers to ease pressure on social housing in the London area. Glasgow has seen waves of new arrivals because of this policy, though not always smoothly in some districts.citation neededneutrality disputed Whilst there have undoubtedly been some ugly incidents of a racist nature, the asylum seekers have generally been made welcome. The Scottish Government wishes to encourage immigration as they believe Scotland needs the skills and, ultimately, taxes they can contribute.
| Location | Population | Area | Density | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow City Council34 | 578,790 | 67.76 sq mi (175 km²) | 8,541.8/sq mi (3,298/km²) | |
| Greater Glasgow Urban Area35 | 1,168,270 | 142.27 sq mi (368 km²) | 8,212.9/sq mi (3,171/km²) | |
| Source: Scotland's Census Results Online36 | ||||
Since the 2001 census the population decline has stabilised. The 2004 population of the city council area was 685,090 and the population of both the City of Glasgow Council area and Greater Glasgow are forecast to grow in the near future. Around 2,300,000 people live in the Glasgow travel to work area.11 This area is defined as having 10% and over of residents travelling into Glasgow to work, and has no fixed boundaries.37
Compared to Inner London, which has 23,441 inhabitants per square mile (9,051/km²).,38 Scotland's major city has less than half the current population density of the English capital—8,603 inhabitants per square mile (3,322/km²) However, in 1931 the population density was 16,166 inhabitants per square mile (6,242/km²), highlighting the subsequent 'clearances' to the suburbs and new towns that were built to empty one of Europe's most densely populated cities.39
Glasgow has the lowest life expectancy of any UK city at 72.9 years.40 Much was made of this during the 2008 Glasgow East by-election.41 In 2008, a World Health Organisation report about health inequalities, revealing that male life expectancy varied from 54 in Calton to 82 in nearby Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire.4243
Economy
Glasgow has the largest economy in Scotland and is at the hub of the metropolitan area of West Central Scotland. The city also has the third largest GDP Per Capita in the UK, after London and Edinburgh.44 The city itself sustains more than 410,000 jobs in over 12,000 companies. Over 153,000 jobs have been created in the city since 2000 - a growth rate of 32%.45 Glasgow's annual economic growth rate of 4.4% is now second only to that of London. In 2005, over 17,000 new jobs were created, and 2006 saw private-sector investment in the city reaching £4.2 billion pounds, an increase of 22% in a single year.46 55% of the residents in the Greater Glasgow area commute to the city every day. Once dominant manufacturing industries such as shipbuilding and heavy engineering have been gradually replaced in importance by a diversified economy.47
Glasgow's economy has seen significant growth of tertiary sector industries such as financial and business services, communications, biosciences, creative industries, healthcare, higher education, retail and tourism. Between 1998 and 2001, the city's financial services sector grew at a rate of 30%, making considerable gains on Edinburgh, which has historically been the centre of the Scottish financial sector.4849 Glasgow is the second most popular foreign tourist destination in Scotland (fourth in the UK)24 and its largest retail centre. Glasgow is also one of Europe's sixteen largest financial centres.citation needed
The city retains a strong link to the manufacturing sector which accounts for well over 60% of Scotland's manufactured exports,citation needed with particular strengths in shipbuilding, engineering, food and drink, printing, publishing, chemicals and textiles as well as new growth sectors such as optoelectronics, software development and biotechnology.citation needed Glasgow forms the western part of the Silicon Glen high tech sector of Scotland. A growing number of Blue chip financial sector companies have significant operations or headquarters in the city.
Architecture
Very little of medieval Glasgow remains, the two main landmarks from this period being the 15th century Provand's Lordship and 13th century St. Mungo's Cathedral. The vast majority of the city as seen today dates from the 19th century. As a result, Glasgow has an impressive heritage of Victorian architecture: the Glasgow City Chambers; the main building of the University of Glasgow, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott; and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, designed by Sir John W. Simpson are outstanding examples.
The city is notable for architecture designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Mackintosh was an architect and designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and the main exponent of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom, designing numerous noted Glasgow buildings such as the Glasgow School of Art, Willow Tearooms and the Scotland Street School. A hidden gem of Glasgow, also designed by Mackintosh, is the Queen's Cross Church, the only church by the renowned artist to be built.50
Another architect who had an enduring impact on the city's appearance was Alexander Thomson. Thomson produced a distinctive style of architecture based on fundamentalist classicism that gave him the nickname "Greek". Examples of Thomson's work can be found over the city,51 with notable examples including the Holmwood House villa and St. Vincent Street Church.
The buildings reflect the wealth and self confidence of the residents of the "Second City of the Empire". Glasgow generated immense wealth from trade and the industries that developed from the Industrial Revolution. The shipyards, marine engineering, steel making, and heavy industry all contributed to the growth of the city. At one time the expression "Clydebuilt" was synonymous with quality and engineering excellence.52 The Templeton's carpet factory on Glasgow Green was designed to resemble the Doge's Palace in Venice and epitomises Glaswegians' desire to demonstrate architectural opulence during this era.53
Many of the city's most impressive buildings were built with red or blond sandstone, but during the industrial era those colours disappeared under a pervasive black layer of soot and pollutants from the furnaces, until the Clean Air Act was introduced in 1956. In recent years many of these buildings have been cleaned and restored to their original appearance.
Modern buildings in Glasgow include the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and along the banks of the Clyde are the Glasgow Science Centre and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, whose Clyde Auditorium was designed by Sir Norman Foster, and is affectionately known as the "Armadillo". Zaha Hadid won a competition to design the new Museum of Transport, which will move to the waterfront.54
Glasgow's impressive historical and modern architectural traditions were celebrated in 1999 when the city was designated UK City of Architecture and Design,55 winning the accolade over Liverpool and Edinburgh.56
Perhaps more than any other city Glasgow is known for its tenements.57 These were the most popular form of housing in 19th and 20th century Glasgow and remain the most common form of dwelling in Glasgow today. Tenements are commonly bought by a wide range of social types and are favoured for their large rooms, high ceilings and original period features.58 The Hyndland area of Glasgow is the only tenement conservation area in the UK59 and includes some tenement houses with as many as six bedrooms.
Like many cities in the UK, Glasgow witnessed the construction of high-rise housing in tower blocks in the 1960s.60 These were built to replace the decaying tenement buildings originally built for workers who migrated from the surrounding countryside, the Highlands, and the rest of the United Kingdom, particularly Ireland, in order to feed the local demand for labour.61 The massive demand outstripped new building and many, originally fine, tenements often became overcrowded and unsanitary. 62 Many developed into the infamous Glasgow slums, such as the Gorbals. Efforts to improve this housing situation, most successfully with the City Improvement Trust, cleared the slums of the old town. Subsequent urban renewal initiatives, such as those motivated by the Bruce Report, entailed the demolition of slum tenement areas, the development of new towns on the periphery of the city, and the construction of tower blocks. The areas surrounding these tower blocks lacked basic amenities, were poorly designed and cheaply built. As demonstrated elsewhere in the UK, such buildings gradually deteriorated, attracting crime and fostering a reputation for being undesirable low cost housing.
The policy of tenement demolition is now considered to have been short-sighted, wasteful and largely unsuccessful. Many of Glasgow's worst tenements were refurbished into desirable accommodation in the 1970s and 1980s63 and the policy of demolition is considered to have destroyed many fine examples of a "universally admired architectural" style.58 The Glasgow Housing Association took ownership of the housing stock from the city council on 7 March 2003, and has begun a £96 million clearance and demolition programme to clear and demolish many of the high-rise flats.64
Districts and suburbs
Glasgow was historically based around Glasgow Cathedral, the old High Street and down to the River Clyde via Glasgow Cross. The boundaries of Glasgow have changed on several occasions for political purposes, with many places that view themselves as part of Glasgow falling outwith the Glasgow City local authority created in 1996. For further information on what places are within the city council area and those that lie outwith but are included in other definitions of Glasgow, see the List of places in Glasgow page.
City centre
The city centre is bounded by the High Street to the east, the River Clyde to the south and the M8 motorway to the west and north which was built through the Townhead, Charing Cross, Cowcaddens and Anderston areas in the 1960s.
Retail and theatre district
The city centre is based on a grid system of streets, similar to that of Barcelona or American cities, on the north bank of the River Clyde. The heart of the city is George Square, site of many of Glasgow's public statues and the elaborate Victorian Glasgow City Chambers, headquarters of Glasgow City Council. To the south and west are the shopping precincts of Argyle, Sauchiehall and Buchanan Streets, the latter featuring more upmarket retailers and winner of the Academy of Urbanism 'Great Street Award' 2008.65
The main shopping centres are Buchanan Galleries and the St. Enoch Centre, with the up-market Princes Square and the Italian Centre specialising in designer labels. The London-based department store Selfridges has purchased a potential development site in the city and another upmarket retail chain Harvey Nichols is also thought to be planning a store in the city, further strengthening Glasgow's retail portfolio, which forms the UK's second largest and most economically important retail sector after Central London.6667 The layout of the approximately two and a half mile long retail district of Buchanan Street, Sauchiehall Street and Argyle Street has been termed the "Golden Z".68
The city centre is home to most of Glasgow's main cultural venues: The Theatre Royal (home of Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet), The Pavilion, The King's Theatre, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow Film Theatre, RSAMD, Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Mitchell Library, the Centre for Contemporary Arts, McLellan Galleries and The Lighthouse Museum of Architecture, Design and the City. The world's tallest cinema, the eighteen-screen Cineworld is sited on Renfrew Street. The city centre is also home to four of Glasgow's higher education institutions: The University of Strathclyde, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow School of Art and Glasgow Caledonian University.
Merchant City
To the east is the commercial and residential district of Merchant City. The Merchant City was formerly the residential district of the wealthy city merchants in the 18th and early 19th centuries, particularly the Tobacco Lords from whom many of the streets take their name. As the Industrial Revolution and the wealth it brought to the city resulted in the expansion of Glasgow's central area westward, the original medieval centre was left behind. Glasgow Cross, situated at the junction of High Street, Gallowgate, Trongate and Saltmarket was the original centre of the city, symbolised by its Mercat cross. Glasgow Cross encompasses the Tolbooth Clock Tower; all that remains of the original City Chambers, which was destroyed by fire in 1926. Moving northward up High Street towards Rottenrow and Townhead lies the 15th century Glasgow Cathedral and the Provand's Lordship. Due to growing industrial pollution levels in the mid to late 19th century, the area fell out of favour with residents.69
From the late 1980s onwards, the Merchant City has been rejuvenated with luxury city centre apartments and warehouse conversions. This regeneration has supported an increasing number of cafés and restaurants.70 The area is also home to a number of high end boutique style shops and some of Glasgow's most upmarket stores.71
The Merchant City is the centre of Glasgow's growing 'cultural quarter', based around King Street, the Saltmarket and Trongate, and at the heart of the annual Merchant City Festival. The area has supported a huge growth in art galleries, the origins of which can be found in the late 80s when it attracted artist-led organisations that could afford the cheap rents required to operate in vacant manufacturing or retail spaces.72 The artistic and cultural potential of the Merchant City as a 'cultural quarter' was harnessed by independent arts organisations and Glasgow City Council72, and the recent development of Trongate 103, which houses galleries, workshops, artist studios and production spaces, is considered a major outcome of the continued partnership between both.73 The area also contains a number of theatres and concert venues, including the Tron Theatre, the Old Fruitmarket, the Trades Hall, St. Andrews in the Square, Merchant Square, and the City Halls.74
A large part of Glasgow's LGBT scene is located within the Merchant City. This includes many clubs, and the UK gay chain store Clone Zone, along with a couple of saunas. Recently the city council defined (and perhaps expanded) the area known as Merchant City as far west as Buchanan Street, marking these boundaries with new, highly stylised metal signage.75
Financial district
To the western edge of the city centre, occupying the areas of Blythswood Hill and Anderston, lies Glasgow's financial district, known officially as the International Financial Services District (IFSD), although often irreverently nicknamed by the contemporary press as the "square kilometre" or "Wall Street on Clyde".76 Since the late 1980s the construction of many modern office blocks, a trend which continues into the 21st century with a new wave of high rise developments currently on the drawing board, has enabled the IFSD to become the third largest financial quartercitation needed in the UK after the City of London and Edinburgh. With a reputation as an established financial services centre, coupled with comprehensive support services, Glasgow continues to attract and grow new business. Of the 10 largest general insurance companies in the UK, 8 have a base or head office in Glasgow - including Direct Line, AXA and Norwich Union. Key banking sector companies have also relocated some of their services to commercial property in Glasgow - Resolution, JPMorgan, Abbey, HBOS, Barclays Wealth, Morgan Stanley, Lloyds TSB, Clydesdale Bank, BNP Paribas and the Royal Bank of Scotland. The