Glasgow, a cultured success
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Your support makes all the difference.GLASGOW SHOWED what could be done with the "City of Culture" title in 1990. Using the arts funding to communicate to a wider world its renaissance from industrial city in trouble, Glasgow continues as a showcase for commercial and cultural growth.
The year-long EU-funded festival saw one of the great slums in Europe rediscovering its civic pride as the public and private sectors kickstarted a programme of urban regeneration. Glasgow's citizens - and council - recognised its potential as a catalyst for change.
Two buildings tell the tale of how a city reinvented itself. The four- storey stone-clad Royal Concert Hall was built as part of the City of Culture programme after the old one burnt down. Its champion was the ex- Lord Provost of Glasgow City Council, Pat Lally. Now Lally's Palais, as the Glaswegians call the hall, is the hub of a busy shopping centre. Its architect, Lesley Martin, designed it as part of a master plan for the centre of Glasgow with a shopping mall alongside the 2,500-seat concert hall.
Nearly a decade later, the Buchanan Centre for shopping opened to show how an artistic event can trigger commercial investment. The Tramway Theatre won Glasgow world acclaim when Peter Brook staged the Mahabarata there in 1990: later the council took the bold and popular decision to maintain it as a theatre.
The Cultural Capital of Europe programme was conceived as a celebration of artistic and cultural achievement. The city that wins has to look beyond funding a year-long festival to realise a programme to improve the life of all who live and work in the city. The single most important long- lasting effect in Glasgow was the renewal of confidence in the city by its inhabitants, a confidence they built upon to become City of Architecture and Design this year.
Cities vie strongly to be Cultural Capital of Europe. They do so, not just for the funds and tourism boost, but to compete in the international marketplace for experienced work forces and investment from industry and commerce.
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