In the first of a series of articles examining the impact of the Commonwealth Games on Glasgow, ROBERT ARMOUR looks at its impact on regeneration
It’s an irony not lost on Glaswegians that the country’s biggest ever spectacular is happening in Scotland’s most deprived area. For Eadie and Kevin Montgomery it’s a bit of a joke. They’re laughing taking selfies alongside one of the many pristine lampposts lining the route to Emirates Arena which display the Atos logo, the outsourcing conglomerate whose fit-for-work tests has made it a hate figure and who are now a major sponsor of the games.
“They put me through a hundred metre sprint to prove I couldn’t walk two yards,” laughs Kevin. “And they told her she could get a job if she got her leg fixed. It got amputated seven years ago.”
It would be a hilarious interlude if it’s wasn’t true. Both have now lost their incapacity benefits, they tell me, and are being made to actively seek work. That’s something they don’t think will be happening anytime soon despite the huge wave of optimism on the back of the games.
“Have you tried to find work here,” asks Eadie, Kevin’s wife of 20 years.
“Don’t bother…there’s none,” says Kevin. “I even got knocked-back for volunteering. And try paying Aldi with one of those golden games ticket. See what that buys you.”
This is Glasgow’s east end, epicentre of the Commonwealth Games, scene of the country’s biggest and most ambitious regeneration project ever, yet it has the unenviable reputation for some of western Europe’s worst health and mortality rates.
Add above average unemployment and a history of sub-standard housing and you’ll see why its hard-pressed residents see the games as a mixed bag, something a BBC documentary crew that happened to be in the area found out.
“None of this stuff is fit for broadcast,” says the camera operator ruefully. “We’ve vox popped five people and every second word was an expletive. We’re going to need to search elsewhere.”
Overall the lasting legacy will be that people of Glasgow will see changes that will improve their lives – Archie Graham
Archie Graham, deputy leader of Glasgow City Council, however, believes that what cynicism exists is being drowned by a deluge of positives. He’s not shy in putting forward the notion Glasgow has entered a golden age of renewal on the back of the games legacy, something not seen since the city turned its fortunes around with the hugely successful Glasgow’s Miles Better campaign in the mid-1980s.
His headline figure is the games will be the catalyst for accelerating regeneration, mostly in the east end, by at least 15 years. And that’s just the start. It’s also created a new era of cooperation with the Scottish Government, where frictions between the Labour-led council and the SNP administration has previously often spilled over into public spats and fall outs.
“I’m aware of the criticism, we all are, but it would be unrealistic to expect everyone to be happy,” he says. “There’s been upheaval but overall the lasting legacy will be that people of Glasgow will see changes that will improve their lives.
“It’s not about fixing Glasgow; it’s about making Glasgow better. You’ve got to remember this city already has an enviable international reputation. Tourists flock here in increasing numbers every year. The games are building on that, building its reputation farther and wider.”
Glasgow has been steadily building its social capital for years says Graham, enabling the community and voluntary sector to play a bigger role in regeneration and development.
The council has now established an infrastructure to make it easier for third-sector bodies to engage with funding, for example, which is now coordinated centrally.
It has also created a bespoke cooperative development unit to promote co-ops, mutuals and social enterprises, encouraging individuals to look to the third sector as a more ethical approach to business.
“We’re laying down the foundations to put people at the core of their community, involving them and giving them the opportunities to contribute,” asserts Graham. “The concept is nothing new but before we weren’t serious about following it through. Now we are and in time that’ll create a lasting legacy.”
Regeneration agency Clyde Gateway was created in 2007 and is at the centre of Commonwealth Games-focused regeneration. The area is home to new world-class sports facilities such as the Emirates Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome as well as the Athletes Village, a development which will then be transformed into a new community of 700 family homes, 400 of which have been allocated for social housing, on a stunning riverside location.
However despite much progress being achieved, Ian Manson, Clyde Gateway’s chief executive, has a palpable scepticism for the bold claims of Graham.
He winces at the suggestion the games will accelerate regeneration by 15 years, prefering to let results do the talking.
“This is no easy ask so we’ve got to be realistic with what we’re doing,” he says.
“We’re five years into a 20 year project that is involving the entire community: people, business, infrastructure, council, health, everything.
“It’s a massive undertaking and I don’t think you appreciate how ambitious and difficult this is. All I say is: judge us on our achievements but give us the time to deliver them.”
There’s no magic bullet, we’re not promising to cure all ills. But things are improving on a number of levels and the people of the east end should be praised for that too - Ian Manson
Since the 1980s the demise of manufacturing and industry in Glasgow has brought with it a distrust of the whole idea of regeneration.
It has become a dirty word to those in what are known as deprived communities. Despite the best of intentions, regeneration agencies in the city have gained notoriety for being over complex, unreliable in their delivery, unnecessarily bureaucratic and in some instances feathering the nests of their senior management with huge salaries – as was the case with the now defunct Glasgow East Regeneration Agency.
“Regeneration was something done to people yet didn’t involve them,” Manson says.
“Part of our success is about turning round people’s attitudes. Already we are seeing it. People are saying to me: ‘You’re not going to leave after the games are you?’. I think that’s the big fear – that this is a flash in the pan.”
Despite Manson’s reluctance to bask in the associated glory of the games, Clyde Gateway is delivering results on issues driven by the community.
“Local people are setting the agenda,” he says. “We asked them what they wanted most and they responded. They’re leading on how the vision for the area is shaped. Jobs, housing, safer streets.”
The iconic Olympia centre at Bridgeton Cross, a glittering Grade B listed building containing a library, café, two floors of office space and Boxing Scotland’s high-performance training gym is an example of this.
“People wanted the Olympia brought back to previous glory, so that’s what happened. They drove that change and it doesn’t end here.”
Some 1,700 jobs have also come to this area since Clyde Gateway was created, over half of which have gone to local people.
This is on the back of new inward investment as businesses are gradually seeing the benefits of improved infrastructure in the area – such as an upgraded rail link.
Then there’s 2,000 new homes built over the last decade with the athletes’ village the icing on the cake.
However Manson points out regenerating an area goes well beyond bricks and mortar.
“Social problems take longer but when you get a decent infrastructure in place then you can tackle these with more confidence,” he says. “There’s no magic bullet. We’re not promising to cure all ills.
“But things are improving on a number of levels and the people of the east end should be praised for that too.”
What we have seen in some of these neighbourhoods is not regeneration, but gentrification – Neil Gray
Neil Gray, an academic and writer on geographical social displacement, is sceptical regeneration will work based on previous attempts.
“What we have seen in some of these neighbourhoods is not regeneration, but gentrification,” he says.
“Land is cheap in these parts and, after the games have finished, private housing companies will move in.
“Very few of the new homes and those in the athletes’ village will be affordable.
“There’s a reason why, like London and Manchester before it, that land in the poorer areas was targeted, and it wasn’t primarily to help the local communities.
“It was simply cheaper and an opportunity to disperse a problem community and replace it with a prettier and more gentrified one.”
Opinions will remain divided on what legacy will be left. What is sure is the solution to Glasgow’s ills lie in the hands of its people as much as its politicians.
