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City centre , also known locally as the "Squinty Bridge" The
city centre is bounded by High Street at
Glasgow Cross the historic centre of civic life, up to
Glasgow Cathedral at Castle Street; Saltmarket including
Glasgow Green and
St Andrew's Square to the east; Clyde Street and Broomielaw (along the River Clyde) to the south; and to Charing Cross and Elmbank Street, beyond
Blythswood Square to the west. The northern boundary (from east to west) follows Cathedral Street to North Hanover Street and
George Square. The city centre is based on a
grid system of streets 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. Most offices, and the largest offices and international headquarters, are in the distinctive streets immediately west of Buchanan Street, starting around 1800 as townhouses, in the architecturally important streets embracing
Blythswood Hill, Blythswood Holm further down and now including the
Broomielaw next to the Clyde. To the south and west are the shopping precincts of
Argyle Street,
Sauchiehall Street and
Buchanan Street, the last featuring more upmarket retailers and winner of the Academy of Urbanism "Great Street Award" 2008. The collection of shops around these streets accumulate to become known as "The Style Mile". towards
St Enoch subway station The main shopping areas include
Buchanan Street, Buchanan Galleries, linking Buchanan Street and Sauchiehall Street, and the
St. Enoch Centre linking Argyle Street and
St Enoch Square, with the up-market
Princes Square, which specifically features shops such as
Ted Baker, Radley and Kurt Geiger. Buchanan Galleries and other city centre locales were chosen as locations for the 2013 film
Under the Skin directed by
Jonathan Glazer. Although the Glasgow scenes were shot with hidden cameras, star
Scarlett Johansson was spotted around town. The Italian Centre in Ingram Street also specialises in designer labels. Glasgow's retail portfolio forms the UK's second largest and most economically important retail sector after Central London. The large city centre is home to most of Glasgow's main cultural venues: the
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall,
Glasgow City Hall,
Theatre Royal (performing home of
Scottish Opera and
Scottish Ballet), the
Pavilion Theatre, the
King's Theatre,
National Piping Centre,
Glasgow Film Theatre,
Tron Theatre,
Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA),
Mitchell Library and Theatre,
McLellan Galleries the former
Centre for Contemporary Arts, and the
Lighthouse Museum of Architecture.
The world's tallest cinema, the eighteen-screen
Cineworld, is situated on Renfrew Street. The city centre is also home to four of Glasgow's higher education institutions: the
University of Strathclyde, the
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland,
Glasgow School of Art and
Glasgow Caledonian University, and to the largest further education college in Britain – the
City of Glasgow College in Cathedral Street, and its Riverside Campus on the Clyde.
Merchant City and marks the east side of the
Merchant City. In the city-centre is a commercial and part-residential district termed the
Merchant City, a name first coined by the historian Charles Oakley in the 1960s, defined as the area between the High Street and George Square. This had grown from Glasgow Cross with many of the population involved in international trade and the textile industries of the 18th and early 19th centuries, with manufacturing warehouses nearby; including many created by resident
Tobacco Lords from whom many of the streets take their name. With its mercantile wealth, and continuing growth even before the
Industrial Revolution, the area of the city-centre gradually expanded further by creating the New Town around
George Square towards Buchanan Street, and soon very substantially by the building of the New Town of Blythswood on
Blythswood Hill which includes
Blythswood Square and reaching Charing Cross. The original medieval centre around Glasgow Cross and the High Street was left behind. Glasgow Cross, situated at the junction of
High Street, leading up to
Glasgow Cathedral, Gallowgate,
Trongate and Saltmarket was the original centre of the city, symbolised by its
Mercat cross. Glasgow Cross encompasses the Tolbooth Steeple, all that remains of the original
Glasgow Tolbooth, which was demolished in 1921. 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. From the 1980s onwards, the Merchant City has been rejuvenated with
luxury city centre flats and
warehouse conversions. This regeneration has supported an increasing number of cafés and restaurants. The area is also home to a number of high end boutique style shops and some of Glasgow's most upmarket stores. The Merchant City is one part of Glasgow's growing "cultural quarter", based on King Street, the Saltmarket and
Trongate, and spawned the annual
Merchant City Festival. The area has supported a growth in
art galleries, the origins of which can be found in the late 1980s when it attracted artist-led organisations that could afford the cheap rents required to operate in vacant manufacturing or retail spaces. The artistic and cultural potential of the Merchant City as a "cultural quarter" was harnessed by independent arts organisations and
Glasgow City Council, The area also contains a number of theatres and concert venues, including the
Tron Theatre, the Old Fruitmarket, the Trades Hall, St. Andrew's in the Square, Merchant Square, and the
City Halls.
West End is Glasgow's premier museum and art gallery, housing one of Europe's best civic art collections. Glasgow's West End grew firstly from Buchanan Street to and around
Blythswood Square and
Garnethill, extending then to
Woodlands Hill and
Great Western Road. It is a district of elegant townhouses and tenements with cafés, tea rooms, bars, boutiques, upmarket hotels, clubs and restaurants in the hinterland of
Kelvingrove Park, the
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow Botanic Gardens and the
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, focused especially on the area's main thoroughfares of Argyle Street (
Finnieston), Great Western Road and
Byres Road. The area is popular with tourists and students. The West End includes residential areas of
Hillhead,
Dowanhill,
Kelvingrove,
Kelvinside,
Hyndland,
Broomhill,
Scotstoun,
Jordanhill,
Kelvindale,
Anniesland and
Partick. The name is also increasingly being used to refer to any area to the west of
Charing Cross. The West End is bisected by the
River Kelvin, which flowssouth-west from the
Campsie Fells in the north and joins the River Clyde at Yorkhill, where a new pedestrian bridge has been built connecting the former burghs of Partick and
Govan. The spire of
Sir George Gilbert Scott's
Glasgow University main building (the second largest
Gothic Revival building in Great Britain) is a major landmark, and can be seen from miles around, sitting atop Gilmorehill. Glasgow University founded in 1451 is the second oldest in Scotland, and the fourth oldest in the
English-speaking world. Much of the city's student population is based in the West End, adding to its cultural vibrancy. The area is also home to the
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum,
Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery,
Kelvin Hall museums and research facilities, stores, and community sport in
Yorkhill. Adjacent to the Kelvin Hall was the
Museum of Transport, which reopened in 2011 as the Riverside Museum after moving to a new location on a former dockland site at
Glasgow Harbour in
Partick where the River Kelvin flows into the Clyde. The new building is built to a design by
Zaha Hadid. The
West End Festival, one of Glasgow's largest festivals, is held annually in June. Glasgow is the home of the
SEC Centre, Great Britain's largest exhibition and conference centre. On 30 September 2013, a major expansion of the SECC facilities at the former Queen's Dock by
Foster and Partners officially opened – the 13,000-seat
Hydro arena. Adjacent to the SECC at Queen's Dock is the
Clydeside Distillery, a
Scotch whisky distillery that opened in 2017 in the former dock pump house.
East End museum and Winter Garden on
Glasgow Green The East End extends from
Glasgow Cross in the
City Centre to the boundary with
North and
South Lanarkshire. It is home to the
Glasgow Barrowland market, popularly known as "The Barras",
Barrowland Ballroom,
Glasgow Green, and
Celtic Park, home of
Celtic FC. Many of the original sandstone tenements remain in this district. The East End was once a major industrial centre, home to
Sir William Arrol & Co.,
James Templeton & Co and
William Beardmore and Company. A notable local employer continues to be the
Wellpark Brewery, home of
Tennent's Lager. The
Glasgow Necropolis Garden Cemetery was created by the Merchants House on a hill above the
cathedral in 1831. Routes curve through the landscape uphill to the statue of
John Knox at the summit. There are two late 18th century tenements in Gallowgate. Dating from 1771 and 1780, both have been well restored. The construction of Charlotte Street was financed by
David Dale, whose former scale can be gauged by the one remaining house, now run by the
National Trust for Scotland. Further along Charlotte Street there stands a modern
Gillespie, Kidd & Coia building of some note. Once a school, it has been converted into offices. Surrounding these buildings are a series of innovative housing developments conceived as "Homes for the Future", part of a project during the city's year as UK City of Architecture and Design in 1999. East of Glasgow Cross is
St Andrew's in the Square, the oldest post-Reformation church in Scotland, built in 1739–1757 and displaying a Presbyterian grandeur befitting the church of the city's wealthy
tobacco merchants. Also close by is the more modest
Episcopalian St Andrew's-by-the-Green, the oldest Episcopal church in Scotland. The Episcopalian St Andrew's was also known as the "Whistlin' Kirk" due to it being the first church after the Reformation to own an organ. Overlooking Glasgow Green is the façade of
Templeton On The Green, featuring vibrant
polychromatic brickwork intended to evoke the
Doge's Palace in
Venice. The extensive
Tollcross Park was originally developed from the estate of James Dunlop, the owner of a local steelworks. His large
baronial mansion was built in 1848 by
David Bryce, which later housed the city's Children's Museum until the 1980s. Today, the mansion is a sheltered housing complex. The new
Scottish National Indoor Sports Arena, a modern replacement for the
Kelvin Hall, is in
Dalmarnock. The area was the site of the
Athletes' Village for the
2014 Commonwealth Games, located adjacent to the new indoor sports arena. The East End Healthy Living Centre (EEHLC) was established in mid-2005 at Crownpoint Road with Lottery Funding and City grants to serve community needs in the area. Now called the Glasgow Club Crownpoint Sports Complex, the centre provides service such as sports facilities, health advice, stress management, leisure and vocational classes. To the north of the East End lie the two large
gasometers of
Provan Gas Works, which stand overlooking
Alexandra Park and a major interchange between the M8 and
M80 motorways.
South Side sits within the south side of Glasgow, and is home to some of the city's largest businesses and employers. Glasgow's South Side sprawls out south of the Clyde. The adjoining urban area includes some of Greater Glasgow's most affluent suburban towns, such as
Newton Mearns,
Clarkston, and
Giffnock, all of which are in
East Renfrewshire, as well as
Thorntonhall in
South Lanarkshire.
Newlands and
Dumbreck are examples of high-value residential districts within the city boundaries. There are many areas containing a high concentration of sandstone tenements like
Shawlands, which is considered the "Heart of the Southside", with other examples being
Battlefield,
Govanhill and
Mount Florida. The large suburb of
Pollokshields comprises both a quiet western part with undulating tree-lined boulevards lined with expensive villas, and a busier eastern part with a high-density grid of tenements and small shops. The south side also includes some post-war housing estates of various sizes such as
Toryglen,
Pollok,
Castlemilk and
Arden. The towns of
Cambuslang and
Rutherglen were included in the City of Glasgow district from 1975 to 1996, but are now in the
South Lanarkshire council area. Although predominantly residential, the area does have several notable public buildings including,
Charles Rennie Mackintosh's
Scotland Street School Museum and
House for an Art Lover; the
Burrell Collection in
Pollok Country Park;
Alexander "Greek" Thomson's
Holmwood House villa; the National Football Stadium
Hampden Park in
Mount Florida (home of
Queens Park FC) and
Ibrox Stadium (home of
Rangers FC). The former docklands site at
Pacific Quay on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the SECC, is the site of the
Glasgow Science Centre and the headquarters of
BBC Scotland and
STV Group (owner of
STV), in a new purpose-built digital media campus. In addition, several new bridges spanning the River Clyde have been built, including the
Clyde Arc known by locals as the Squinty Bridge at
Pacific Quay and others at
Tradeston and Springfield Quay. The South Side also includes many public parks, including
Linn Park,
Queen's Park, and
Bellahouston Park and several golf clubs, including the championship course at
Haggs Castle. The South Side is also home to the large
Pollok Country Park, which was awarded the accolade of Europe's Best Park 2008. The southside also directly borders
Rouken Glen Park in neighbouring
Giffnock. Pollok Park is Glasgow's largest park and until the early 2000s was the only country park in the city's boundary. In the early 2000s the
Dams to Darnley Country Park was designated, although half of the park is in
East Renfrewshire. As of 2021 the facilities at the still new park are quite lacking.
Govan is a district and former burgh in the south-western part of the city. It is situated on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite
Partick. It was an administratively independent Police Burgh from 1864 until it was incorporated into the expanding city of Glasgow in 1912. Govan has a legacy as an engineering and
shipbuilding centre of international repute and is home to one of two
BAE Systems Surface Ships shipyards on the River Clyde and the
precision engineering firm,
Thales Optronics. It is also home to the
Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the country, and the maintenance depot for the
Glasgow Subway system. The wider Govan area includes the districts of
Ibrox,
Cessnock,
Kinning Park and
Kingston.
North Glasgow , seen from the
Forth and Clyde Canal North Glasgow extends out from the north of the city centre towards the affluent suburbs of
Bearsden,
Milngavie and
Bishopbriggs in
East Dunbartonshire and
Clydebank in
West Dunbartonshire. The area also contains some of the city's poorest residential areas. This has led to large-scale redevelopment of much of the poorer housing stock in north Glasgow, and the wider regeneration of many areas, such as
Ruchill, which have been transformed; many run-down tenements have now been refurbished or replaced by modern
housing estates. Much of the housing stock in north Glasgow is rented
social housing, with a high proportion of high-rise tower blocks, managed by the North Glasgow Housing Association trading as NG Homes and
Glasgow Housing Association.
Maryhill consists of well maintained traditional sandstone tenements. Although historically a working class area, its borders with the upmarket West End of the city mean that it is relatively wealthy compared to the rest of the north of the city, containing affluent areas such as
Maryhill Park and
North Kelvinside. Maryhill is also the location of
Firhill Stadium, home of
Partick Thistle F.C. since 1909. The
junior team,
Maryhill F.C. are also located in this part of north Glasgow. The
Forth and Clyde Canal passes through this part of the city, and at one stage formed a vital part of the local economy. It was for many years polluted and largely unused after the decline of heavy industry, but recent efforts to regenerate and re-open the canal to navigation have seen it rejuvenated, including art campuses at Port Dundas.
Sighthill was home to Scotland's largest
asylum seeker community but the area is now regenerated as part of the Youth Olympic Games bid. A huge part of the economic life of Glasgow was once located in
Springburn, where the
Saracen Foundry, engineering works of firms like
Charles Tennant and locomotive workshops employed many Glaswegians. Glasgow dominated this type of manufacturing, with 25% of all the world's locomotives being built in the area at one stage. It was home to the headquarters of the
North British Locomotive Company. Today part of the
Glasgow Works continues in use as a railway maintenance facility, all that is left of the industry in Springburn. It is proposed for closure in 2019.
Riddrie in the north east was intensively developed in the 1920s and retains several listed developments in the Art Deco style. ==Culture==