Where is the vision for Scotland’s First City: Glasgow?
Where is the vision for Scotland’s First City: Glasgow? Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, July 11th 2019 Glasgow is Scotland’s first city in size and importance. There are of course several different Glasgows - from the official council area of 621,020 inhabitants to the metropolitan region of between 1.2 million to 1.7 million people, depending on the definition. Glasgow matters. It’s success, wellbeing, vibrancy, the happiness of its people, sustainability, and state of its public realm all matter not just to the city, but to all of Scotland. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like that to many Glaswegians. The past weekend saw
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History cannot be written in stone: Why are public statues important?
History cannot be written in stone: Why are public statues important? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, April 2nd 2019 In recent years, from US campuses to towns to the UK, public statues have increasingly become a subject of heated debate and controversy. From Charlottesville in the US where one protestor was killed, to Cecil Rhodes in Oxford, and to what kind of plaque Henry Dundas has in Edinburgh, this is a live issue. These debates are about much more than the statues in question. They touch upon the legacy of Empire in Britain, racism, slavery and xenophobia and, in other societies
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