11 Jun Glasgow Commonwealth Games – The Role of Planning & Design.
Overview from Scottish Government
Ian Gilzean (Chief Architect, Scottish Government) with contributions from Cathy Johnston (Glasgow City Council) and Alison Brown (Clyde Gateway).
Background
This summer, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games brought together thousands of elite athletes, and welcomed volunteers and excited spectators to join in an incredible festival of sport and culture. From the spectacular opening ceremony at Celtic Park to the closing event at Hampden Park, which was transformed from Scotland’s national football stadium to a vibrant athletics arena, the focus was on the sport. From the home nation’s perspective, the Scotland team’s best ever performance at the Commonwealth Games finishing fourth in the medals table (winning 19 golds and 53 medals in total) made the years of planning all seem worthwhile. The success of the Games has not however just been down to the sporting excellence on show – the eyes of the world were on Glasgow as the host city and it performed that role superbly to make the Glasgow Games the ‘best ever’. The city’s forward-thinking and creative approach to planning and delivering the games in partnership with the Scottish Government produced investment, regeneration and a legacy of sporting infrastructure (as well as the sporting and cultural memories). This was built-in as key component of the original bid document, resulting in the choice of Glasgow as the host city for the 2014 games in November 2007
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