The Commonwealth Games, Glasgow 2014 - A Real Legacy?
Thursday, January 07, 2010
by
Murray Shaw
The Commonwealth Games are due to take place in Glasgow in 2014. They are identified in the recently adopted National Planning Framework as a key objective from the Scottish Government working in partnership with Glasgow City Council and Glasgow 2014 Limited, in effect the organising committee for the Games.
While Glaswegians generally appear to welcome the Games, recent publicity in relation to them has been somewhat mixed. Within the last couple of weeks the budget has been increased – though it is fair to observe that the level of increase is significantly less in percentage and monetary terms than that in relation to the Olympic Games in London 2012. In addition a number of the projects have been identified as being behind programme. The Government also announced that it did not intend to proceed with the GARL project (the air link between the centre of Glasgow and the airport). While possibly not an integral part of the Games it was a project associated with them in the National Planning Framework. This is a decision that has caused considerable controversy with Steven Purcell, the Leader of Glasgow City Council, being outspoken in his criticism of the Scottish Government at the recent State of Glasgow Conference.
Notwithstanding these issues the Games are important for Glasgow. They are a means of projecting the city on the world stage consistent with the ambitions the city has to re-establish a real international presence going some way to restore the past reputation and importance of the city. Glasgow actively promotes itself as a leisure, tourist and conference centre. A long awaited 5 star hotel is shortly to open in the city which is hoped will further enhance the city’s international offering. The strap line “Scotland with Style” is aggressively used by the Council and bodies such as the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau to promote Glasgow. The city has been successful in identifying and attracting conferences while the MOBO awards held here in September reinforced Glasgow as a leading event host. This activity brings financial benefit to the city – much needed in the current economic climate - and the Games are important in projecting a positive image of Glasgow.
In terms of the financial downturn which has taken place over the last 12 to 18 months, Glasgow has been affected, though the general view appears to be that the city is riding out the recession better than most others. Certainly to date the severe impacts seen in the city in the 1980’s and the difficult financial impacts then appear to have largely been avoided.
The Commonwealth Games were an important part of the strategy of promoting Glasgow before the current financial downturn. That, if anything, has simply made the Games more important to Glasgow.
The costs of the Games in terms of public expenditure is not insignificant (in excess of £300m). Glasgow Council have been very clear that they want to maximise the legacy not just from that expenditure but equally from the significant expenditure in public infrastructure projects which were already planned but which were important in attracting the Games.
The Council however is not just playing “lip service” however to the concept of a legacy and recently published “Glasgow 2014 Legacy Framework”. This is a document which sets out to show exactly how the city will benefit from the Games after 2014.
This document is potentially an important one. It defines “legacy” as a set of benefits left after a major event and identifies these benefits as both tangible (such as infrastructure investment) and less tangible (enhancing image etc).
The document sets out a vision in relation to what can be achieved in the legacy in the following terms:-
“Glasgow 2014 will help achieve a healthier, more vibrant city with its citizens enjoying and realising the benefits of sport and the wider, longer term economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits that Glasgow 2014 can help to deliver”.
The document identifies 6 specific themes setting out the aspirations which can be achieved from the legacy, the ultimate ambition being to leave Glasgow “more Prosperous; more Active; with an enhanced international image and outlook; Greener; more Accessible; and more Inclusive”.
The 6 themes in order are therefore:
- A prosperous Glasgow;
- An active Glasgow;
- An international Glasgow;
- A greener Glasgow;
- An accessible Glasgow;
- An inclusive Glasgow.
The Glasgow 2014 Legacy Framework then develops for each of these themes “headline” outcomes, identifies the partners who will be involved in achieving these and then identifies a set of targets for each theme and the action to be taken in respect of these. Critically for each target the document sets out measures intended to identify “what success will look like” – these are intended to be and used as specific criteria to measure the extent of the success achieved.
Some of the themes are clearly easier to understand and indentify than others. For example, in relation to a prosperous Glasgow (the first theme) one target is to improve the physical appearance of Glasgow particularly in the east end. This is then related to specific facilities required for or forming part of the Games infrastructure. Others appear to have less direct connection with the Games though are still relevant. For example in relation to the third theme (an international Glasgow) the intention is to improve the perception of Glasgow with actions identified to achieve that. One measure of success is stated to look like “increased website usage and visitors with a wider geographical spread”.
This document is clearly an important one if the legacy of the Games is to be achieved. The publication of this document is not an end in itself. Glasgow’s 2014 Legacy Framework states that it is not a fixed “step by step action plan at this stage” but that given the evolving nature of the process the intention is to produce annual action plans to monitor and assess how and to what extent success is being achieved.
While the Games are always important to Glasgow they have become much more important in the current economic climate. This document and the objectives it sets out are therefore all the more important for the economic stabilisation and growth of the city.
The information contained in this article is given for general information only, reflects the current law on the date of this article, and does not constitute legal advice on any specific matter