Ten Years of Tears: Glasgow as a UNESCO City of Music

Williamson, J. (2019) Ten Years of Tears: Glasgow as a UNESCO City of Music. Solent Festival of Ideas, Southampton, UK, 19 June 2019. (Unpublished)

Abstract

In 2008, Glasgow was awarded the title of UNESCO City of Music with an initial fanfare and a flurry of high profile event. Within a decade the promises and optimism of the initial bid document were long forgotten and the City of Music profile virtually invisible. The paper attempts to unpack this in the local and global context: highlighting local government cuts after the banking crash of 2008, council tax freezes, the outsourcing of cultural services to arms-length organisations and UNESCO's laissez-faire approach to creative cities as the key contributing factors.

• Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
• Status: Unpublished
• Refereed: No
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Williamson, Dr John
• Authors: Williamson, J.
• Subjects: M Music and Books on Music > M Music
• College/School: College of Arts > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Music