Edwards, Clare (2018) Regeneration-led culture: cultural policy in Glasgow 1970-1989. PhD thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/71938/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Regeneration-Led Culture: Cultural Policy in Glasgow 1970-1989 Clare Edwards BA (Hons) Fine Art, Newcastle University MA History of Art, The Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the University of Glasgow AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award with Glasgow Life, conducted through the Centre for Cultural Policy Research, School of Culture and Creative Arts, College of Arts, University of Glasgow July 2018 © Clare Edwards 2018 2 ABSTRACT 1990 is significant as the year in which Glasgow hosted the European City of Culture (ECOC), the first UK city and first ‘post-industrial’ city to do so. Glasgow has subsequently been regarded as constituting a ‘model’ of culture-led regeneration. While much has been written about the impacts of ECOC 1990, comparatively little is known about the emergence of cultural policy in Glasgow in the decades leading to 1990. With reference to new archival research and oral history interviews conducted with some of the key decision-makers, this thesis will trace the development of cultural policy in Glasgow during the period 1970 to 1989. It will examine the key actors, the prompting and facilitating factors, critical events and obstacles encountered in the ‘cultural turn’ in Glasgow’s policy making during these two decades. Viewing 1986 as a turning point, it will investigate in particular the strategies employed by Glasgow in developing its ECOC 1990 bid that year. It will examine the decision-making process and consider the roles played by key actors in central government which resulted in Glasgow winning the competition to be the UK’s nomination for ECOC 1990. Taking into account developments such as the concept of the cultural industries, this thesis will discuss the extent to which an explicit cultural policy emerged which encompassed the production and consumption of culture. It will also investigate the extent to which a replicable model of culture-led regeneration developed in Glasgow during the years leading to 1990. The thesis will show that that in 1970, at the start of the period of study, Glasgow did not have a formal cultural policy, nor were the arts and culture explicitly or formally connected to aspirations to regenerate the city. Over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, while the city faced severe socio-economic problems, a thriving cultural infrastructure emerged in Glasgow without an explicit, overarching cultural policy to direct its development. In 1986, when the opportunity to bid to host ECOC 1990 arose, the lack of an explicit cultural policy in Glasgow created a strategic vacuum in Glasgow’s bid, which was filled by the increasingly coherent economic development strategies developed for the city in the preceding years. The development of cultural policy in Glasgow was led by the development of the city economy: rather than culture leading regeneration, regeneration led culture. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 6 Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………………………… 7 Author’s declaration …………………………………………………………………………………… 8 Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 9 Chapter 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 10 Chapter 2 Glasgow: the city and its contexts ……………………………………… 21 2.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 21 2.2 Glasgow as a Labour-led city …………………………………………………………… 22 2.3 Glasgow as an industrial city …………………………………………………………… 24 2.4 Glasgow as a city in decline …………………………………………………………… 28 2.5 Glasgow as a cultural city………………………………………………………………… 31 2.6 Glasgow as a European city……………………………………………………………… 34 2.7 Glasgow as a British city ………………………………………………………………… 37 2.7.1 The Heath, Wilson, Callaghan and Thatcher governments, 1970 to 1989…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 38 2.7.2 Cultural policy in the UK, 1940 to 1989 ………………………………………… 43 2.8 Glasgow as a Scottish city ………………………………………………………………… 47 2.8.1 The decline of the Conservatives in Scotland, 1970 to 1989 …………… 49 2.8.2 The rise and fall of the SNP ……………………………………………………………… 51 2.8.3 Regional and national policy, the Scottish Development Agency and the Scottish Arts Council ………………………………………………………………… 53 2.9 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 55 Chapter 3 Culture, regeneration and the post-industrial city …………… 57 3.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 57 3.2 The post-industrial city …………………………………………………………………… 57 3.3 Neoliberalism, culture and the post-industrial city ………………………… 62 3.3.1 Defining neoliberalism ……………………………………………………………………… 62 3.3.2 Commodification and the rise of city marketing……………………………… 64 3.3.3 The dual city, neoliberal ideology and ‘actually existing neoliberalism’ in Glasgow ………………………………………………………………… 65 3.4 The rise of public relations ……………………………………………………………… 68 3.5 The cultural industries ……………………………………………………………………… 73 3.6 Culture-led regeneration ………………………………………………………………… 78 3.6.1 The culture-led regeneration orthodoxy ………………………………………… 79 3.6.2 The established narratives: Glasgow, the European City of Culture and culture-led regeneration …………………………………………………………… 81 3.6.3 Cities as models of culture-led regeneration ………………………………… 83 3.6.4 Current debates surrounding culture-led regeneration: problems with measurement and evidence……………………………………………………… 84 3.7 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 86 4 Chapter 4 Methodology ………………………………………………………………………… 88 4.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………… 88 4.2 Cultural policy research: theoretical framework and guiding principles ………………………………………………………………………………………… 89 4.3 The Collaborative Doctoral Award process …………………………………… 93 4.4 Archival and documentary research ……………………………………………… 95 4.4.1 Local and regional government archival material ………………………… 95 4.4.2 Central government archival material …………………………………………… 97 4.4.3 Privately-held archival material …………………………………………………… 98 4.5 Oral history interviews …………………………………………………………………… 99 4.5.1 Theoretical framework …………………………………………………………………… 99 4.5.2 Selection of and access to interviewees ………………………………………… 103 4.5.3 Interview preparation …………………………………………………………………… 105 4.5.4 The interviews ………………………………………………………………………………… 106 4.5.5 After the interviews ……………………………………………………………………… 108 4.5.6 Reflections on interviews ……………………………………………………………… 109 4.6 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………… 110 Chapter 5 1970 to 1985: Shifting landscapes ……………………………………… 112 5.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 112 5.2 Political change in local government in Glasgow, 1970 to 1985 …… 113 5.3 The shifting arts and culture landscape in Glasgow, 1970 to 1985 … 117 5.4 Culture, decision-making and the new managerialism …………………… 120 5.5 Culture and economic development ………………………………………………… 127 5.6 Re-representing the city: Glasgow’s image and the rise of public relations …………………………………………………………………………………………… 133 5.7 Public-private partnership………………………………………………………………… 138 5.8 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 146 Chapter 6 1985 to 1986: Glasgow becomes a European City of Culture …………………………………………………………………………………… 149 6.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 149 6.2 The EC and the UK: the opportunities presented by the ECOC and the parameters set …………………………………………………………………………… 150 6.3 The opportunity and the challenge the ECOC presented to Glasgow 157 6.4 Glasgow’s response ………………………………………………………………………… 158 6.5 The decision-making process …………………………………………………………… 166 6.6 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 175 Chapter 7 1987 to 1989: Towards a formal cultural policy ………………… 178 7.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 178 7.2 The production and consumption of culture: cities and their advisors ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 180 7.3 Glasgow’s culture and its value in the dual city ……………………………… 190 7.3.1 Defining culture and the dual city …………………………………………………… 191 7.3.2 Glasgow’s culture and its value in GDC and SRC, 1987 to 1989 ……… 194 7.4 An emerging model of culture-led regeneration? …………………………… 202 7.4.1 Glasgow’s position in emerging national and transnational narratives of models of arts-led urban regeneration ……………………… 203 7.4.2 Pacing devices, major events and opportunism ……………………………… 206 7.5 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 211 5 Chapter 8 Conclusion: Culture-led regeneration or regeneration-led culture? …………………………………………………………………………………… 214 8.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 214 8.2 An implicit, ‘effective’ cultural policy …………………………………………… 215 8.3 Prestige, prejudice and public relations ………………………………………… 218 8.4 ECOC 1990 as both enabler and obstacle ………………………………………… 221 8.5 A replicable model of culture-led regeneration?……………………………… 222 8.6 Limitations of this study ……………………………………………………………………