An analysis of Glasgow’s decision to bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Urban infrastructure in the framework of mega-event exceptionalism: Glasgow and the 2014 Commonwealth Games

“…This, of course, cannot substitute interviews but is the most adequate alternative. The main actors behind the bid were the First Minister himself with the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council (Salisbury, 2016). The latter saw this as an opportunity to boost the regeneration attempts of deprived deindustrializing East End of Glasgow (Gray & Mooney, 2011;Paton et al, 2012).…”

“…The bid committee also included the private actors like the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and the Scottish Council for Development and Industry. The government bodies, at that time, were both led by the Scottish Labor Party (Salisbury, 2016). This political alliance made it easier to come to the final agreement of the details of Glasgow's application submitted in December 2005 which included the M74 extension, as part of the additional infrastructure that should have been in place for the event.…”

“…While the physical transformations imposed upon Glasgow were substantial, compared to other contemporary mega-events 2 the 2014 Games had a relatively modest budget of 575.7 million GBP. This was mostly because the bid, initiated as early as 2002 and submitted in 2005 (Salisbury, 2016), separated the event budget (including sporting venues and the athlete's village) from the supporting infrastructure costs. The M74 motorway (later "the M74 extension"), a major motorway in Scotland, which dated back to partially implemented urban motorway plans from the 1960s and terminated at the Southeastern edge of Glasgow, was labeled as the supporting infrastructure in the bid.…”

“…Soon, the completion of the M74 was coupled and guaranteed within the 2014 Games bid and was framed as an essential part of hosting the event (Glasgow 2014Ltd, 2014Glasgow City Council, 2007a). The event bid was submitted by the Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government (Salisbury, 2016). Thus, the M74 extension received crucial political backing and new significance in the success of the mega-event with the national importance happening just weeks before the first Scottish Independence Referendum (Ochman, 2013;Salisbury, 2016;Whigham, 2017).…”

“…The event bid was submitted by the Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government (Salisbury, 2016). Thus, the M74 extension received crucial political backing and new significance in the success of the mega-event with the national importance happening just weeks before the first Scottish Independence Referendum (Ochman, 2013;Salisbury, 2016;Whigham, 2017). A new reason for the M74 extensions approval was that nothing related to hosting this event was considered open to negotiations, due to its national meaning but also the strict requirements and guidelines in the host city contract, signed by the Commonwealth Games Federation (the CGF) Glasgow and the Scottish Government (Glasgow City Council, 2007a) (Figure 1).…”