There were, as we have established, 100 pledges in Labour’s manifesto for Glasgow. Some of them are really quite interesting. But the one that truly made my heart sing and my toes do a little tippy tappy dance was number 55: “Labour will revamp and completely refurbish George Square”.
Our city square is a sprawling, pointless waste of space. It has some beautiful features, such as the war memorial, and it is surrounded on three sides by elegant and attractive buildings. But it lacks any overall design, concept or focal point. It is neither functional nor beautiful.
So far, I haven’t seen any plans from the Council, setting out how they intend to improve the square. That’s why Dave and I have decided to give them a hand. We’re launching a new blog, Nicer Than George Square, where the people of Glasgow and further afield can post pictures of interesting, well-designed, lovely or simply unusual city squares from around the world.
We’ve started off with a few from our recent holidays to France and Spain, and we’ll keep adding more that take our fancy. We’re not advocating any particular style, period or layout. The only rule is that all the pictures have to be nicer than George Square. Sadly, that’s not hard.
So, have a look and start uploading your pics. Let’s inspire the Council to give us a city square that we can all be proud of.