Dr Kirsteen Paton discusses the economic and social effects of the Commonwealth Games
The article entitled "Behind the fence: the side of Glasgow games youre not meant to see" discusses these issues which were uncovered as part of a research project.
Dr Paton raises important questions about how the games are working for some Glaswegians.
In constrast to the wave of praise that the city and its population has received, Dr Paton addresses the somewhat negative economic and social repercussions of the games.
The article entitled "Behind the fence: the side of Glasgow games you’re not meant to see" discusses these issues which were uncovered as part of a research project into the city's east end funded by the Openspace Research Centre.
She highlights that "there were protests around different proposed aspects of the games long before the event began and even as they started." Some of these have focused on the impact of the games on different communities. One protest concerned the "forced eviction of a family whose house was being demolished to make way for the athletes' village", another "over the closure of a day care centre to make way for other games infrastructure."
Additon issues involve the often-repeated claim by organisers and council officials concerning their "regeneration promise" which would see them working with communities in the most affected areas. Claims by residents have stated this didn't happen.
Anger within these communities "reached new levels with the construction within a few months of the start of the games of eight-foot fencing around the athletes' village – fencing that has also almost entirely barricaded the residents of Dalmarnock into their housing scheme." Residents in the streets adjacent to the village are effectively cut off. "The feeling has been strongly voiced that local people are being excluded, actively pushed out and contained in what some have a termed a “prison”.
