Merchant City
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The Merchant City is a district in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland.
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[edit] History
The area was first formed during the 18th Century to house the wealthy merchant "tobacco lords" who prospered shipping, amongst other things, tobacco, sugar and tea to the Clyde and fabricated goods to the Americas at this time many classical villas were built in the area. Lying to the west of the High Street that formed the historic backbone of the city, the development of the Merchant city with wide, straight streets, vistas, and squares, marked the beginning of a process of aspirational residential movement westwards that would continue throughout the 19th century and into the with the 20th with the development of Blythswood, Hillhead, the West End of Glasgow and out into Bearsden and as far afield as Helensburgh.
[edit] Merchant City
As Glasgow expanded in the 19th century to become the second city of the United Kingdom and its British Empire the area became a working district of warehouses and home to the city's central fruit, vegetable and cheese markets.
After plans to construct a ring road around the city centre were published in the 1960s the area fell into decline, with many of the buildings compulsorily purchased by the city council to allow for their demolition and the central markets moved to modern premises outside the city centre. However the road was never built and in the 1980s the decision was taken to revitalise the area and its historic buildings with the public ownership of properties allowing large scale redevelopment.
The Merchant City has been promoted and built up in recent years as a centrepiece residential, shopping and leisure area, mirroring Covent Garden in the West End of London. To this end many new bars and restaurants have been established. This has been complimented with the building of prestigious new housing developments, often by restoring Victorian buildings. An example being the GPO Building development.
Another important element of the area's transformation is high-end shopping, anchored by the Italian Centre, home to, amongst others, Versace Collections (the UK's first Versace store) and Emporio Armani. The Italian Centre was designed by Page & Park Architects who are fond of including art in their architecture. Here the art is integral to the façades, but also features in the courtyard including a sculpture, 'Thinking of Bella' (1994) by Shona Kinloch. Recent shopping developments include Cruise (store), Escada and Ralph Lauren stores.
