Glasgow is a city of renaissance, never fully content with its worldwide image, thus it continues to reinvent itself. In the past few years it has been busy reinforcing its image as a vibrant, modern city which is among the most fashionable in Europe.
William the Lionheart gave Glasgow its official charter in 1175 and the town continued to grow in importance from that point onwards, taking a big step forward with the founding of the university in the mid-fifthteenth century. Also as it is situated on a large navigable river it soon developed into an important industrial port. The Victorian age saw an unbelievable change to the town. The population swelled from 77,000 in 1801 to nearly 800,000 at the end of the century.
Glasgow's attention had turned towards a massive shipbuilding industry by the turn of the twentieth century. However, in the economic slump of the 1930s, unemployment was rife and Glasgow built up an image as a city of violence; and due to a large number of Irish emigrants, sectarian tensions. This image wasn’t helped by the hatred evident between the fans of the two giant rival football teams: the Catholic Celtic and Protestant Rangers.
The modern Glasgow began its self-promotion campaign in the eighties resulting in its selection as the European City of Culture in 1990 (following previous recipients Athens, Paris and Berlin). In 1999 the city followed this achievement by being named as the City of Architecture and Design, beating off competion from Edinburgh and Liverpool. These awards as well as Glasgow's ever-growing image as 'The Friendly City' have helped it to lose its depressing image of the past and stand as a proud and welcoming city.