Why an east/west alliance is best for both Edinburgh and Glasgow - Donald Anderson

Glasgow was seen as the more dynamic and successful city in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These were the days of the Glasgow’s Miles Better campaign and the creation of the Buchanan Street Galleries and Royal Concert Hall in the city centre.

He questioned me for the best part of an hour, clearly trying and failing to get a negative comment from me about Glasgow, because some inter-city rivalry would have made for a juicier story. Of course, I am Edinburgh born and bred and my response brought the conversation to a halt.

As a young city councillor in Edinburgh, my teeth were cut during a period when Glasgow was seen as the more dynamic and successful city. These were the days of "Glasgow’s Miles Better” and the creation of the Buchanan Street Galleries and Royal Concert Hall in the city centre. I was a huge fan of Glasgow’s success and worked hard to learn lessons that could help make Edinburgh equally successful.

I was never negative about Glasgow. I find the inter-city rivalry as boring as it is unproductive. I have always seen Scotland’s two main cities as complimentary in so many ways and success for one often means success for another. Glasgow’s success in hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2014 enabled Edinburgh to participate by hosting swimming and diving at the Royal Commonwealth Pool. Glasgow hotels undoubtedly benefit from the success of Edinburgh’s summer festivals, with hotel occupancy rising as Edinburgh hotels reach capacity.

I have a long-standing friendship with Steven Purcell, the former dynamic leader of Glasgow City Council. We secured the first, and sadly short-lived, partnership agreement between the two cities. We often joke about how these are the Lennon and McCartney of cities, though we have never quite managed to agree on which is which.

We recently set out our support for new city region mayors that would work to oversee and coordinate economic development and the reform of public services in the city regions which include all the local authority areas around and between the cities. We have described this as “Scotland’s Growth Corridor” simply because that is what the area is. All the most important parts of Scotland’s economy are in and around Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Scotland needs successful economic development, and winning new investment and jobs is getting harder. Repeated surveys show that both cities have strengths that would surprise many. An EU study shows that Glasgow is no mean city, with residents considering it one of the safest cities in Europe, well ahead of Manchester and London.

Edinburgh, as reported in this paper (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/edinburgh-is-the-uk-city-with-the-strongest-sense-of-community-spirit-according-to-new-study-4720241), showed up in a survey as the city with the strongest sense of community spirit anywhere in the UK. Both these results just illustrate the strengths of two fabulous places that are genuinely complimentary. I know Glasgow has had its challenges recently, but it would be foolish and short sighted to write it off. Glasgow will flourish even more successfully in future, as will Edinburgh.

Edinburgh and Glasgow are the twin engines of the Scottish economy and Scotland’s two principal world class cities. But both Glasgow and Edinburgh are small by international standards and working together can give our great cities the critical mass to compete effectively internationally. An east/west alliance is best for Edinburgh, for Glasgow and for Scotland.

Donald Anderson is a Director of Playfair Scotland Ltd, and former leader of Edinburgh City Council