City Profile

With a population of nearly 600,000, Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland and the third largest in the UK. However, throughout much of its history it has been an even bigger and more central city in Europe.

After playing a central role in the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century, Glasgow became one of the world's centres of heavy engineering during the Industrial Revolution. By the late 19th century, its population had reached over one million, making it the fourth largest city in Europe. However, after the relocation of many of its inhabitants throughout the twentieth century, the city of Glasgow gradually shrunk to its current size. Despite this, the whole surrounding conurbation area is still home to 2.3 million people today, amounting to 41% of Scotland's population.

Today, Glasgow has all the cultural, sporting and retail features that you would expect from a city of its size. In particular it has a rich cultural scene with a wide choice of music venues, museums, theatres and galleries, as well as a deep sporting passion.

Sheffield is a city whose identity, like so many others in the UK, has been constantly changing throughout the last few centuries. During the 1800's, the area experienced a massive economic boom as it gained an international reputation in steel production and played a significant role in the Industrial Revolution. Indeed, in the space of fifty years, the northern town's population increased by ten times and, in turn, it was officially named as a city.

However, as the manufacturing industries fell away and died, the city started to struggle, until the 21st century brought extensive redevelopment in culture and environment. These days, the city's industrial roots are covered by the huge amounts of green space in Sheffield. Indeed, 61% of Sheffield's entire area is green space, over a third of the city lies within the Peak District National Park and it has the highest ratio of trees to people of any city in Europe.

With a population of almost half a million people, Bristol is the eigth largest city in the UK and the largest in the South West of England. Since the 13th century is has ranked amongst the top English cities due mainly to its location. Built around the River Avon, Bristol also has a short coastline on the Severn Estuary, which flows into the Bristol Channel. The famous Clifton Suspension Bridge (pictured above) has spanned the Avon Gorge since 1864. 

Today it is the centre of culture, employment and education in the region and was even selected as one of the world's top ten cities for young adults in 2009. This is mainly thanks to the thriving music and clubbing scene that makes Bristol famous.

Birmingham is the UK’s second largest city, with over a million inhabitants. Located in the Midlands, it has easy access to the rest of the country, and was famed as the centre of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. Nowadays it is a busy, cosmopolitan city with loads to do, excellent shopping and a buzzing night life.

Culture in Birmingham

The cultural side of Birmingham is largely based around music, and the city has produced some of the most influential bands of the last century, ranging from the heavy metal of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, to the modern day Editors and The Streets. This heritage is continued through some great music venues in the city, including the Custard Factory and Midlands Arts Centre. Equally, for the classical music lovers, the Symphony Hall is often considered the best concert hall in Europe.