Universal City Walk, Los Angeles

Glasgow Science Centre

Theme parks are common the world over, and range from Euro Disney in Paris to Legoland in Denmark and Disneyland in the USA.

These places are designed to be giant all-in-one entertainment centres, combining fun-rides, cinemas, restaurants, hotels, casinos and parks in one huge area. They have given birth to a new word, edutainment – meaning a combination of education and entertainment.

Glasgow’s Science Centre, opened in 2001, which is situated on what was the Garden Festival site beside the River Clyde, is an example of a themed park. It is educational as well as entertaining so that visitors may well want to go there again and again. It is built on land which once housed shipyards and docks and before that houses.

What does this tell you about the economy and social conditions of Glasgow?
What else changes in a city when industries change?
What areas near you have changed function recently?

Is there industrial space you can identify which now has a different purpose?
Can you imagine how its use might change over the next 50 years?
How has your school/college changed over the last 100 years?