When I arrived, I strolled down the streets of Glasgow trying to get a sense of the city. I walked past a lot of the usual tourist attractions but none of it felt extraordinary and nothing gave me a deep impression of the city. I start to wonder what are the signs of the identity of Glasgow.

An old lady saw me puzzled and approached me. She asked if I needed help. I replied that I’m trying to explore the city but was looking for something authentic. I asked what’s her favourite part of Glasgow.

Nana answered living in a tenement. She explained life was awful and tough. There was no electricity, hot running water or heating. She grew up living in a tenement room with 12 brothers and sisters. She described how the kitchen was a multi-purpose room where the family cooked, ate, slept and spent their leisure time. During the night, she had to climb over her brothers and sisters who were sharing the same bed in pitch darkness to go to the toilet.

Despite all the rough conditions she still loves living in a tenement flat because it’s what she grew up living in, and most importantly is having a great sense of community and togetherness. Neighbours and friends are like one huge family. Nana tried living on a farm in Ireland but hated the space and the silence. Though she sighed that living in a Tenement wasn’t as intimate as before.

As I understood the identity of the city from the perspective of a local, I realise the identity of a city might not necessarily come from the city itself but the journeys and memories in it thus it cannot be definite. As an outsider we project our emotions on the place and buildings as a shell or background, the longer we stay the more we fill it with memories and journey to form an identity.