Five of Glasgow's most iconic tower blocks, the Red Road flats in the north of the city, are to be blown up live during the opening ceremony for 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The Games organisers announced on Wednesday that the 30-storey blocks, which were once some of the tallest residential buildings in Europe, will be demolished simultaneously as Commonwealth dignitaries and athletes open the Games at Celtic football stadium nearby.

The detonation, described by organisers as the largest attempted in Europe, will take approximately 15 seconds and be shown live inside the stadium on a 100m-long LED screen taking up the south stand of Celtic Park.

The Red Road flats, seen by many as a vivid symbol of the failures of post-war urban planning and which featured in a thriller of the same name by Andrea Arnold in 2006, were condemned in 2008 and have been slowly emptied. After being cleared of asbestos, they are now derelict.

The sixth remaining and most modernised block, called 33 Petershill Court, is currently used to house asylum seekers. That will remain standing and be demolished by 2017.

Originally seen as a welcome refuge from Glasgow's inner-city slums in the 1960s, complete with central heating and bathrooms, the flats gradually fell into decline.

Organisers said the demolition on 23 July would be broadcast to about 1 billion viewers worldwide. The leader of Glasgow city council, Gordon Matheson, said it would symbolise the city's efforts to use the games to regenerate the east end of Glasgow.

Matheson said: "We are going to wow the world, with the demolition of the Red Road flats set to play a starring role. Red Road has an iconic place in Glasgow's history, having been home to thousands of families and dominating the city's skyline for decades. Their demolition will all but mark the end of high-rise living in the area and is symbolic of the changing face of Glasgow, not least in terms of our preparations for the Games."

Patricia Ferguson, the Labour MSP for the area and a former Scottish government minister who was brought up in the blocks, said: "I know that many local people were eager to see these empty blocks brought down as soon as possible.

"I am still trying to get my head round the role they will play in the opening ceremony. It has been described as bold and I would certainly agree with that view. I am sure that creative minds have been fully engaged as to how this is woven into the story of Glasgow as a global destination for the 21st century."

Two of the original eight blocks were blown up in controlled demolitions in 2012 and 2013, but the process has been rapidly accelerated with the decision to blow up another five, including one far larger but shorter triple block of flats, in one event.

As part of a demolition programme expected to cost £15m, the five were originally due to be taken down in phases over the next two years but their owner, Glasgow Housing Association, had been investigating a simultaneous demolition to minimise disruption for nearby residents.

The event will mean the temporary evacuation of residents living in 887 houses in the immediate area, many of whom once lived in the Red Road flats. They will be offered free tickets to an opening ceremony event at Glasgow Green, a park near the city centre or to local venues.

The city has been spending more than £1bn on renovating existing social housing and building new homes after the last UK Labour government cancelled Glasgow's historic £1bn housing debt. New homes are being built for the Commonwealth Games athletes' village in the East End.