{"id":155314,"date":"2025-06-03T17:11:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T17:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/155314\/"},"modified":"2025-06-03T17:11:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T17:11:18","slug":"edinburgh-in-danger-of-becoming-a-disneyfied-conglomeration-of-bars-and-big-wheels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/155314\/","title":{"rendered":"Edinburgh in danger of becoming \u2018a Disneyfied conglomeration of bars and big wheels\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acclaimed author and Edinburgh<\/a> native, Alexander McCall Smith, has warned that Scotland\u2019s capital is in danger of becoming \u2018a Disneyfied conglomeration of bars, German markets, and big wheels\u2019 amid tourist-focused developments and student accommodation.<\/p>\n

Writing on the opening day of The Herald<\/a>\u2019s latest series, The Future of Edinburgh, McCall Smith pens a love letter to a city<\/a> he describes as a \u2018work of art\u2019 and \u2018a place with which it is easy to fall in love.\u2019<\/p>\n

His love is inspired by a city strikingly shaped by the natural landscape upon which it is built and \u2018goes up and down, surprises us with sudden vistas, gives plenty of scope for shifts of light and mood.\u2019<\/p>\n

The writer talks about the capital\u2019s architecture, which provides \u2018a certain harmony and balance that is implicit in its structure as a town\u2019, but warns that it is an environment which has to be carefully protected.<\/p>\n

\u201cEdinburgh risks being hollowed out by tourist-focused developments and by the mushrooming of student accommodation,\u201d McCall Smith writes<\/a>. \u201cA concomitant of these trends is the destruction of its character as a real city, and its replacement as a Disneyfied conglomeration of bars, German markets, and big wheels. A tartan nightmare, shallow and garish, is just round the corner unless the sheer volume of tourist traffic is tamed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Herald’s The Future of Edinburgh<\/a> series:<\/strong><\/p>\n

He also considers the impact of the city\u2019s people, both those who live and work within its boundaries, but the transient millions who pack the high streets on day trips and holidays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a limit to the influx of visitors that any city can take before it buckles under the strain,\u201d he writes. \u201cLook at Barcelona; look at Venice. Will the well-behaved residents of Edinburgh take to the streets against tourism as has happened elsewhere?\u201d<\/p>\n

Day one of the series identifies the big issues facing the city, ranging from housing to the future of Princes Street. Among a package of features and articles examining one of Scotland\u2019s most famous promenades an interactive map shows what\u2019s happening \u2013 and what\u2019s coming next.<\/p>\n

The Herald reporter, Vicky Allan, who on day one looks at how backlash over the Roseburn Path could derail the city\u2019s new tram plan,<\/a> writes of The Future of Edinburgh series: \u201cFrequently when we think of Edinburgh, we think about its past.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the Herald, for our latest series, we have chosen to look towards its future – for how it rises to the challenge of a growing population in a world in which tourism, climate, energy supply, how we shop, spend our leisure time, build our homes, are all changing, is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Alexander McCall Smith\u2019s love letter in full here.<\/a> And read all of the articles in The Herald\u2019s The Future of Edinburgh series here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Acclaimed author and Edinburgh native, Alexander McCall Smith, has warned that Scotland\u2019s capital is in danger of becoming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[65996,748,65998,1102,65999,4884,712,65997,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-155314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-alexander-mccall-smith","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-conglomeration","11":"tag-edinburgh","12":"tag-german-markets","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-the-herald","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114620549232404044","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}