A Plan for the New Town

Edinburgh New Town seen from above*

When poet Robert Burns moved from his countryside town to Edinburgh in 1786 he found himself in a thriving, bustling city. Nearing the end of the 18th century, Edinburgh was at the center of the Scottish Enlightenment, and a hub of intellectual and artistic culture. However, 40 years earlier, it was a much different city.

Robert Burns, 1759 – 1796. Poet. Oil painting by Alexander Nasmyth. 1828.

The old medieval town was crumbling and could not withstand the growing linen industry within its walls. Built for defense rather than growth, the Old Town was geographically constricted between marshlands to the south and a lake to the north that had been polluted with sewage for several hundred years. Prior to the Enlightenment spirit bringing prosperity and urbanization, the city was dirty and overcrowded — the Scottish nobility were fleeing to London.

Inspired to reverse these trends, a design competition was held to expand the city into the lowlands north of the old walls.

Novice architect James Craig’s final plan for Edinburgh’s New Town, following a 1767 competition. Courtesy: Edinburgh World Heritage

The expansion of the New Town from 1767-1850*

The winning design was a plan drawn by architect James Craig. Through a series of refinements, this plan became realized as the first ‘New Town’ of Edinburgh. Embracing Enlightenment values for classical order, scale and proportion, the first New Town was built as a rectilinear grid. The central axis of the grid terminates on each end in a wide plaza and civic building. Celebrated English and Scottish architects such as Robert Adam were commissioned to design the classical stone buildings whose facades create the streetscape.

Calton Hill, Edinburgh, 2018. Photo taken by Michael Imber.

According to Kevin Lynch, in his book Good City Form, there are three distinct growth models a city can follow: The Cosmic, the Machine, and the Organic. Modern New Town is a union between the intended Cosmic, the original politically centered design, and the Organic growth it has experienced since. When compared to modern developments, the timelessness of New Town reveals the secret recipe for the longevity of urban developments.

Edinburgh today is a counterpoint, the intentional Cosmic layout coupled with the unpredicted organic evolution is a great strength in urban development. The New Town remains largely intact, and can be experienced adjacent to the original medieval streetscape. Both are wonderful in dramatically distinct ways.

The proposed site for the church on east side of St. Andrew Square was taken up by Sir Laurence Dundas for his mansion.*

The north side of Charlotte Square offers an example of the complete palace-fronted block, with a central temple-style bay. This is flanked by projecting pavilions at each end.*

The Doric-style (former) Broughton Place church is in an axial position with a four-columned portico. It is now in commercial use.*

As designers, this represents a conundrum. We love the idea of creating places that have the eccentric quirks of organically evolved spaces, but this often haphazard—or, at least, undesigned—is a challenge to authentically masterplan. And we are ever-aware of the failures of modernist planning. But in New Town we see a shining example of masterplanning at work. We see how great design and great architecture can create a place that, once built, even following the diagrammatic rigidity of pure Classicism, has continued to evolve and adapt, flowing seamlessly into the modern world.

Abraham Lincoln Monument, Edinburgh, 2018. Photo taken by Michael Imber.

---

In his ‘Address to Edinburgh’ (1876) Burns celebrated the Enlightenment spirit that had overcome his city, and in many ways foresaw how the values of beauty, freedom and progress would continue to shape the world:

Edina! Scotia’s darling seat!

All hail thy palaces and tow’rs,

Where once, beneath a Monarch’s feet,

Sat Legislation’s sov’reign pow’rs:

From marking wildly scatt’red flow’rs,

As on the banks of Ayr I stray’d,

And singing, lone, the lingering hours,

I shelter in they honour’d shade.

Here Wealth still swells the golden tide,

As busy Trade his labours plies;

There Architecture’s noble pride

Bids elegance and splendour rise:

Here Justice, from her native skies,

High wields her balance and her rod;

There Learning, with his eagle eyes,

Seeks Science in her coy abode.

Thy sons, Edina, social, kind,

With open arms the stranger hail;

Their views enlarg’d, their liberal mind,

Above the narrow, rural vale:

Attentive still to Sorrow’s wail,

Or modest Merit’s silent claim;

And never may their sources fail!

And never Envy blot their name!

*Select images from the book Edinburgh New Town A Model City by Michael Carley, Robert Dalziel, Pat Dargan & Simon Laird