City Planning
As a former City Planner I was intrigued to learn that Edinburgh was a pioneer in early city redevelopment projects. James Craig, won a competition in 1762 to create a design for the city. The building of his winning design was started in 1767 and completed by 1810. New Town was developed on a grid system and included areas for residential, shopping and hotels in Edinburgh. Due, in part, to this redevelopment project, Edinburgh grew to become the second most important financial city outside of London. It was designed in neo-classical architecture and became known to the world as “the Athens of the North.”