Edinburgh's plans for European-style boulevard on George Street could create something really special – Stephen Jardine

The kracken wakes. At long last the slumbering giant that is Edinburgh City Council seems to have emerged from it’s isolation hibernation to consider what happens after Covid.

An artist's impression of proposed plans for Edinburgh's George Street (Picture: City of Edinburgh Council/PA Wire)

While other major cities have been coming up with ambitious plans to kickstart business and retail, Edinburgh put out some cones to stop people parking and issued a three-year business plan focusing on becoming a net-zero city that is fairer and greener.

That might be an admirable aim for a third-year town planning student working on a dissertation but in the real world, where more than 25 city centre properties lie empty, the old problem of generating tax income from businesses and workers to pay for it continues to raise its pesky old head.

But let’s come back to that because this week Edinburgh City Council did unveil a big initiative. The plan is to ban cars from George Street as part of a radical transformation to open up the space for pedestrians, bikes and outdoor seating areas.

Transport convener Lesley Macinnes said: “George Street has essentially become a car park. And we have this phenomenal street, of immense beauty, that has become obscured.”

The aim instead is to create a European-style boulevard and an oasis of calm in the city centre.

The proposal is bold and ambitious but more than that, it’s exactly what Edinburgh needs moving forward.

Thanks to the original planning of James Craig, George Street should be one of Europe’s great urban thoroughfares but it has always played second fiddle as a mere car park for Princes Street. At one stage, there was even a crazy plan for more parking spaces underground but thankfully that went away.

In recent years, the street has switched from shops and offices to bars and restaurants and that change is likely to be exacerbated when the new St James development opens. So now is the opportunity to open up this street a create an environment where people can enjoy the wonderful buildings and fabulous views instead of complaining about the extortionate cost of parking.

The artist’s impressions of what it might look like are stunning with wide pavements, lots of greenery and benches to sit and pass the time of day. It could be a grand boulevard in any great European city except for the distinctive dome of West Register House, rising in the distance.

If Edinburgh has been slow to open up outside space for business during the Covid crisis it is making up for it now. Under the plan, the new 6.5-metre-wide pavements include a café culture zone for outside drinking and dining in a welcome nod to hospitality and walking space which we are promised will be “clutter free”.

For the City of Edinburgh Council, that will be a real test. In recent years, the amount of street furniture in the city has boomed. Sometimes it looks like an unofficial festival of poles and railings is taking place in the capital but if planners can resist the temptation to have signs warning us about signs, the new George Street could look really special.

And if at the same time it can support businesses and create jobs then that could just be the boost the city centre badly needs.

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